Online Dating follow up post

I am going to admit that one of my secret single behaviors is reading random dating blogs of strangers right before I go to bed. Something about reading what people are going through and relating to some stories, while laughing at others, makes me feel better about life.

Anyway…

While perusing the rants, stories, and complaints of the dating world, I found an article posted by Woodland Creature that linked to a very interesting, very long article in this week’s New Yorker. Said article, written by Nick Paumgarten, discusses the history of online dating, how it works, and the difference between the major sites. There is a lot more to it than I even imagined.

So here’s the article. Grab a glass of wine (or a bottle, depending on how fast of a reader you are) and go to town. You will be surprised on how you feel about online dating afterwards.

Online Dating

So exactly one week ago I decided to sign up for an online dating site. The inspiration/interest came from a blog I started following ohhellothereyou, a chick in NYC who posts about dating and the randomness that is OKCupid (the *free* dating site I signed up for). Her posts are hilarious so I wanted to see what the deal was and how the whole online dating thing works. She had a few good dates, amongst a lot a funny/random messages.

I signed up for OKCupid since its free and only filled out the basic information. There were plenty of open ended questions to answer [i.e. What am i good at (who knows??), 6 things I could never do without (chapstick, baseball, music, my computer, etc…), On a typical Friday Night I am… (asleep by 11), etc] but at that moment, I just didn’t feel like answering them.

Here are a few of the random messages I received over the week. Last week was pretty hectic for me so I ended up not responding to any of them or ever adding info to my profile…


Alright. 


What does that even mean?


This one actually made me smile. Sarcasm=#win.


I should have told him I was an escort. That would have left much to talk about. 


Spelling fail.

So based off these results, and my own previously predetermined qualms, I have decided that dating via meeting people through online websites is just not for me. It all seems very superficial (and maybe that’s because I would look at a page and think “there is no way I would go on a date with that guy”). And yes, that response in its self is very superficial, but I am not going to sit here and lie to you or myself and say that looks aren’t important, because they are.

Also, I felt like I was online shopping for a date. I don’t even like online shopping!

I never responded to any of the messages I received nor did I go any dates. Frankly, I just couldn’t bring myself to take part in online dating more than I currently had. And as of about 10 minutes ago, my OKCupid profile is no longer. 

As embarrassed as I feel like I should be for this, I’m not. I haven’t had a date in quite some time, and I wanted to see if this was a viable route. I’ve heard that people actually meet on these sites. But I’ve also heard that people meet at grocery stores (which I frequent at least once a week), coffee shops (I go more than twice a week), sporting events (I can’t even count the number of baseball games I’ve been to)…so online dating sites are just another avenue. Unfortunately, not one for me. I prefer the good ol’ organic kind of meetings (even though I’m incredibly awkward and socially inept around guys I’m into). 

Regardless, I am intrigued to see real life reactions/responses to online dating.

Have ya’ll ever tried online dating? Which sites? How was the experience?

Sharing means caring, people!

Long Distance Relationships

The BFF and I have had many conversations in the past few weeks about long distance relationships. She recently got out of one with someone across the world, which as you can imagine, was very hard to maintain.

Although I have never taken part in one (and nor is one currently an option), I am generally intrigued as to why people get into long distance relationships and what keeps them going?

I’d like to open this discussion up to anyone reading this…what makes you want to have/stay in a long distance relationship? Do you have any distance limitations?