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Permalink Reply by Deborah on January 5, 2010 at 10:08am

Reading though everyone else's replies, I think you get the general gist: try both. Do things you enjoy in real life, but if that's not working, try online. I met my husband on eHarmony -- nuff said. And I know several other couples who met their spouses online. (Having said that, eHarmony in particular is if you're looking to get married, not casually date.) Another friend met her boyfriend of 2 years on chemistry.com. And yes, maybe its a little luck and a lot of dates that don't work out -- I've never been lucky and I figured, hey, dating experience never hurts and I have some funny stories from them.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on January 6, 2010 at 7:41pm

Nope. Tried it once, never again. There were definitely a lot of creepos out there - both guys and girls. And it wasn't helping that I had the sinking feeling that I was becoming one of them. It's at least worth a try I guess though because you never know who you'll run into.

But I would say that if a person's reason for doing this is that he has trouble approaching people in real life, then it might be better if that person challenges himself to break bad habits rather than use these websites as a crutch.

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Permalink Reply by Elayne Marinos on January 19, 2010 at 12:54am

Hi there. I am a living, breathing success story from eHarmony so I definitely recommend it. I was my husband's very first date through eHarmony but I was on the site on and off for over a year so it took longer for me. If you are looking just to date around and want to be able to search through lots of potential profiles then match.com may be better for you, eHarmony gives you less potential matches because it only gives you the ones it thinks you will match up well with so I think its much better if you are looking for a serious relationship. eHarmony is a lot of work, but anyone I met through it seemed to be a geniunely good person.

A few tips for any online dating (aka learn from my mistakes)
- meet people kind of soon. I had been emailing / talking to somone for a few months at first, and got to like him but when we finally met in person it was pretty damn awful.
- post recent pictures of yourself and include the date, and beware of other people's photos. A number of guys I met in person had a lot less hair, or a lot more pounds than I expected from their pictures, and it just made me feel like they were being dishonest from the start. If you want to include a picture of you at your best from 1992, just date that one and include another from now.
- be open-minded and don't eliminate people because of little things in their profile
- allow yourself to take a break from looking for new matches for a while if you need to
- be as upfront and honest as you can

Good luck!!

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Forsburg on January 19, 2010 at 8:08am

I was a transplant from central PA a few years ago and decided to give online dating a shot to meet people and learn more about the area. I've tried a handful of online dating sites and decided to stick with Okcupid.com. It's fun, free (there is a payment option that came along after I joined - I don't see a reason to opt for it though), and I've definitely had some good luck through it. A friend of mine has had good luck with chemistry.com as well.

My only advice is to make sure your expectations are reasonable and learn to be a good judge of character.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on February 10, 2010 at 4:52pm

I was also new to the dating scene and tried both Match and JDate. I met some really great people, but they just didn't work out. VERY slim pickings. Maybe there are a handful of people that you would even consider dating (if that)- then again, it only takes one, right? It seems that most people go through the process and describe their likes, dislikes, etc; however, they paint themselves in a positive light (of course!) and it turns out it is more of how people want to be perceived then how they REALLY are. I was quite honest with myself when I put myself out there, so I found myself getting frustrated, but those people are everywhere - local bars, dating sites, supermarkets, wherever. If you decide to try it out, which I wouldn't want to deter you, I would just try it out for a month and see what happens. You never know. People are successful.

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Permalink Reply by Tina on February 10, 2010 at 5:27pm

You never know...I know some people who had success. However, I know myself, I haven't had the best of luck. I've been on several sites including Match, EHarmony and Plenty of Fish. I always have a friend who says "you should try _____ site because my friend has had so much luck". Haha...negative. So I say give it a shot, but be aware of who you may meet. There are some creepy people out there. But then again how do you meet someone? Ok so to answer your question, I say atleast give it a shot, but be cautious :-). Good luck!

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