gypsy_nicky Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 I joined Match.com to see what sort of people gravitate to it. I made a pseudo profile for myself. I must say there's heaps of singles around my area and state that are very attractive in their profile pictures (referring to women). Why do they bother with online dating? I'm sure finding someone irl won't be a hassle. Am I missing something or are the profile pictures deceiving? "myspace angles" Any thoughts from LS members?
Pyro Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 I used match ages ago. One thing I realized after my time there was that you will get some of those attractive ones send you a wink (if they still do that) especially when your subscription is almost up. Some of those attractive ones are there just to keep people interested and give them hope. I had one whom I was attracted to send me a wink and I sent her a message saying hello and she never responded back.
Author gypsy_nicky Posted September 2, 2010 Author Posted September 2, 2010 I used match ages ago. One thing I realized after my time there was that you will get some of those attractive ones send you a wink (if they still do that) especially when your subscription is almost up. Some of those attractive ones are there just to keep people interested and give them hope. I had one whom I was attracted to send me a wink and I sent her a message saying hello and she never responded back. you saying they're dummy profiles? Subscription? I thought the signup was free? I didn't pay for anything.
Pyro Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 you saying they're dummy profiles? Subscription? I thought the signup was free? I didn't pay for anything. exactly.....well some of them. Not sure what percentage. I am pretty sure I paid something. Its been a long time. Maybe it was free at first but after so long they may require money? hmm
meerkat stew Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 What age are you looking at? If 30+, a significant percentage of women have children which can make match much more efficient for the intial scope-out, as it can be done from home. Lots more have realized that looking for quality people while buzzed or even drunk is counterproductive. Some are ISO people in their same education, accomplishment or income brackets, and those can be elusive to find out and about as they tend to be busy. Some are seeking no strings sex, but don't relish the prospect of cruising bars, drunks aren't nearly as good in bed. Some are in suburbs where opportunities to meet quality people may be scarce. Those are just the reasons off the top of my head. It really has nothing to do with whether or not they -need- to be online to find someone.
Eeyore79 Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 People use their best pictures for online dating (not their most realistic ones!), and sometimes they use old photos where they're slimmer or younger, plus as you said there's the dreaded "MySpace angle". So what you see on the dating profile isn't necessarily what you get. I met one guy who looked nice in his photos, but as soon as he opened his mouth I realised he had the most shockingly huge twisted yellow horse teeth - afterwards I realised he had his mouth shut in all of his photos. My friend said all the girls he's met tended to be significantly fatter than they look in their photos, and I found the same with quite a few guys too, although guys tend to exaggerate more about height than weight. There are some genuinely attractive people who use online dating, usually because they struggle to meet people in real life. Maybe they have kids or work a lot, so for whatever reason they don't get out much. Maybe they want someone who's a personality match, and that's easier to find online than down the local pub. Personally I used online dating because I'm shy and don't get out much to meet people, and I was looking for a very specific type of smart, bookish, geeky person who I'm probably not going to find in a bar. A word of caution about Match - a lot of people sign up to see who's on there but never pay the subscription. So although they can view profiles, they can't reply to messages - so you message them and they don't reply, and it's not necessarily because they're not interested, it's because they're not subscribed. There's no way to tell who's ignoring you and who hasn't paid the subscription, but I've heard that the vast majority of members haven't subscribed, so it's pot luck whether you're wasting your time messaging a particular person. If I were you I'd use OK Cupid - it's free, so if someone doesn't reply you know it's because they don't fancy you, not because they can't reply.
curlygirl40 Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 Hi I'm a match subscriber. If I remember correctly it's free to set up a profile, and I think you can wink for free, but you can't e-mail other people or respond to e-mails without paying for the subscription. So if you're just lurking and curious, it's free. I live in the suburbs and really don't meet a lot of people (who are free to date, my age, etc.) in my day to day life. That's why I joined. I'm 40 and have 2 teenage boys and I'm self employed and do a lot of work from my home. I do go out to bars occasionally to watch a band play or something, but I've never met anyone that way. I'm usually with a group of girls and even if I see a guy I would be interested in, I'm not exactly sure how to approach them. My friends don't seem to have anyone to set me up with, etc. So hope that helps.
a_woman Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 I meet men IRL but I get more variety when combined with online.
Rorschach Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 Could be like me, between my full time job, my part time business, and my diet/exercise routine I don't get much chance to meet people. Online dating makes it very easy to meet people. I haven't used it in months and I didn't get any responses when i did use it (I was 260 at the time and annoyed that I was single after I had lost 40 lbs but it was still too early to start dating and I realized that), but I'll definitely try it again in a few months once I'm in shape.
Philetus Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 I joined Match.com to see what sort of people gravitate to it. I made a pseudo profile for myself. I must say there's heaps of singles around my area and state that are very attractive in their profile pictures (referring to women). Why do they bother with online dating? I'm sure finding someone irl won't be a hassle. Am I missing something or are the profile pictures deceiving? "myspace angles" Any thoughts from LS members? I was on Match for six months and dated in the 35-45 range mostly (BTW - I found OKCupid to be waaayyy better and it's free.) Most of the women I dated were professionals who didn't have much opportunity to meet people IRL. Many were looking to get married and have babies. Generally, their dating experiences were horrible and if you're a confident, average looking, decent guy with a job, you should do well. I met people who deceived in their profiles. Hiding the fact they were overweight or lying about their age. (I stopped dating people who wrote 'curvy' as their body shape.) But, on the whole, they were very attractive and came as 'advertised'.
Art_Critic Posted September 2, 2010 Posted September 2, 2010 Why do they bother with online dating? I'm sure finding someone irl won't be a hassle. Where do you think good looking women meet men ? If a person is older than 25 then meeting people starts getting harder on a scale the older you get. Life has a way of happening to people.. their friends move away and before long the pool of people to date isn't as big as it used to be.. Dating coworkers is out... A woman's good looks doesn't mean she isn't busy in her life and career to the point that meeting someone is tough. I know when I was online dating I did it for those same reasons.. By the time I got off work, did all the chores at home, cut the grass and the other hobbies and family activities that I had that didn't revolve around single women I would then go up to the mountains for the weekend.. another activity that didn't put me in front of single women. Women have the same trouble.. Life does that.. That is why Online Dating is so popular.. because if fits into a single person's busy lifestyle today.
curlygirl40 Posted September 3, 2010 Posted September 3, 2010 I was on Match for six months and dated in the 35-45 range mostly (BTW - I found OKCupid to be waaayyy better and it's free.) I met people who deceived in their profiles. Hiding the fact they were overweight or lying about their age. (I stopped dating people who wrote 'curvy' as their body shape.) But, on the whole, they were very attractive and came as 'advertised'. Sorry to go off topic but since you posted this I have a question. I have had a hard time describing my body type on Match. I first put 'few extra' but I had 2 guys that I met from the site say 'noooo, you are curvy, put curvy'. They both liked me but I wasn't digging them. I have had several of my male friends say I have a 'hot' body. I am a size 12. Big boobs, hips and a smaller waist. I thought that's what curvy was?? So are some of these guys avoiding me because they think I'm going to be huge in real life because I think I'm curvy?? (believe me, I know a size 12 is not thin, but still). I have seen some of these men on the section of 'what would my date be like' area say they would date someone with a 'few extra pounds' but not 'curvy'. I thought curvy would be better. So Philetus you found the women who said 'curvy' were very overweight? Hmmmmm. Now I'm confused about my profile.
meerkat stew Posted September 3, 2010 Posted September 3, 2010 Don't use "curvy" as a woman. Use "about average," or if you exercise "athletic and toned." IMO, most guys will have "athletic and toned," "about average" and "slender" checked when searching.
OliveOyl Posted September 3, 2010 Posted September 3, 2010 Is 10-15 lbs overweight "a few pounds extra" or "about average"?
meerkat stew Posted September 3, 2010 Posted September 3, 2010 "about average." For most western peoples, overweight is average these days.
Mad Max Posted September 3, 2010 Posted September 3, 2010 "about average." For most western peoples, overweight is average these days. Exactly. That's one thing I noticed was no different between Canada and the United States. I believe I read that 2/3 of Americans are overweight to at least some extent. In some areas in Canada, it's around 70%. People need to realize that 5'10" 200 pounds is overweight. You can go by BMI all the time, but you also have to figure most don't have much muscle to begin with.
Mad Max Posted September 3, 2010 Posted September 3, 2010 Also, after looking on Wikipedia, western countries(U.S., Mexico, and Canada) rank 1st, 2nd, and 11th in terms of countries and their percentages of those with a BMI greater than 30.
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