What is your opinion on online dating?

Umm, maybe... I'm not to sure. My mum goes on this polish dating website and found herself a boyfriend, but he's never come here yet.

I guess it really depends on how commited the two people are with it.

 

Online dating can work. It's both a lot easier and a lot harder than traditional dating, as has already been mentioned.

The thing about online dating is it sets up a "marketplace" mentality. Because you have your pick of hundreds of guys (even better when you're LGBTQ-, because your dating pool becomes about 100x larger than it was before), you automatically take that opportunity to "choose" the best person for you. People's standards go way up and some people even lose sight of the point of being there.

The other big thing is that talking online can set up some unrealistic expectations of what the other person will end up being like. This is easily resolved as long as you take the dating with the person offline relatively quickly (~6 weeks at most). The longer you leave it online, the larger these expectations grow.

And of course, the big one is that people can lie about what they put on their profiles, but there really isn't much to solve that one. It's just a risk you take.

So long as you keep your head level, online dating can be a great experience.

P.S. Please don't name any dating sites guys, as it's against the rules. Thanks!

 

I am frustrated with online dating. I just would like a connection to something in the gay world. A friend would be great right now. I would love to have a boyfriend, but I just want a friend first...someone I can talk to about all these feelings and emotions.

 

I think as long as two people are 100% honest with each other, and are open about their flaws, it can work.

 

99% of the messages I got when I tried it was "You're cute, fancy a b*** J**" or something similar.

Ew Urgh

 

It's frustrating not having people to really talk about it in daily life, but this site partly alleviates that ^^

I believe that online dating could work- but like Bud said, it sets up unrealistic expectations. What if someone ends up being very different than what you're used to online? Personally, I'm very forward online and very reserved off. I feel almost as if I intimidate people, lol. Yep- dashed expectations!
When speaking to someone in real life, there are those little silences in between conversations that while over the internet didn't seem bad, but face-to-face become immeasurably awkward. :dry:

 

I think it's pretty much like offline dating, only ever so slightly easier for people to portray themselves as someone they're not (intentionally or otherwise). If the experience of friends is anything to go by it's exactly like offline dating in that initial contacts are increased if the visual representation is something people consider pleasing.

Personally it moves at a pace I'm uncomfortable with. I like to spend a long, long time getting to know someone online before meeting them, and I like to spend a long time exchanging messages before giving them any means of contacting me off of the site. Unfortunately my slow place (6 months+) is not quite compatible with the world of online dating, where the sooner you meet the better. Add to that the fact I'm not exactly the most photogenic of individuals, nor do I come across well in written form, and you have a recipe for online dating disaster. So for me, the chances of it working are slim.

With that said one of the only long-term gay couples I know met on a dating site and they're getting married this year, and I know at least 12 couples who met on an online dating site and are seemingly enjoying themselves mightily. Most of these were between 19-30 and it seems to have worked really well for them. So in general I'd say the chances of it working are the same as the chances of it working if you did the whole dating thing offline. It's just a different dynamic that perhaps makes it a little more obvious that dating is about luck, chance and hitting it off.

 

my partner and i met through an online dating site and we've been together just over a year now. we both have careers that keep us extremely busy and would make it hard to meet people in traditional settings.

 

Not quite my flavour.

Most of the people I've seen on dating sites, are only looking for a short hookup, followed by sex. Yet, I met a guy online. He was good looking,living near my area,around my age. He was nice, and funny. I totally adore him. The problem was that his life was only what's there on the computer screen. We couldn't go out and see each other. Although I feel very insecure when I meet new people, I was the one who proposed it. He agreed, but never showed up. After talking to him for a few weeks, maybe a month, I realised that he has no plans of doing anything with his life. That was a major turn-off to me, and the end of my dating site adventures.

One can meet their SO in a dating site, but I'd really rather stick with traditional dating. Too many creeps and weirdos online.

 

Never gave it a fair chance, I suppose. But it appeared to be just a sleazy hell hole full of STDs and people who didn't seem to care. I'd rather go without or use my hand. My encounters that worked the best were chance meetings.

 

I am a big proponent of online dating. I met my current girlfriend online and we have been happily dating for a year and a half. We knew each for a year and a half before we started dating as well, which I think is very important to include. If you're considering starting a romantic relationship with someone you've met online, make sure you really get to know them first. Meeting in person a few times is also a good idea, to make sure that you mesh well with them in "real life."

 

I thought it was fine, until tonight when I learnt that someone I got close to online via second life was actually a complete fake. "Her" photos are all over SL on dodgy sites and romance scamming sites. :'(

 

My ex-wife and I met online, but not through a dating site, accidentally. We've been together 4 wonderful years until her SSRI medication claimed her. Having said that - no - I don't believe in online dating or dating for that matter. Having never dated myself - all the relationships I've ever had happened kind of by themselves. So I dunno.. Never really went OUT there looking you know..

 

Maybe they're not so perfect in real life?