Someone tell me about online dating?

[3_pack_mom]

So I joined POF tonight There have been some guys that have contacted me already, but I have never done this online thing and want to benefit from your experiences So if you have things you watch out for, please tell me!

[Barbie]

I had lots of fun on POF.. and also met the best guy there.. we now just bought a house and life together.

I think we have to trust our guts... if something doesn't seem right, then usually it isn't. I never had any bad experiences....
Meet in a public place....
give out your cell number, not your home number
if you don't have a cell, then block your number if your calling him.
Until your feeling comfortable.
Just be yourself... and have fun.
I think there are alot of great single guys out there.... and of course the same for girls.
Have fun .

[jessie_2009]

I think online dating can be fun. i have done it, and my partner has done it, although we didn't meet that way...I guess as with anything, there will be good and bad..I met some good guys on there, some are still friends actually..

[prettyblonde]

I think the fun thing about online dating is that you can meet people a lot quicker and each wrong one brings you one step closer to the right one. So just go out and have fun, get to know someone first or just go on a first date and get to know them then. Either way just look at it like an opportunity to go out and have a good time. If things don't click and it's terrible then at the very least you get a funny/good story to tell people.

I could tell you some really funny/bad stories and almost contemplated writing a book about my dating adventures! I was going to call it "Plenty of Fish: but why are they all bottom dwellers? One Woman's quest to conquer the online dating world." a hahahahah. I think I have an outline for about 13-15 chapters, a hahaha. I gave up.

For me, the very first guy/date I went on was one of the best dates of my life. We had lunch and a did a wine tasting/tour and we clicked. But I already had a list of standards or things that I wanted in a partner and he didn't have some of those, so I had to move on. From there it was kinda hit and miss. I went on a date with a guy after talking for a month who failed to mention he only had one arm. He told me the night before and I thought well you never know he could be a really nice person, so I'll give it a shot. Turns out the guy was a complete jerk! Go Figure! haha.

I even had one guy come over from Vancouver and I Picked him up at the ferry and I think he assumed he was going to stay at my house, um sorry no. Anyways when our dinner bill came later he didn't even put down half the amount of the bill and we didn't even discuss if we'd be splitting it or not. haha. So I walked out after leaving a generous tip for the waitress and when he wasn't looking and went home. a haha.

After doing the online thing for a couple months to a year I got bored and was happy being single and didn't want to date anymore! I wanted to meet someone through friends and wanted to get set up and low and behold that's how it happened with my current bf.

SO, go try it - be open minded and be yourself and HAVE FUN! hehehehe.

[anonymous2011]

I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I think it's just another way to meet people. I think it's great for those that are at home in the vening with our children and don't have much of a way to meet new people. I have had bad ones, one of those being my son's dad but I have had a good one as well. My parents also have met online, and are still married 10 years later. I really think you just have to play it safe at first, meet in public etcetera. If it turns out to be not right, don't let it stop you. If a guy is not right for you it doesn't mean that meeting guys online is bad. If you had met him at a bar and he turned out to be bad, no biggie like I said it's just another way to meet a guy. And I don't mind it as you get to send lots of message back and forth to get to know a lot of info. You'll know if he's wroth giving your time to.

[3_pack_mom]

I guess the weird thing for me is that there were guys talking to me before I'd even finished the questionairre thingie that they wanted me to do.. but then one emailed me and we had so much in common! We talked for a few hours last night, and plan on being there at the same time tonight. It seems like we have a great time talking.. so why are my red flags going up? It just seems like it was a little too easy to find someone I enjoyed talking to, I guess.

[prettyblonde]

The nice thing about online dating is you can be totally honest and yourself. Sometimes when you talk on the internet you click with someone but when you meet them it's different. So just don't get any high expectations or your hopes up and just be honest if it's not right. And if it feels good then keep doing it!

[3_pack_mom]

That's EXACTLY what I was worried about, you just said it a whole lot better than me! I think I'm pretty cynical about this kind of stuff, having had the past relationship experiences that I've had, and as we are writing to each other my head is thinking:

Those might not even be pictures of you

Are you an axe murderer and I don't know it

What's the point in this, when we meet you'll see the extra 15 pounds that I'm still carrying from having a baby and not want me (although I did send him up to date pics)

How much of this are you lying about to try and make yourself seem more like my type?

God, I'm a horrible person sometimes

[camrose]

So I joined POF tonight There have been some guys that have contacted me already, but I have never done this online thing and want to benefit from your experiences So if you have things you watch out for, please tell me!

I also recently joined POF but the 1st time someone wanted to "IM" with me, I got nervous and quickly logged out

[jessie_2009]

I think do not take this so seriously, but I think that is good advice even if you are just don't " regular" dating, I find a huge mistake people make is to get too serious too fast without doing the whole dating thing...there is no need to do anything but have fun for at least the first month of dating someone, and you can date more than one person at once! Also, have an open mind and don't take everything so personally if things don't happen...as I said I did the online thing, and I did meet some great guys, they just weren't from me although one I did date for about 3 months, but some I am still friends with, in fact one I have been friends with for aboug 6 years and we still meet for coffee and go out dancing once in a while. I think it's great that we became friends this way, as friendship can be just as important as a partner in my opinion! My guy also did online thing, and he is quite a catch so he had lots of women who he went on dates with and met, but nothing really panned out for him, he said there was nothing wrong with the girls, they just weren't for him ( we met at a bar).......and give yourself a break...you are a catch so don't forget that!!! So just have fun!

[Barbie]

Geeee don't worry about the 15 extra lbs.....I found alot of guys interested in me, and I am alot more than 15 lbs overweight lol. I have done the online thing a few times over the yrs, and always found men weren't as picky .. hmm that sounds bad.... maybe just opened minded is the word lol.
I don't think the axe murdereres hang out on pof lol.
Just go in with an open , positive mind... you never know who you will meet.
Like Jen, I met some great guys who are still my friends... there is always a bonus.
Have fun.

[radiatorspringschildcare]

That's EXACTLY what I was worried about, you just said it a whole lot better than me! I think I'm pretty cynical about this kind of stuff, having had the past relationship experiences that I've had, and as we are writing to each other my head is thinking:

Those might not even be pictures of you

Are you an axe murderer and I don't know it

What's the point in this, when we meet you'll see the extra 15 pounds that I'm still carrying from having a baby and not want me (although I did send him up to date pics)

How much of this are you lying about to try and make yourself seem more like my type?

God, I'm a horrible person sometimes

If a guy is not going to love you because you carry 15 extra pounds then he's not worth your time. You deserve that's going love you for the way you are, and every bit of the way you are.
And yes sometimes the guys lie to make them fit your description, but you know what they can't keep the lies up for long. Don't go into it with walls up or find yourself forever looking for things wrong with him and that's just a waste of energy. It's scary I know but it's kind of fun too doing the asking questions back and forth game.

[prettyblonde]

And honestly, you'll know right away whether or not there is any attraction, chemistry or whether it is worth going on a second date. That's the fun about online dating is you get to go on "50 first dates" a hahahahah. Sometimes you meet someone that you think is really nice and they deserve a second date even though you didn't feel the fireworks, then after the 2nd or 3rd date you realize that if you don't feel it now you'll never feel it so there is no point in continuing on and maybe you're better as friends. Some you'll know that it's not going to work so there won't be a second date, but at least you can sit through the first date with a fake smile and enjoy a free meal. lol.

Like I said before, every wrong one brings you one step closer to the right one! AND, yes the one that is right will love you for you just the way you are 15 extra pounds and all!!! As long as you know and believe that you are worth it then you won't settle for someone else that doesn't feel that way. They're not worth your time and there are "plenty of fish" in the sea! lol. So get dating and have fun! You should have seen my daytimer last summer it was crazy filled up with dates, I'd go out with 3-4 different guys a week! It was fun.

Oh and I turned off the IM because too many ppl try to contact you and it just gets annoying when you're trying to converse with someone and keep getting interrupted. Also a lot of them will ask for your MSN so you can IM that way, I never wanted to give ppl that info so I only conversed on POF through emails.

Good luck and be sure to share your stories like Sha!

[the_hopester]

My friend had a very good experience meeting men on eHarmony.com. In general, she said that the lengthy questionnaire and matching process weeded out the people that weren't serious about meeting people. She chose to go out on dates with 2 people, both were very genuine and true to what they said about themselves in their profiles. She is now in a relationship with the 2nd man and they have been together over 4 months and are talking seriously about moving forward in their relationship. She was very careful about giving out personal information. Never gave out her phone numbers, last name, met in a public place for the first time. They were very respectful of this. She was a skeptic about online dating from the beginning, but is very happy that she did it.

[OnMyBack4Jack]

I've done the online thing....met some loser but I also met a great guy and we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary!

Good luck to you. Be safe and only do what you are comfortable with.

Meet in public places, invite him to you house when you're comfortable.

I found then when I rushed into meeting them in person it didn't work out, get to know the guy, talk on line then on the phone. Get a really good feel for him. Oh and find out his interests and drop names of other people you know with the same interests sports is usally a good ice breaker. Chances are you will know some of the same people, this might ease your nervousness and you can also do a "reference check" with your mutual friend.

HTH!