posted June 28, 2015 12:13 AM              

Online dating is a poor substitute for real-life encounters where you know if the chemistry is either there or it isn't, no guessing games wondering if there will be a spark behind the shared photos/texts/emails and phone calls before the actual meeting.

posted June 30, 2015 09:37 AM            

I met my partner on eHarmony (I wouldn't use any other site, quite frankly - especially the free sites *shudder*) and my experience was relatively good actually. I was only on it for a few weeks before I met him (a year and a half ago) and I wasn't really expecting to. I messaged him, and was pleasantly surprised when he messaged me back. We clicked right away, and I knew there was something brewing because our communication was pleasant and consistent. Communication is VERY important to me anyway, so all the flirty emails, texts, calls etc. were enough for me to know he was worth meeting. If he was flakey in any way or spotty in his responses, I probably would have (regretfully) dropped him. We met in person a week after the first note and the rest is history.

I had a pretty strong gut feeling though and my intuition is strong. I can usually get a good read on people and I'm not shy about getting down to the nitty gritty, so I knew which questions to ask. He didn't seem deterred by my questioning and that was a good sign.

posted July 02, 2015 02:30 PM              

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Originally posted by Randall:
You should have reported them to your bank and gotten a chargeback.

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I did but my bank could do nothing as Match had my card details and could still take payments even if I tried to cancel them from my end. My bank told me I needed to speak to Match's accounts department.

This was about 15 years ago though so maybe Match have got their sh*t in order since then.

posted July 04, 2015 10:55 AM            

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Originally posted by aquaguy91:
Mostly bad.
In theory online dating should be a great way to find love because you are exposed to so many people you wouldn't otherwise be exposed to. But in reality it spoils people with options and they become so flakey that it's nearly impossible to keep their attention for more than 10 seconds.
What frustrates me more than anything is how you can be having a great conversation with someone one second and then they completely forget about you the next second because a "hawt guy" messaged them. You can invest hours or days talking to someone and think you are connecting and building towards something but they can (and usually do) just cut contact with you at any moment without any explanation.
Online dating was meant to make it easier to find someone but I think it has actually made it harder in alot of ways. It's hard to make genuine connections via a medium that can be so impersonal and cold.

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posted July 05, 2015 01:44 AM            

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Originally posted by elixir:
This has been my experience. I also noticed girls get messaged a lot more then guys. It's like sit back and wait for your inbox to be flooded. Do you think this is true?

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posted July 08, 2015 11:10 AM              

The thing with online and app dating is that it's all about the individual, in terms of how it's used. If someone is just looking for hookups or their priority is just finding the best-looking person they can to date for awhile, they will use it as a tool that way. If someone is looking to meet their soulmate, that is how they will use it. It's just an instrument to meet new people. HOW it's being used will always come back to what the individual person is looking for. And let's be honest; those over 25 are more likely to be using the platforms to find something serious than those under.

Paid sites sort of self-select in that they screen out poor people like me who can't afford the high fees. So on sites like e-Harmony, for example, you tend to get mostly highly-paid professionals. Whereas it's more of a crapshoot on the free sites and apps.

posted July 08, 2015 02:22 PM            

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
Most of the newer couples I know met on Tinder. That is how my S.O. and I met. I personally did not have any success with OKCupid. I do know one engaged couple who met 6 years ago on POF.

The thing with online and app dating is that it's all about the individual, in terms of how it's used. If someone is just looking for hookups or their priority is just finding the best-looking person they can to date for awhile, they will use it as a tool that way. If someone is looking to meet their soulmate, that is how they will use it. It's just an instrument to meet new people. HOW it's being used will always come back to what the individual person is looking for. And let's be honest; those over 25 are more likely to be using the platforms to find something serious than those under.

Paid sites sort of self-select in that they screen out poor people like me who can't afford the high fees. So on sites like e-Harmony, for example, you tend to get mostly highly-paid professionals. Whereas it's more of a crapshoot on the free sites and apps.

But I liked Tinder the best just because of the size of the pool - literally every single and dating human being in my city is on there. And even a few not-single people who like to use it as "a game."

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posted July 09, 2015 11:52 AM              

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Originally posted by margym0o:
Knowing your city as well as I do I can definitely vouch that Tinder is the app of choice (as is online dating in general). MANY people in my circle have met their SO online. The first thing my friend in Toronto did after becoming single was reactivate her Tinder account *face palm*

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You got it! It's to the point where girls in bars are like, "Ew, why's he trynna talk to me in person? Doesn't he have Tinder?"

posted July 16, 2015 10:15 AM            

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Originally posted by Vajra:
That's good to hear. It never hurts to enlarge one's horizon by leaving familiar surroundings, which can often become suffocating at some point, even if only digitally, and sometimes one finds that the change in perspective this brings is permanent. Good luck!

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