Has anybody tried online dating?

I've tried it once but whenever I get to chat with someone, i get paranoid (i have huge trust issues) and ended up scared then ignoring the person. online doesnt work for me. I know some people who met thru online dating and now in a relationship. It really takes guts to try it ... Something I dont have haha.

 

Yes, never again. It was awkward but probably because I am awkward myself and it was so uncomfortable and overall a very bad idea. Anyway, just not my thing, some other people find it great and you are basically guaranteed to have some sex and I know people who found their one and only via online dating so I guess it's a bit trial and error.

 

I've met my first boyfriend online, so I've tried it.

It's not for everyone, but it's a great way to meet someone.

 

That's where I met my bf and we've been going out for a year

 

Well, in an online community that I had been associating with for six years, which was forever for me at the time, I met my ex, but I didn't know that he was going to be much at all to me, much less my sweetly remembered and occasionally contacted ex. He had the worst typing that I had ever seen. It was a garbled mess, and as the night wore on, it would gradually become a word-salad. He was a nice enough guy to talk to, though.

Later, it turned out that he was a man in his late 30's going through a divorce, and he suffered from pretty hideous depression and related insomnia, so by the time it got later on in the night before he passed out, his mind was running in six different directions and not very well in any of them.

Soooo, as we talked, we gradually got to know each other, and he turned out to be a good guy. The relationship went for 5 years, and he finally told me that our age difference was too much for me to devote my whole life to him without ever seeing what else was out there, especially since moving to him permanently would have required me to turn my life upside-down. It's twelve years since I first met him, and I still give him a present for his birthday every year, always something simple that just makes me think of him.

Now, the trick is that all you do is talk, and don't think you have to hear wedding bells this week. You might hang out in a few communities that you like for months or years before you find someone who is serviceable to you as a partner. That's okay. Don't rush the matter. Focus on common interests and shared values, not on how quickly someone shows an interest in coming to see you. You have a long life ahead of you, and if you're talking about a long-term or lifelong partner, you're going to be investing a mega-chunk of it in the person you settle on.

On the other hand, if you want to set yourself with 5 guys on Craigslist, in one day, who never want to see you again, then you can. You'll still be alone when you're done with a quickie, though. Instant gratification really isn't going to happen. The people you run into that way really aren't that great.

What I put in bold above is really the trick: don't rush, and focus on common interests and shared values. There are many good communities online, including ones that are focused around your own geographical area. There are many good people.

 

I used it on and off for a months before I met my boyfriend. I just wanted to try it out because the guys I'd known before and dated before weren't doing it for me and I was looking for more. At first the guys I talked to tended to disappear after a little while. I think I was being picky. After a while I decided to talk to people that I normally wouldn't, and things went a little better. I talked to a few guys that I kinda liked but things didn't work out. Eventually I saw my now boyfriend on there and had this inner feeling that I should give it a go. Over half a year later, we're still together and happy.

My experiences have not been all great though. One guy I was talking to for a while eventually confessed that he wasn't over his ex so I didn't go any further with him. Another one I liked eventually turned out to be not what I expected. We're on a good friends basis now. I also accidentally came across and matched with a student teacher at my school, which lasted all of about an hour after we realised what had happened (obviously it couldn't go further). That was pretty awkward.

Do I regret signing up to it? No. Even though at the time I felt like I was going in circles, considering I met the guy I'm with now on there I don't regret a thing.

I started off with the opinion that online dating was something people did if they couldn't get anything through conventional routes. But it's not like that at all -- my mind has been changed completely. It's just increasing your chances of connecting with people you would enjoy having a relationship with.

 

Didn't work for me. I met someone who lied to me- it turned out they were in an open relationship with their boyfriend when my profile said "strictly monogamous". It was really awkward.

I know some people have good experiences, but I wish I took more caution going in.

 

I have tried several times, and failed as many times, until the last one! I was kinda tired of all of it at one point but the worse fate of not having a partner when that was what will work for me kept me pushing on. I am pretty awkward in person and totally a joke in public and social settings, but only if they know the real me... So much to give and share, and learn from, cuz I think I failed many times and never successful in the first time of everything! When it comes to relationship, you know how people always say, don't find love cuz love finds you? I wanted to believe in that but it is hard to isn't it??? So anyway I got so tired and kinda unhappy, I just out of character closed my eyes and prayed to the universe, also God, if that is the name for you for the supreme being up there... For the right person for me to come to me. And then not long after, I got a message from this guy to meet up, and everything was serendipitous... Like you find out that he suggested meeting at a place where you happened to be heading towards for an errand or some reason; for me I was going to meet a hangout friend to talk about issues, and he was going there that evening to visit a bookshop... And then two days later, we went to the airport in same day around same time, he was on a flight out, and I was there to receive a friend... Well that sort of serendipity. So now I am just thankful to be living with my partner whom I pray for his well-being everyday. Hope it will work for some of you too, to just ask the universe

 

I have been going on dates with a woman I met online (the first dates with a woman I've ever been on). I have found it pretty good with her but I have found it very awkward because we have been meeting with the expectation of romance as the aim from the start and I've found it like a weird 'job interview' type of scenario, instead of meeting someone and working out over time that there is chemistry. Last time we met, I felt like she was hoping for a hug or a kiss but I was too nervous of misreading the signs to act on it.

I think that the site you use is important too.

I tried some 'mainstream' dating sites, entering 'woman seeking woman' as an option and found some very odd things came out of that. ****** (I am very tempted to start some sort of boycott campaign against them for this) said "redirecting you to our sister site". In other words, ****** is for straight people and gay people should have a relationship that sounds like a business arrangement!

On another mainstream site I joined I got a number of messages along the lines of "I am a 58 year old woman, my husband and I would love for you to join us" (!)

I met the woman I mentioned at the top of the post on ****** and I think that has a huge advantage through being a lesbian/bisexual women only site and I'm sure that gay men/bisexual men dating websites would have the same advantage.

 

I might when I'm 18.

 

I've tried it like 2 times, and from both tries, it didn't really worked out.
You either meet someone who cares about you for literally the first few days only, or you meet someone who pretends to have 'feelings' for you when he is there for totally different things.
Conclusion: I won't be doing it any time soon.
Real life dating > Internet dating

 

I have, but it was useless. Don't feel like asking for ride.

 

I have done online dating many times its not fun like that could be different for other for others but not for me

 

I have met quite a number of people on online dating. It was kind of a place to make new friends since I didn't have tumblr or this forum of people to talk to. I met them for relationships. Dated a few people, some you have a connection online but there is nothing in person, some take ages to open up and have little time to spend with you even though they supposedly want to date you and lots are there just for sex. However I've made a few lifelong friends on the site and even had a couple of people assist with homework. I think as long as you realise there are jerks anywhere and to meet in a public place and be careful with your feelings then it is ok. However I think also a great way to meet people is through tumblr and places where you have common interests since a lot of profiles on dating sites are fake or people pretend to be something they are not just to attract people to talk to them.

 

I tied it with a girl that I talked to since I was around 12 years old we talked every summer and when we reconnected awhile back we just kept talking and tried dating...however it was hard because our distance was something that we would have to take a plane to see each other there was not an option of driving to see each other since she lived in Hawaii. We both fell in love with each other from what we knew and we were there for the other person but unfortunately the distance was too much for us and with the way our lives were going we ended up breaking up after a year of being together we ended our relationship. We still talk here and there and she still cares about me as I still care about her nut we both know that we can't be together because eventually our relationship would end the same way. I look at it if it's meant to be we will be brought together.

I wouldn't say I would never do it again but it's definetly not the type of relationship I'm looking for at the moment

 

Not seriously, no. But if it works for you, or you want to do that, by all means. You do you.

To copy and paste from elsewhere:

Spoiler

 

I had about 10 dates, most only lasted one date, met my current bf online and we've been together for a year, so...

 

It wasn't online. It was a dating chat line. I had used it for 1 1/2 years. Exchanged numerous messages. Talked by phone with some. Met several. Even had a brief relationship. Then, I connected with, the man who became my best friend & husband. We've been together 18 years. Back then, there was more of a stigma. I don't mind admitting to it now.

 

Dating sites feel cheap to me, I know some people have had success with them but I feel like they're the exception. I'd imagine they aren't bad to get an idea of what some people in your area are like, but my problem with dating sites is they effectively give you a "shortcut" to being in a relationship. You have the option of skipping past the whole process of slowly getting to know someone and developing a friendship with them, therefore dating sites cater to people looking to hook up and nothing more. Those who do want something serious won't find that as easily, especially if they're looking for something specific, though that's as true in real life as it is on a dating site. What dating sites can do is give you more options if you're isolated in a small town or somewhere without much of a gay scene. I've considered giving one a try for that reason, but then I remember that the type of person I'm looking for is so unique I'm not even sure they exist at all, let alone on a generic website full of superficial and judgmental people. Still, it's not like there's any harm in trying~