Plenty of Fish in the Cesspool: Online Dating

[Idonthaveausername]

Despite my natural aversion to online dating, I gave it a shot to either prove myself wrong or reaffirm my preconceived notions about it. I figured that if the worst came to worst, I could share my experience here and still come away with something gained albeit experience and knowledge. Since it was free, I used the platform Plenty Of Fish

Profile

Same as everything else, I put my best effort into my POF profile. I used a decent headshot, full-body portrait, filled out the entirety of my profile, and answered all questions honestly; I selected "looking for someone to marry" because I don't want to waste my time with losers who don't believe in government or are afraid of commitment. My profile consisted of hobbies, what I looked for in a man, what I expected from a relationship, and how dishonesty is my biggest deal breaker; I even included humor in a joke about my short stature. Overall my profile presented a general picture of my personality and look

Word of advice: do NOT do what this guy did

First impressions

My first impression of POF was there are a lot of guys named Josh or Joshua. I received 5-20 messages a day from other users, but most were obviously not going to work out (maybe there was a way to filter who can send you messages, but I never found it.) Lots of old guys (more than 10 years older) and guys looking for hookups. I refused to respond to guys with terrible grammar or clearly looking for a hookup as well as guys wearing sunglasses in their profile. The vast majority of men on that site were outside the realm of what I am interested in for a romantic relationships. I care a lot about health and taking care of your body, so overweight guys were automatically deleted, but I don't care how tall a guy is since I'm only 5 feet tall

After about a month of pilfering through profiles and messaging guys to see what we had in common... I agreed to meet with 3 guys

Guy 1

Out of the three guys I agreed to meet, the first one was the best candidate and his profile seemed like my ideal man. Lot in common and flirting came easily between us. He was definitely my type and had really nice green eyes. We messaged everyday for a couple weeks and even spoke on the phone--he said he was glad we talked because I have a cute voice and a cute laugh. I was excited to meet him, but...

He blew me off. Not once, not twice, but three times. First time due to bad weather, second due to work calling him in, and the third time because he confessed he was in love with his best friend. Snowstorms prevent driving and I admire men who work hard, so I was willing to give him another chance since he immediately apologized and begged me to give him another chance, but that last one--wtf? He told me to block him after that; needless to say, I did. I gave him some advice to get his life together and stop using the website to lead girls on when he's never going to be what they need, moved on, and agreed to meet with someone else the following week

Guy 2

The second guy I agreed to meet was a true gentleman and I appreciated the way he treated and respected me. He had several pictures on his profile and I liked his baby blues even though he was physically a little heaver than I prefer. Since I love food and he is a chef, I figured we would get along well; we talked a lot about food and cooking. Neither one of us grew up with ideal childhoods, so we had very similar views on life and were in similar spots. He definitely seemed like a trustworthy guy, so we agreed to meet up

We ate dinner in a nice Italian restaurant with huge portions of delicious food. While he seemed much like my idea of him online, he spoke very little and ate even less. The only thing I really remember him saying was that he went to school with one of my best friends...and learned Russian to ask out her best friend at the time....but it didn't work because they had very little in common. Now I'm healthy and try to exercise regularly, but I eat massive amounts of food, especially when I'm nervous or upset, so I ate everything on my plate (and the waiter congratulated me on it because he'd never seen anybody finish a whole plate due to the massive portion sizes) while he ate very little of his own. Nothing is wrong with someone not being hungry, but he told me he rarely eats and generally only eats once every two or three days. Eating food is practically a ritual for me, so the whole thing felt pretty uncomfortable for me and isn't something I could easily familiarize myself with on a day-to-day basis. Once I finished eating, he told me he had to call an Uber because his car was broken down which isn't necessarily a problem, but he lives about 45 minutes away from me, so relying on Uber to meet up is less than ideal

I liked the guy, but felt lackluster after meeting him. We texted afterwards and I agreed to meet up again, but got extremely busy with work and kind of forgot about him. He texted me a month later, but things were just too awkward at that point. I figured he wasn't the right guy for me since I hadn't thought much about him in the meantime, so I didn't return his message. If he had texted me after our first meetup, something may have come of it since I did like the guy and he was such a gentleman, but I easily forgot about him and his bizarre way of not eating largely influenced my decision to not pursue him back. (I told my friend about him later and she had completely forgotten him since high school, so I guess he is just a forgettable dude in general)

Guy 3

After my experience with the first two, I kind of lost hope for the third guy, but figured I'd give the website 3 shots before giving up on it. Out of the three, I probably had the most in common with the third guy when it comes to interests and hobbies, but I wasn't as romantically interested in him. In the one picture he had on his profile, he looked like an average guy, but I was a little tentative since he sort of reminded me of my brother (who I had a very bad relationship with growing up). A couple weeks after meeting the second guy, I agreed to meet with the third one to get things out of the way and be done with the site whether I liked him or not. We agreed on his favorite barbeque place

Immediately upon seeing this guy, I wanted to turn around and leave. He was about 30 pounds heavier and 3 or 4 years older in person--the absolute worst way to present yourself online--and had a creepy mustache instead of the flattering facial hair in his profile picture. I reluctantly ordered a sandwich (it was cold and I prefer barbeque smoking hot) and carried on a pleasant conversation with him. My physical preference for men is skinny or average and toned, so his picture of average weight was at my limit, but showing up 30 pounds heavier after claiming he worked out is unacceptable. I consider misrepresenting yourself online as lying (and wrote that on my profile) so there was nothing further between us. I need a man who takes care of his health and can be a healthy role model for children

Conclusion

2 out of 3 guys I met online were absolute no-goes and another just didn't work out. Pilfering through the completely wrong guys for me and risking what I dealt with 2 of them isn't worth it for me. I would rather be patient and wait for the right man to enter my life. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but sometimes that sea is a cesspool. Luckily I didn't encounter any truly terrible guys, stalkers, or anything life-threatening, so I guess I can recommend using online dating if you don't mind wading through the muck

Worst experience

Early on, a guy messaged me something lengthy and nice, so I responded even though I lacked interest. I tried to explain to him my concerns of why I thought we wouldn't be a good match, but he kept messaging me. He was a pizza delivery driver with no aspirations for a better career, something I find lazy and unattractive in a partner, especially since I work more hours than him (all three of the guys I agreed to meet work as much as I do and put the same effort towards work). Found out he also married a girl, but she divorced him after 3 months for reasons he didn't feel comfortable sharing online...he then grew upset when I failed to message him back (because I was busy with work), so I deleted him as anger over trivial things is something I avoid in a relationship and I was never interested in him to begin with. He was the worst guy I encountered on that site

[bethshepherd]

Very informative and interesting article, insightful, knows more about these things than most amateurs. But do remember that when you join dating sites a lot of the men on there are married or in a relationship and lying about it. They make up all sorts of excuses to avoid meeting you evenings and weekends or for cancelling at short notice. Others pretend they want a real relationship because it sounds better than saying they are just wanting to get an orgasm off you. Others are losers who go to free dating sites because they are unemployed or in a crappy job and cannot afford the professional sites. So professional people are far better off going to sites geared especially for them, which you pay for. But which sift out people you do not have enough in common with.

[Idonthaveausername]

Thank you. I kind of got that vibe from the site in general. I'm considering trying a site you have to pay for in the future

[bethshepherd]

Agree with you re the delivery man. I work very hard and earn a lot, so no way would I go out with a guy who is not ambitious, earns a lot less than me, does not work as hard as me etc. You would end up being short changed and making do, re birthday presents, nights out, OR you would pay for him... if you end up living together you pay all of the bills? Nah. And what would you have to talk about if you are ambitious, smart and hard working and he is not? You would have nothing IMPORTANT in common! Nine times out of ten guys like him have been dumped and rejected by unemployed women and women in crappy badly paid jobs, so if he is not good enough for them why would he be good enough for you? These guys do not think about how these things - just like they do not think about improving their income and working life - or they are only after sex. To me it is insulting he thought you would be interested in him when you can do so much better. Have a happy life.

[bethshepherd]

As for the silly guy who boasted about being so desperate he sleeps with a psycho who is fat and wrinkly. You get plenty? Untrue. Men who get plenty are usually rich, good looking, charming and well educated. Know plenty of them. No man who gets plenty has to go to a dating agency, or make do with chubby wrinkly weirdos - which is what you said you did. You were too mean to pay and not good enough for a real sexy woman, so just admit it to yourself. The scraping of the barrel was done by one who is the scraping of the barrel. I know lots of women who are sexy and beautiful, none oif them would want a guy like you, nor make it that easy for him, nor on first meet. And I bet wrinkly psycho fatso gets more offers than you because she is a woman and because only men who would usually have to pay would be willing.

[Idonthaveausername]

Haha I completely agree with you. Reading posts like his just remind me why I don't waste my time with losers. If he was happy with his relationships, he wouldn't be trying to shit on somebody else's... and admitting to lowering to wrinkly fatty's level only makes him look bad

[Brewmaster531]

Yeah I'm not the biggest fan of those sites despite still (half-heartedly) trying. The biggest issue for me is you lose the spontaneous moment of meeting someone. You don't just look at someone and go "that's the one" when you're online. You look at their profile and those otherwise minor details stand out. Online dating almost advertises itself like "you tell us what you want and we'll give you exactly that". It's like getting a custom built boyfriend or girlfriend. When they're less than perfect, you wanna keep looking. But in person they can be less than perfect and still steal your heart.

[Idonthaveausername]

I get what you're saying here. I had a similar experience with the second guy because he seemed very gentlemanly online and we texted a lot, but he barely spoke in person. I guess I was expecting the dialogue to continue and felt like something was missing. In person, I love the stoicism of a man who holds his tongue, but it seemed odd after so much communication online

[coachTanthony]

Out of all the sites I recommend to clients.. . this is definitely not one of them. This site is now infested with left over escorts from craigslist and backpage. They are everywhere now infiltrating the online dating sites like cock roaches. On both sides of the fence I see way too many profiles that have photos that are ranging from "just taken" to 10 years old.. it's so obvious it's sickening. It appears you didn't do too bad but I always recommend Match... Yes it cost something but because of that more people are engaged in finding someone. Nice take!

[Idonthaveausername]

Lol I could see that since it is a free site. I've heard Match is better, so I might consider trying it another year or so from now

Thanks

[azzntittiz]

Match and Eharmony are a waste of time, they're not any different from the others and you lose money.

[coachTanthony]

@azzntittiz E Harmony is garbage in my opinion but Match has always done me well.

[Bluemax]

"Out of all the sites I recommend to clients..."

I'm curious, what sites do you recommend and what sites do you tell them to avoid and why?

[coachTanthony]

@Bluemax Match and bumble are my top 2.

[zagor]

I know 3 people who met their spouse on eHarmony.

[coachTanthony]

@Bluemax Avoid the rest of them. LOL

[vishna]

How do you rate OkCupid? I've had success on it. But it can be hit or miss and some men use it as tinder/waste space.

[bethshepherd]

Those guys are not real escorts sweetie. They are guys who would usually have to pay to get laid but try it on with women, living in a dream world. Most of them are so illiterate, scruffy, ugly and ordinary women would laugh at the idea of meeting them at all, let alone paying them too.

[coachTanthony]

@vishna OkCupid used to be great.. too many questions to answer that make no sense for a real connection.

[bethshepherd]

passinby you obviously care about what I say here, it touched a raw nerve and annoys you because it is true, so you blocked me. You should consider yourself lucky that I bother when most people who want my opinion and knowledge have to come to me as paying clients. You say you get plenty yet you go on dating sites looking, and you end up with someone wrinkly fat who is a psycho! oh my. That does make you desperate. And lucky for you a wrinkly , fat psycho is desperate too. But people who are normal and good looking do not have to make do, and that is what annoys you and why you have to make do. You see when women look for a date they are usually looking for friendship, compatability and love. Not to be a blow up doll for a tosser. Surely it would be simpler to just buy a blow up doll if you a guy who struggles?

[Logorithim]

Met my current girlfriend online, but in general I find online dating to be a waste of time and would only do it to meet a woman in Asia. It's got to be really hard for a woman to sort through all the responses and find the diamond in the rough.

To anyone, male or female, looking to meet someone online, I would stress that you usually have to be willing to accept someone with a big flaw or two, so be sure to dial back your expectations somewhat and focus on the important stuff. To put this in more concrete terms, I am willing to date an overweight woman who isn't particularly attractive but I won't date one who doesn't have a good personality and who isn't caring and doesn't treat other people well.

[Idonthaveausername]

Thank you for your response. It's interesting that you view these websites negatively despite experiencing success, but it's great you found someone

I don't mind flaws, but they have to be specific ones. It might sound odd, but there are specific flaws I look for in people that I share, that way we have a common ground and understanding

[Logorithim]

That makes sense to me- we can often identify better with people with whom we have a shared understanding, whatever that might be.

My view is negative because of the general low quality of the people on these dating sites (by this I mean they have serious issues) and the massive numbers, so people usually don't focus on an individual person like they might in real life- you're just a number.

[godfatherfan]

As an IT guy, when I was ready to date after my divorce I thought it was going to be perfect. We put in our info and bam, perfect match. Within a week or two I have the woman of my dreams and we go off to live happily ever after. Jesus was I wrong.
I will say that online dating for women is COMPLETELY different then it is for men. Women get a flood of messages daily from a vast array of men pigs and a few from us good guys. When I realized I never really gave myself time to just have fun and enjoy life, I decided to take at least a year off of dating. However, I left my profile out there on POF and OkCupid and decided if I received a message from a woman that I was interetested in, I would pursue it. In 18 months I received exactly 4 messages. 2 were women that I have received multiple messages from and I think send them to every guy on the site. The other two I was not interested in. The fact is that women just don't send messages first. Since I am having issues trusting any woman after being lied to by my ex-wife for so long, I really want the woman to make that first move so I can at least trust that she is interested and not just out for a free meal or night out. Unfortunately, more then one of the women I have dated online have actually said "if I had to make the first move, I just wouldn't date". That is so sad to me. It shouldn't be up to the guy to always make the first move. It seems younger women don't have this hangup as much, but that doesn't help me. I have no desire to date a 21 yr old.
So I continue to leave my profile out there. I even have my own name as the profile name Jeff_Giuliani. Still I have received less then 10 messages since March of 2016. If I get online and send out messages, I can usually have a date within a few days. Unfortunately, women lie as much as men do. And just because you match up on paper, doesn't mean you will match up in real life. But up until recently I worked at home, I don't go to church, I don't have many friends. So online is the only way I can meet anyone. I don't go to bars and who would ever want a relationship with someone they met in a bar. And women seem to think it is "creepy" for a guy to just walk up to them on the street and ask for their number, but they are ok if it is in a small area with alcohol involved, I never understand that. Plus I am horrible at estimating women ages. I once thought a woman was in her early 40's just to find out she was 19. So the saga continues...

[zagor]

Have you tried meetup groups or similar that are oriented towards a particular interest or activity rather than activities specifically for dating? You often meet a better quality of single person that way, plus you will have at least one thing in common.

[Idonthaveausername]

@zagor That's a decent idea. Or join a book club or some sort of club with people your age. I don't normally suggest bars for anything other than building your confidence up talking to people you're attracted to. I hate getting groped by random creeps

Honestly I have no sympathy for guys who refuse to ask women out. You're self-selecting your genes out of the gene pool with that. I've been hurt in a relationship too--my ex cheated on me--but that doesn't mean I'm never going to trust another guy because of him. I know lots of happy, faithful couples and know I can find a faithful man too. You can claim women have it easy, but we don't. Having to deal with guys following you home from the gas station at 2 AM after you get off work is not easier

[slatyb]

Three dates is nothing. I did a lot of online dating, mostly on match. com. It's a paid service so I knew that the women who were recently active were at least seriously looking. Still one summer I had seventeen first dates and no second dates. The next January I met a wonderful women who looked better than her profile picture. We've been together over ten years.

Online dating effectively is a skill that can be learned. I quickly learned to pass over women with bland profiles, e. g. I enjoy travel, walks on the beach, etc. Who doesn't? I wrote about three paragraphs myself, worded to turn off women who wouldn't be a match. I still got messages from women who either didn't read it or didn't understand it.

Other lessons: 1) do not waste time texting or E-mailing back and forth with prospects. 2) the first date should not be dinner. Dinner takes too long and after food is ordered you are trapped. Meet for coffee only, or a drink, so you can escape when it's bad. If you meet a guy and he's not what you expected, just say "Sorry, this isn't going to work" and leave without explanation. If he lied about his age or appearance he will know why. 3) Learn to read profiles. Boring people write boring profiles. Funny people write funny profiles. Make sure yours is interesting, and respond only to people who read it and got it.

[Idonthaveausername]

I'm glad to hear it worked out well even after so many bad dates

I get what you're saying, but I hate coffee and don't want to drink the first time I meet someone. I think I prefer personal interaction better

[Afrochick]

I like diner <3 :( lol

[slatyb]

@Afrochick I had a lot of first dinner dates, some with women who blatantly lied about their appearance. One woman selected "A few extra pounds." She was about 5-3 and 250, which put her about 100 pounds more than a few. She also lied about her smoking habit. No one smokes on line, they are all "Trying to quit". Still we had a pleasant meal.

[torken]

I think the key with online dating is more volume and less caring.

That 3rd date where you wanted to leave in the first 30 min? That right there is why the first date should always be coffee! (Or tea if you dont like coffee.)

A coffee date can take 30 min, it can morph into a 4 hour date if its going well too!

In my book: All online first dates should be at a coffee shop.
Also in my book: Don't think as hard about your choices. In the time you spent worrying about these 3 dates, you could've gone on 10. All coffee, all a short amount of time.

The low odds of success simply demand trying more often and with less time invested, you know?

[Idonthaveausername]

I understand you point, but I hate coffee lol

I don't think the online thing is for me. I prefer personal reactions and not risking being lied to

[Salsacumbia]

I love the way you describe the online dating. Yes i did the exact thing... one guy said he was tone and fit and when I met him 30 pounds heavier, and other fitures that didn't match at all on his profile! But he was nice... we had a chat, and nothing else. He text me I told him that it wasn't going to work out and that we had zero common so I needed. I hate it that some guys put false pictures when they dont look anything like on their profile.
I take my time, and let guys come to me. But I love being single and who that fish would be... don't know I'll let that happen naturally. Thanks for sharing your story. 😊

[Idonthaveausername]

Thank you. It's nice to know someone else has had similar experiences. I've heard about people looking different than their pictures or heavier, but I didn't expect a guy to claim he worked out and have that drastic of a difference. He should've just been honest all the times I told him I was going to the gym with my friend that let himself go

[Salsacumbia]

I know... thesame happen to me... much bigger than I expected! He was nice. But not my cup of tea... ☺

[IlyaTheImpaler]

I skimmed through this take to understand more about online dating and I have found two empirical laws:

1. Whenever online dating doesn't work out it is always the problem with the other person.

2. The average 5' tall woman gets 5-20 messages per day on POF.

Good take and thanks for the info. (maybe you to the first guy is like the second guy - who is of course less good looking - to you)

img.4plebs.org/.../1520887881214.jpg

[Idonthaveausername]

1. Lol that's true for everything. You can always blame something on somebody else. But I don't think it was really anybody's fault with the second guy because neither of us texted the other until a month later

2. You may be assuming that I'm average while I have been informed otherwise. And I'm going and would assume older women may get less... but that's probably true for most somewhat attractive women on the site

And I'm not entirely sure what the first guy's problem is. His initial message to me was about how he wants to find a redhead to worship and he told me I was perfect, then apparently he can't get over his friend who isn't interested in him at all. Lol his loss

Thank you for the feedback and funny picture

[IlyaTheImpaler]

I wouldn't trust someone who wants to worship women on dating sites. Good boys only worship true Gods.

[Idonthaveausername]

Haha maybe that was the problem all along. I thought he was joking and being flirty, but maybe he was awkwardly serious...

[That-Guy]

I've never had a bad date, not because i am awesome but each was a learning experience for me and it's fun to get the "best" of someone in a sense.

Whether it be a friend of a friend or online dating... dating has it's ups and downs however mostly enjoyable.
- a lot of this i think is being a guy... women aren't creepy and they are usually fairly self aware and versed in conversation.

Sure online dating is.. online dating! It can be savage but.. entertaining.

I had an app that swiped "right" on all the different dating apps and then i'd review them later that night while pooping.

#Plenty of fish

[Idonthaveausername]

I like your mentality with it. I don't regret meeting these guys even though it could've gone better. I feel like it was a good way for me to start talking to guys again after my ex

[That-Guy]

"I feel like it was a good way for me to start talking to guys again after my ex"

Exactly.. and i think people go right to "bad" or "shitty" date if things don't progress smoothly.

When i hear bad date, i think "oh.. did she throw up on you? You guys got shot at the restaurant?" Then i hear "oh well... she said she's into guys who (insert a thing not quite you)."

Anyways, yes.. you're sampling and developing your taste for the guy you may want to date.

I think.. if you are getting frustrated or discourage... take a break! :D

[bethshepherd]

One of my clients went on POF, I did warn her not to bother but she ignored me. Nearly every man she met expected it to be just sex and sex on first meet. Which did not go down very well with a woman who is a managing director of a large business, very well educated, very smart, very good looking and all the rest. She told me that if she had wanted to meet men like that she would have had a list of prices ready for how much each sexual service cost!
One of them had the cheek to tell her that he wanted to meet her for just ten minutes - just to see what she looks like properly - see if she is as good as her photo - and if she is really good looking , he will arrange a whole evening with her so long as it ends in sex. They were talking to her as if she were a high class call girl who works for nothing.

[That-Guy]

@bethshepherd It's certainly a savage place and the experience she had is 99% of all women stories no matter where they meet a guy.

while online dating is 1 avenue, i don't think it's the best place to meet someone at all.

In my opinion, the best place to meet someone is doing an activity you enjoy and becoming active in whatever that is, you'll meet like-minded people doing a thing you love!

[bethshepherd]

In many ways I agree with you, but some are not healthy or fit enough to go to sports stuff, and there are lots of groups in my area where nearly everyone there is female and aged 80 plus so that would not work for me, not would meeting the same people over and over again, if there is no spark the first time why meet them many times? or take time off of work unpaid to be there?

[That-Guy]

@bethshepherd

Spark is BS to me.. some relationships take time to build as each person will interact differently.. some friendships / relationships took time to form while other form quickly (spark) and dissolve just as fast.

Activity: sure.. if i am hoping to meet someone at my RC Racing Track where 98% of the people there are male... i may want to potentially explore other avenues however... the 98% of the males there... might have friends! I can network and hangout in a social setting that is more female friendly.

So.. there's a will... and there's a way.

My friend dated this girl and the first 2 years he was happy to just be in a relationship, didn't really like her that much... she knew he was the one.
Now they've been married for 3years.

Not the cookie cutter spark, the one... so... it can happen.

[fashionguy17]

Plenty of Fish is THE WORST. I used it 3-4 years ago. It's terrible. The kind of women you meet on that site... they are trash. All the women I met were super trashy, tasteless, had lot of kids, weren't college educated (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I prefer my women to have a a college education), didn't have a car and were vile.

I talked to a lot of women on the site and they all sucked. When I finally went on a date with a girl that seemed alright on the site, I found out she racist against Hispanic people and she spoke negatively about Mexicans on our date and would point them out and talk trash about them. It was disgusting.

I know some people have qualms about online dating, but if you are going to do an online dating site, try Tinder. Again... I know people have mixed experiences on Tinder, but that's where I met my current girlfriend. We have been dating for nearly 2 years now.

[Idonthaveausername]

Some serious hatred for POF lol. I'm generally against Tinder just because everyone my age uses it to hookup and I'm not into thar

[fashionguy17]

Tinder isn't that bad compared to POF.

[Catholicgirl22]

I gave up on online dating as most of the guys were creeps and it took up too much time going through profiles. I deceided it would be better to meet guys the old fashioned way. I met a guy recently at my church and it looks like it could go all the way.

[Idonthaveausername]

Sounds like we had similar experiences lol

That's great you met someone you share core values with. I hope it works out

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter what method you use for dating, it will always be the same until there is a significant shift in the collective consciousness. Out of about 100 men, you might by chance meet one that had already awakened but it's unlikely. What you will find are either immediate users, or those that pretend not to be for long enough to fool you.

People will tell you that it's just online, but that's just a more comforting though than the likely truth. If the roots of the tree are rotten, even with fresh leaves and healthy looking bark, the core is still rotten, and that's where the shift needs to occur.

Your best bet is to simply be a light of consciousness so that an awakened moth is drawn to your flame because he knows it won't burn him...

[Idonthaveausername]

That is actually beautiful in a poetic way. Thank you for this

[Anonymous]

I had a terrible experience with POF as well. I met three guys and texted several others. The first guy I met turned out to be a drug dealer with stalker tendencies. The second one was kind of normal, but he only wanted to have a ONS and we didn't quite click. The last one was completely bonkers; we met at the cinema and the minute he got there he pulled his dick out and asked me for a bj. Also, I'm pretty sure he was married.
Nearly all the guys to whom I gave my phone number were enthusiastic nude senders that I had to block. There were only two guys who were sane, I even became friends with one of them.

[Idonthaveausername]

That sounds awful! Why do guys even think that's ok?

Fortunately nobody tried to send me nudes

[Streamhopper]

You're typical of your age group; please don't take that as an insult, I just mean you have your preference. As you get older, your views will change. Yes, it sucks you had the experiences you did, but you learned from them. Not all guys are like that, your age or not.

[Idonthaveausername]

I don't take it as an insult. I acknowledge that I am a picky person, but I have plenty of time to be so. I'll know it when the right man comes along and I'll compromise then, but I refuse to settle for the wrong man. I plan on my views changing, but my values will not

[bethshepherd]

I like @Idonthaveausername. she talks so much sense, and so young too. She will go far.

[Idonthaveausername]

@bethshepherd
Thank you. I've actually been getting the feeling lately that a whole lot of things in my life are about to change for the better

[bethshepherd]

I have been here a lot time now, and am only following two people here, you and one other. The rest are childish, boring, clueless or whatever. And there are so many tossers on here, quite pathetic. Life is too short.

[Idonthaveausername]

@bethshepherd
Oh thank you

I only really kept up with one other guy on here, but he deleted his account because of all the trolls. Even I had to take a break from them for a while lol

[Tuxxy]

I love the depiction of your final date in the final image haha, I don't understand how you can get married and break up in 3 months. Like why even get married in the first place?

Good read though, maybe online dating isn't as dreadful as initially I thought.

[Idonthaveausername]

Haha I didn't actually go out with that last guy because he gave me a really bad vibe... kind of like the Kardashians when one of them was married for like a day lol

Thank you. It overall wasn't a bad experience and I did enjoy talking to guys on there. I feel like it was a good stepping stone for me to start talking to guys again after my ex, but I prefer personal interaction better than online

[sodaa_popp]

LOL I love the image that says "81% of people lie about their height, weight, or age," and then it goes on to cite a variance of 0.5" for height, 2lbs for weight, and 6 months for age of profile photos. I would have thought the lies would have gone a lot further than that.

[Idonthaveausername]

I would've expected that too considering the one guy was obviously way older and fatter than he looked, but the other guy was up-to-date and I used very recent pictures, so I think it's more of an average. I remember my mother always used old pictures that made her look skinnier lol. So I'm wondering how accurate those statistics are

[sodaa_popp]

I suspect they are cherry-picked. I don't think most girls would care (or even notice) if it was really only.5", 2 lbs, or up to 6 months off. I could only see it being an issue if the variance was much greater.

[peachblossomluck]

Very nice mytake! One of my friends went in that site and kept meeting inappropriate matches as well! She kept finding well to do lonely men with one thing in common: micro penis. I'm not even exaggerating. That's why I won't go on there lol. I call that site "Murky Fish tank "

[Idonthaveausername]

Thank you

Hahaha that does sound like something that has a high probability of happening since insecure people are more likely to use online dating and guys are really insecure about their size. I'm not personally worried about size, but the insecurity is a huge turnoff for me

[sean1234]

Wow, what about the guys who were laid of, company went out of business, can't find anything better or whatever, money isn't everything you know. I was on POF, after a while just porno profiles... weird. I can't believe you even got a message on that site. After many years I only got like 2 or 3 messages. One from a lady I wasn't interested in what so ever and another that hated my profile enough to message me about it, lol. I can't help it I believe in God and that Jesus is his son.

[Idonthaveausername]

Oh I do know that money isn't everything, but I also know that this world runs on money. You have to make a certain amount of money to cover your living expenses or you'll be homeless, and I don't want to be homeless or raise a child in homelessness. Complaining about money isn't going to fix your financial problems

Again, men should not expect women to message them first. If you want people to come to your business, you have to advertise and market--dating is similar--nobody will be interested if they don't know you're there

[bethshepherd]

If a guy is laid off and cannot get a job and money is not everything then he will be happy to go to the free dating sites and date women who are also unemployed. Why would he expect to be able to update with a woman who has more than him and then find fault with her if she says no? It is unfair and gold digging. Anyway I know plenty of people who are doing well and none of them has ever had problems with being laid off or not being able to get an equally good job. Most of them are self employed and hire a lot of staff> As for being a religous not, no thanks. My best friend is a minister's wife, she is very much into religion and does a lot for her church and goes there a lot, but she never rams it down peoples' throats or expects them to be the same, hence she is popular. Other people I know go on and on about religion and the bible and christianity all of the time and have no friends, because they are dictating to others and b o r i n g and bossy about it. POF is for losers.

[lailaknaff2]

Online dating never really appealed to me. I met my husband on playstation 3. He's from Holland Im from USA. I was 18 he was 27. Nobody believed in us. However here we are living together and in sooo much love. He did tell me he only went into that playstation game like once a year, plus he thought I was a guy or a troll. The chances of us meeting were in a million. Thats why I believe in true love

[Idonthaveausername]

Haha that's awesome!

Sounds like how my aunt and uncle met, but they're much older. She had a question about guns and he answered her in a chat room. He asked her to marry him the first time they met face-to-face and that was 6ish years ago

[cassthemotions]

just use Tinder. it works as long as you're careful with it. got both my hookups and actual dates on it lol

Also... I'm going out with my crush for 2 years from my previous school this week so I guess it's not the ultimate option either hahaha i do know some friends who met their loves on Tinder tho!

[Idonthaveausername]

I'm not interested in hookups at all and don't really want to go out with people who are

But that's great it worked for yoi

[Kiran04]

It's no better on the other side of the fence. You either get cringy girls, fake profiles created to bait you into paying, or ignored entirely. Online dating gives you the same experience you have with everything else online. Loads and loads of horse shit and a diamond in the rough here and there. Well, if you really want that diamond then pick up a shit shovel and get to it. If you're too weak of heart then stay away. The internet is a dirty, grungy place. Der be monsters here.

[Idonthaveausername]

I don't have a hard time believing that. I can only imagine there's an equally terrible woman for every terrible man on there

I think I prefer gauging someone face-to-face because I don't have to waste a month texting someone who isn't worth it in the end. It's easier to filter through people I can see obviously won't work out

[Kiran04]

It's less about there being terrible women and more that there are just tons and tons of fake women profiles designed specifically to lure men into paying for the service. They come with cookie cutter responses to make you think they're real, but there isn't a thing real about these "women". The rest of time as a guy you're a drop in the ocean, and most women get so many messages that yours is lost in the sea and either goes unnoticed or is deleted without being read. Women tend to get kid in a candy store syndrome when there's so many offers, so if yours isn't extra special or doesn't impress them outright, they simply skip you. Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. You get to deal with creeps while I get to message 100 women and pray just 1 answers me back. Welcome to the interwebs.

[Idonthaveausername]

I get it. That's why I tried to respond to most guys who wrote something decent (and with proper punctuation and grammar) even if I wasn't interested in them. There were a few guys I would message "You seem very interesting and I think we would have a lot in common, but you're a bit outside my age range" or something like that. I don't want to feel like I'm dating my dad lol

[Kiran04]

Lol. The thing is, since guys have to message 100+ women to get a single response, we simply don't have the time or energy to make every message personalized and exciting. Even doing that doesn't really yield any better results than simply cutting and pasting the same message over and over again, so it's just a vicious cycle. Women bitch men don't put any effort into their messages, but men don't get any response to their messages even when they do put in effort so they have zero motivation.