   Online Dating
  For those of you that have tried online dating, have you had any good/bad experiences? For those of you that haven't tried it (and are single), why haven't you?I feel like online dating has a reputation for being kind of sleazy. Also, the people that sign up have a reputation of being unable to get dates in the "real world".But, objectively, I think online dating just makes more sense. Especially when you pair it with a matching algorithm like eHarmony. It's like using a search engine vs simply browsing the internet until you find what you're looking for. You just enter what you want and what you don't want, and it returns a list of best possible results.So if it is objectively better, then why aren't more people using it?   
  i haven't tried it because I don't think it would be as thrilling as gets getting dates in the real world.Uncertainty is the best part and online dating takes some of that away. I want to discover stuff about a girl, i don't want it all layed out on a plate.Also, i don't go on dates, i just hang out with people.   ;  Never used one, but I imagine it would take the "magic" out of meeting someone. For some that's not important, but for me it is   ;  Tried it, met two people online, both of them were psycho.That's just my experience of course...   ;  Had some friends who met psychos through those services.Also, the same reason I don't look for dudes to go mountain biking with me on an online service.  I like meeting people who have enough interpersonal skills to seek relationships through other channels (work, school, church, community bike group, whatever).And I'm married now :-D   ;Quote:Original post by BeanDogHad some friends who met psychos through those services.Also, the same reason I don't look for dudes to go mountain biking with me on an online service.  I like meeting people who have enough interpersonal skills to seek relationships through other channels (work, school, church, community bike group, whatever).And I'm married now :-DBut surely this greatly limits the pool you have to draw people from, no?  especially in the sausage-fest that is software engineering.  It seems dishonest to pick up a new hobby just to meet women.  I think if you go to a more general pool like an online site you're just searching more cleverly. I've considered it.  I don't like places where people usually hook up in the UK (night clubs, mostly), and I doubt my One True Love(tm) would either.It does still have a stigma about it, but honestly if you end up happy who cares what other people think?   ;  I'm kind of with winegums. I'm graduating college in a couple weeks and have realized that meeting new people is not going to be easy anymore. It was hard enough meeting girls in college since I don't drink or party, and since CS is indeed a sausage-fest. Now I'll be lucky if I interact with any at all.The way I see it, my only options are to pick up some hobby I'm not interested, start attending religious services which I'm not interested in, or try online dating. I just hope they aren't all psychos...   ;  A mate of mine has met a couple of girls from online dating and only one was slightly crazy but she lived a fair distance away. Current lass seems sane enough, although due to moving I've only met her a couple of times, so they can't ALL be batshit crazy [grin]Personally, well I've had a look but mostly to confirm what I already suspected was the case; the ones I know of tend to be filled with 'normal' people who are busy working and/or haven't found anyone via the normal night club means, or in some cases are new to an area. The defining thing I've noticed is that most seem to be the 'go out and do things type' and list all manner of activities they like to do which more often than not involve the normal things of going places to 'see the world'.Basically, from what I've seen, if your intrests don't align with what the vast majority call 'normal' then I wouldn't expect a high success rate [grin]   ;  I've looked at some of the sites before.  These sites are often the domain of the young single mother, the desperate, the low intelligent and the incredibly ugly or, in a few cases, the four overlap.  You have to ask yourself what's wrong with them in the real world that they have to resort to the Internet to get men to talk to them.  I've seen stuff like "hiya my names leanne ive got a boy called jack hes lovely i love him loads i like to go out with my m8s and watch films lol send me a msg xx".  Okay, you've got a kid.  That will put many men off but at least you're being honest about it up front.However, I can see your point.  I'm heading into my final year at Uni next year and I'm doing a sausage-fest subject.  I'm not terribly outgoing anyway so meeting women is difficult due to that and also the time constraints of my course (hard work and a lot of it, even moreso next year) so I worry that I'll graduate and go into the real world still dateless and single (I'll let you in on a little secret - I've never actually had a girlfriend ever... come close many times and could potentially have been very happy but there's something about me that stops it going any further than that; it's definitely down to me but I can't put a finger on what it actually is although I have a few theories) but it doesn't bother me too much.  I like being single and having absolute control over what I do and when I do it.Internet Dating FTL, I would say.  The matching algorithms are just that; algorithms.  They don't take into account real world interactivity or personality, mood swings, someone uploading a fake picture or filling their profile with rubbish for a joke, how someone will be in a few years etc.   ;  I'll share.  I've actually had some pretty good successes with online dating.  The "magic" of meeting someone is still there because you still don't really know how things are going to go.  The only thing in the way of interpersonal skills that it aids a person with is the part where you break the ice.  You still have to get to know them a bit before going on a first date.  People might not be thrilled with the idea of explaining where they met but I don't see it being any worse than saying you were both drunk at a club when you met or that a friend set you up because he knew you were both single.I've met up with 5 different people over the past 2 years.  The only one that I was really afraid of was the first one and it was my mistake in that I should've chatted with her more first to make sure I wasn't talking with a crack adict.The second one we realised after the first date that we weren't compatible.  We were just both looking for different things in a person.The third was indeed a psycho but between her psycologist and her meds she was working through it.  Absolutly fabulous woman though.  We saw each other for about 4 or 5 months and then she broke it off so she could examine her life.  We're still on good terms.The fourth woman I met online was very career focused, very smart, and aparently a recovering cancer patient.  She was way smarter than me but pretty much the only woman I think I have ever met that has known what she wants to do for a career.  After the first date we decided we weren't compatible.Currently the woman I'm seeing I also met online and things have been going very well for the past 5 months.  I'm quite optimistic it'll be a long relationship.   