Who believes in Internet Dating?

LuciaLongIsland

I didn't read everyones response, I hope I am not repeating myself/ YES, WITHOUT A DOUBT!!! No one I met misrepresented them selves. Two of the men were close to being millionaires. One picked me up in a limo, with a chemistry and magic set because I said I was looking for magic. The sad thing is that I wasn't physically attracted to them. The ones I liked, didn't like me...Uggg. I still keep in touch with one of them. I wish it had worked out. I now know him for over 20 years. I was in my 40's at the time and in great shape. Then I went back to the loser BF. Now I am just turned sixty, am overweight so I am not into it. Perhaps when I lose the weight. I know so many people who have met and even married men they met. What is the alternative??? Bars, friends the library. I also worked with all men. Go for it!!! I live on Long Island, NY.

geckofli

I don't know about ' dating' on the internet, I'm a tactile beastie but using the Internet to um reach out to, connect, just meet people.
I'd use it to find people with similar interests for the sake of making friends, I moved to my city knowing only one person and it's hard makin friendships with a fly in fly out roster, trying to meet potential 'partners' is impossible for me, I hate the pub& clubs and I'm not anywhere with any regulararity, cept the domestic airport I rack up the hour there

SeasideOasis

This answer depends on everyones personal situation. I dated a guy who lived in Boston several years ago and we only had e-mails, phones, and texts for a MASS MAJORITY of our relationship. We never fought, there was no lack of communication, and we had a WONDERFUL time whenever there were visits. However, we were both young and neither of us were in a place to move to the others city financially. I had nothing but great things to say about him to this day. That is pretty much an internet relationship.

There are situations more and more like this everyday as the world becomes a melting pot. People are traveling more. People are also being relocated more.

mymelody_78

You probably should distinguish between "long distance relationship" and "internet dating". You can meet someone on the internet and have dinner with them the next night if they live in your area.

My opinion is that the internet is just another way to meet new people. Especially for shy people like myself

I agree with this above!

I believe the original poster is talking about having a "relationship" over the internet without ever meeting.

As most people said before, online dating is another avenue to meet more people. You can meet people at the bar, grocery store, bookstore, anywhere and they can lie to your face.

HeidiMightyRawr

I met my partner through the internet. It wasn't a dating site though and we didn't start a relationship until after we had met in person.

Basically, he lived 300+ miles away so we had no intention of ever meeting up, we just had things in common and would speak to each other occasionally. He knew I lived near London (I lived approx 40 miles from there) but didn't know whereabouts. About 3-4 months after I first spoke to him online, he moved up near where I lived for University. Turned out his new house was about 3 miles from mine - so we decided to meet up.
Started a relationship with each other a couple of weeks after that.

So yes I believe in internet dating.. if you have an intention of actually seeing each other. If it's all going to be based over the internet or live so far away you can never see each other then I don't.
I don't have a problem with long distance relationships, but I just feel you have to have already had the strong relationship and trust there to begin with or it's (very rarely) going to work.

KimmieBrie

I think you are more talking about people who have internet relationships where they have never met in person and that's not what I consider dating.

OH YES !! That's what i mean. I have come across people that say "Oh I'm dating blah blah," and you found out its internet Dating ..

Ah ok - if a couple have never ever met in person, only online then I don't consider it a full relationship. Some people might but for me its: emotional, mental, spiritual and last but certainly not least- physical.

juliecat1

haha thats great!
Meeting someone on sites like match (or MFP) is totally doable. In a way, the slow, chatting aspect of it could be a good thing - its somewhat old fashioned in a high tech way. But eventually, I think, you do have to meet because otherwise - whats the point? I dont understand this new never meeting text phenomena thats going on.

Vhovell

I met my fiance through a dating website. Only went on there really to see what the fuss was about and met him. He lived 40 miles away so it's been fairly easy to see him and we now live together. I think the distance and knowing each other through the internet has given us a strong base for our relationship to grow on as we got to know each others personality before meeting up and before actually going out.

I definitely think it would be different though if he was further away or in a different country.

I'll happily admit i met him through the internet and had to pay 4.99 to talk to him (he's well worth it though!)

As for the last comment, i agree - if you don't see them personally or physically go out i don't think i would class that as dating, and completely agree with heidi_1990.

forgtmenot

Really??? I met my ex in an AOL chat room. He was 23 at the time. Luckily we didn't have any kids because then I would still have to talk to him haha.

writtenINthestars

Oh I forgot to add that I met my husband online in a AOL chat room specifically for NH. A huge group of us all became good friends IRL and him and I have been together ever since. I'm still very close friends with all those people 11 years later...

TheRoadDog

I suppose it is the wave of the future. I have never done it and I doubt I ever will. I have always found my love interests when I wasn't looking. I prefer to go through life doing the things I enjoy and believe that I have a better chance of running into people that enjoy the same things that I do.

Seen some comments about Internet conversations vs face to face. A person can be deceiving either way.

I would have said, before MFP, that meeting someone on the internet was a waste of time, however, I've met several people here that I feel are genuine beautiful people. I would probably date any woman on my friends list if they weren't married, were'nt so damn young or I wasn't married.

Good luck to anyone whatever method you choose to meet people.

I met my wife the old fashioned way. She was naked on my massage table.

ItsCasey

I don't consider it "dating" if you've never met the person, even if your intent is to meet them and actually go on a date at some point. "Dating" implies that the two of you are spending time together and progressing toward an actual relationship. Flirting on the Internet with someone you've never met is just that. I don't really have a problem with it ... live, and let live. But it's not "dating," and if dating is your goal, you've gotta come out from behind the computer screen at some point.

As for meeting someone online, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. To me, it's no different than trying to meet people in bars/clubs, as long as you are honest (about who you are and your intentions). Don't pretend to be better-looking, more successful, or more emotionally available than you really are, and you should be good to go.

I do want to address the OP's point about not being able to actually see and touch each other, hang out together, know that you're being faithful to each other, etc. The same things are true of long-distance relationships. The man I'm currently dating lives three hours away. We see each other, at best, once a week, which is okay for right now because we're both very independent, and we both work a lot. As for faithfulness, if a person is going to cheat, it doesn't matter if they live in the same house or on the other side of the world. If you feel like you've got to keep tabs on your man 24/7 to be sure of his fidelity, then he's not really yours, is he?

EmpressOfJudgment

I love all these "I don't believe in internet dating" comments. Like internet dating is some kind of mythical creature, like unicorns or Santa Claus.

I know tons of people who have tried internet dating and failed. I did it for a couple of years and it didn't go that well. I got one two month relationship out of it and a long string of good "WTF" date stories. Usually, it was a big waste of time. There was tons of excitement, flirting, and great romantic emails for a week or two in the beginning. Then we'd meet and there would be no chemistry, or the guy would turn out to be a little nutso.

Here is the thing I don't like about online dating: it creates unrealistic expectations. You create a list of what you want. They create a list of what they are looking for. On paper someone seems perfect. You seem perfect to someone. Then you meet and you realize this person isn't perfect. This person is kind of weird. This person doesn't look at all like his picture. Maybe this person has a quirk you don't like. Or maybe they think these things about you. Then you instantly give up on that person because you still have this idea that there is a perfect person out there. Or, in my case, you break up because he has a list of 25 things he needs in a long-term girlfriend and you only have 23 of those qualities and he has his life planned out for the next 15 years and you don't quite line up at year 5.

All of that being said, It is possible to have success with online dating. You will probably just have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. A lot. I have several couple friends who met online and are very happy. Two of the couples are engaged and one is married. The other ones are living in sin. Heathens. I've actually made a couple of good friends this way too. There were a few guys that I got along great with and we had a lot of fun, but the chemistry wasn't there. We were honest about it from the beginning and were still able to maintain platonic relationships.

Long story short, it's not for everyone, but sometimes, it's hard to meet people by chance. Unless your a sap who thinks online dating is messing with destiny, why not increase your chances of meeting someone great by going online. Just be smart about it and don't have ridiculous expectations. Oh, and always talk on the phone first. That ruled out a couple of crazies for me from the start.

The last thing I have to add is that there is something to the whole "It usually happens when you aren't looking thing." Perhaps that's why a lot of people fail at internet dating. They are trying way too hard. I met my current long-term boyfriend about two weeks after I swore off dating and decided I wanted to be single for awhile. I've seen it happen time and time again. People can smell desperation and it's not at all attractive.

Pollywog39

I tried Match.com. Paid for 6 months......and it was a waste of time and money.

I tried to meet a couple of guys, but they were not interested in me. The ones that WERE, well, I just said "no, thank you." Not my type or something else that didn't 'feel' right.

I probably won't go that route again. I just didn't seem to work for me.

kcphilly

I don't consider solely speaking online and never meeting dating...been through a situation like that where we planned to eventually meet up and see what happened but it feel through before that could happen. I would have never considered him a bf though.

But about in general meeting people online and honesty...a loser/liar is going to be one whether you meet them online or not. I have tried dating sites and have now "run into" 3 of my exs that I met all offline. And they all had lies/exaggerations in their profiles...which was not shocking to me since they all lied to me while dating having met in more "traditional" ways. The worst was my ex that I met when he was 28/29...he said he was in the "process" of moving out of his parents house, I was in college and he tried to play it like we were in the same spot in life. Well this is now almost 10 years later and he found my profile online and sent me a message...wanting to get back together...and he's still living with his mom and plans to until she's gone and he inherits the house. Yet his profile says he just had a new house built (yeah his moms!) and that he owns his own business (again, his moms, he just works for her). I'm sure he would tell the same lines of crap to someone he met in a bar, concert, wherever. Either way they're gonna be exposed eventually.

Even for long distance relationships...I think people who want to cheat will do it anyway, whether you're 200 miles apart or living in the same house. Yes one is easier but if the person doesn't have it in their heart to do it they're not going to just because they know they could get away with it.

vitacat

I met my husband online 10 years ago. At the time he worked in Paris and I lived in the north of England. After chatting for 2 weeks he offered to take me to dinner, the following weekend he flew to Manchester and did just that. He commuted at weekends for the next year then found a job close to my home. We've been married for 7 years in a couple of months

LaurenAOK

I met my boyfriend of 6 months online (OkCupid). I honestly didn't expect it to happen; I signed up for the site because it was free and I was bored and wanted to do the personality quizzes and stuff, haha. When he sent me a message I thought he was cute and seemed nice, so I replied, but still didn't expect anything to come out of it. But we kept talking and really clicked so we went out to dinner...we continued dating and have been very happy

In this modern age I see nothing wrong with meeting people online. As long as you're smart about it and aren't putting yourself in any danger, I say go for it. Now as far as maintaining a relationship strictly through online communication, that's a different story. It would take A LOT of trust and patience to get through that. I've done long-distance before and we used both the phone and internet to communicate, with occasional visits, and even that was really really difficult. I can't imagine it being 100% online.

stormieweather

I met my partner online, in a fantasy chat room.:devil: . We talked via messenger, email, and phone for about 6 months, then he flew across country to meet me. Two months later, he moved across country to be with me.

That was 9 years ago. We have a 6yr old daughter (<

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pic) and enjoy our life very much.

kapeluza

I met my husband on WoW.

LaurenAOK

I met my partner online, in a fantasy chat room.:devil: . We talked via messenger, email, and phone for about 6 months, then he flew across country to meet me. Two months later, he moved across country to be with me.

That was 9 years ago. We have a 6yr old daughter (<

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pic) and enjoy our life very much.

Awwwww