Who believes in Internet Dating?

I have had a lot of bad luck with internet dating. I require some physical intimacy so, "dating" someone I never see is not really an option for me. I've tried distance relationships and they have been very hard for me emotionally to deal with. In every instance there was no chance of the other person and I being able to relocate due to children and when you only see someone once or twice a year, I don't consider that a relationship.

I've never had much luck with internet dating sites either, unless I've openly lied about my appearance or tried to conform to what "average" women want in a guy, and I won't do that (be dishonest) so ... dating sites are pretty much out for me as well. (Most dating sites are 10 guys to 1 woman I've found which is also not a big positive)

There are people who make it work and to them I say congratulations.

I didn't originally go on the internet to find someone but me and my now boyfriend got chatting and found out we only live 20 minutes away so met up and now we have been together for 3 years in July

xxx

thats how i met my husband so i cant say i dont agree, wasnt planned we got talking on myspace and after awhile he did the 150mile trip & it got serious he moved here & we started a family together. that was 6years ago and im so glad he requested me randomly. hes sweet, caring - can be lazy but hes not like any other ex of mine and i met them in flesh first! i wouldnt do the hole dating site thing though, i think relationships work better maybe without 'looking' & waiting. - i know my friend met her partner typing a number wrong & the text sent to him instead!

My wife and I met on the internet, through AOL over 15 years ago, when there were very few people online. We just met for fun, did not have any expectations since we lived 200 miles apart. I can't imagine being with anyone else.

You have to be truthful with who you are, but be vigilant enough to keep your guard up. Saying you are somebody you are not, or trying to string somebody along for a fun time will only get you trouble.

I think it's awesome. I met my wife over 10 years ago and we are very happy. Good dating profile and honesty = good matches.

^^^
my point, exactly

I met my husband in a chat room 14 years ago. I wont go into all of the specifics here, but we lived over 1500 miles apart. We talked online and the phone for a year before we met. We continued taking 2 week vacations together twice a year for 7 years. After the kids were all grown and graduated from high school, he moved here and we married and our life together is a beautiful one.
For all the years we spent online, we talked about everything you can imagine in great detail. I think we know each other as well as we know ourselves. It might not work for alot of people and it doesn't, in most cases. But other situations don't work all the time either.

I gotta agree with everyone else who says that it's just another way to meet people. I used to have profiles on Match and OKCupid, because while I put myself out there and did what everyone said I should do, I just wasn't much into the whole bar/club scene. I met a couple really cool guys and a couple losers, but that would be the same no matter where I met them, I think. :laugh:

As for the whole "being unsafe" aspect, I would always meet these guys in a public place like a restaurant or mall. I think the old misconception of people posting pictures of models and saying it's them is now bogus. A person you meet at a party or at a bar could just as easily lie about who they are and what they do...the only difference is that you know what they look like in person. *shrug*

As for the whole different countries aspect, that kinda weirds me out. I work with this guy that is now ENGAGED to a girl from Thailand. He went to visit her a few months ago, and they're now engaged after their first in-person meeting. He's paying mucho dinero for her to come live in the US with him. I thought this was a bit extreme, but he seems happy so who am I to judge?

ETA: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I met my current boyfriend through my cousin. Go figure, right?

I met my husband online before it was "cool." In April we will have our 12 year anniversary lol.

So yeah... I definitely believe in Internet Dating!

I did not do internet dating. Which means I did not mean to meet my now husband on the internet. We just met up in a forum with a similar interest and started talking from there. As we both lived only an hour apart, we met at a party in real life pretty fast, decided we like to hang out with each other as friends, and the rest is history *lol* We had both been in a phase when we did not look for anything, but apparently it was meant to be.

I do not think I would go to an internet dating site as match.com or the like to meet somebody. I just doubt that many of those profiles are truthful. People can represent themselves as they want and invent a double life.

Same with my boyfriend and I except we had been in band together (at two different schools but often competing against each other) for about three years so I kinda knew him before only started talking online.

Just to add to clarify for the OP, if you meet someone online it doesn't necessarily mean you date over the internet for the entire relationship, I've only heard of that happening if they are very young and usually in middle school or high school. Not to say it doesn't happen with adults, I've just never heard or seen it.

=]

"What is the point in all this, if you cant hold your man/women in person, go out to dinner or just hang out in general, and how you know if he is actually faithful," for me you can never trust someone's words . For me words mean nothing. & obveriously If I don't see the guy in person, how would i know If he's not cheating regardless of all the phone calls you two have made, Skype'd etc..

Do you mean dating via/on the internet, or dating THROUGH the internet? As in, do you mean a couple who only communicates online, or a couple who use an online resource (say, OkCupid or eHarmony) to meet? I guess if it's the first, your points apply (although really it's not all that different from what a lot of long-distance couples would have to go through), although while it's not for me I don't really see the harm in a close, communicative relationship. If it's the second, none of that really applies, since it's no different (except in the set-up) from a blind date : )

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

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.

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.

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.

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...