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Shopping for Boys: The World of Online Dating

By AnaFernatt, November 3, 2009 at 9:42 am

I'm a very busy girl.  Let me rephrase that.  I'm a very, very busy girl.  I do my banking online, pay my bills online, keep up with friends online and shop for clothes online.  It just seems appropriate that I should give online dating a whirl.

I like knowing that I will have a guaranteed date.  I'm pro-active about everything else in my life, why not dating?  Plans are very important to me and if I know I will see [boy's name] on [date] at [time], I don't have to stress.  Even better, though, I feel with online dating I can be a lot more specific than I would be if I just met someone at a bar.  If I'm actively online, especially if I'm paying for that service, I am only walking out of that store with something that looks the way I want and fits PERFECTLY.

Facebook

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Remember the good old days of Facebook?  You know, before it was super creepy?  Out of four boyfriends, two actually started from a Facebook connection.  When I first moved to Chicago, I didn't know anybody.  I vaguely remembered having a conversation about Chicago with a guy at the beginning of my senior year.  We weren't friends in college, but I wanted to meet people so I reached out.  We met up as friends, but it was an instant and intense attraction.  The second time, I was bored at work and started searching for someone/anyone who went to a good school and had also lived in Spain.  I figured at the very least, we'd have something to talk about.  That guy turned out to be Kent*.  Four years later and he's still my best friend.  I don't think I'd meet someone off Facebook anymore, however.  I liked it when there was a little more exclusivity.  If someone said they studied a certain subject at a certain school, you knew they did.  Or if they said they were a certain age, you knew they were.

 

Match.com

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After my dog died last year, I started browsing the pets on PetFinder.com.  You could pick out breed, size, age, etc, in one easy location.  I liked how all these companion choices were readily available and at my fingertips.  Suddenly, it occurred to me!  What if I apply this same logic to finding boys?  And with that, I signed up for three months on Match.  Yes, you read correctly.   I signed up for a dating website, because I couldn't handle the commitment of a cockapoo.  (There are some very good reasons why I'm single!)  I actually ended up meeting and entering a relationship with a guy from Match after only two weeks on the site, so I can definitely say it works.  The fact that he turned out to be crazy is another post entirely.

 

Twitter

(Check out today's cover story on Twitter dating)

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I've never dated a guy I met on Twitter, but I definitely would.  There are a few people I follow that I consider viable options.  They treat the site as a knowledge share and I'm just generally attracted to intelligent, successful people.  Even though I haven't met someone on Twitter and then dated them, I find myself more attracted to a guy I meet in general life who turns out to be on the site.  The crappy part, however, is that if you guys part ways you have to see all their stupid updates.

 

Ok Cupid

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A friend of mine is a serial online dater.  We're talking to the point that he goes on about four dates each day.  (Don't worry, there will be a post about this at a later date.)  We were having dinner a few weeks ago and he was telling me about his latest online dating obsession, OKCupid.  In the name of research, I decided to pull together a profile.  It's free and you answer a bunch of questions about yourself that predict you to be more or less compatible with people on the site.  Rather than giving notes on my successes, I thought I'd share some much more fun, quick creeper stories:

  • I received a message from a cute guy that wasn't really my type, but, even if he had been Michael Buble in the flesh, I wouldn't have responded to him.  His first and only message to me ended with the following, all caps, sentence: EVEN IF YOU AREN'T INTERESTED YOU HAVE TO JUST RESPOND AND TELL ME YOU AREN'T.  I absolutely did NOT respond.
  • If you're username has XXX in it or your profile pic is shirtless, I will not respond to you.  If your message to me says "want to cyber", I will not respond to you.

 

Have you ever met a boyfriend/girlfriend online? 

Filed under: Uncategorized

Tags: @featured-redeye, Facebook, Match.com, OKCupid, Online dating, Twitter

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Comments

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  • applegirl said November 3, 2009 at 12:00 am

    I actually met my current boyfriend of 2 years on craigslist.

  • paigeworthy said November 3, 2009 at 12:00 am

    More telling than the relationships I've built online are the number I've obliterated with a single click of the mouse.

    My advice to anyone looking to meet people online: Use it as your initial vehicle, then step away from your laptops and interact in person. The Internet is too big

  • stephyiu said November 3, 2009 at 12:00 am
    In reply to paigeworthy:

    yelp? yikes! I didn't even realize that people dated thru Yelp.

  • ryankiefer said November 5, 2009 at 12:00 am
    In reply to stephyiu:

    At least with Yelp there's reviews...

  • JessicaDowney said November 12, 2009 at 12:00 am
    In reply to stephyiu:

    I have met more then my fair share of guys from the internet. It can definitely be an interesting experience. I write a little of this and that about it on my blog (All The Single Ladies). If you ever need any tips feel free to let me know!

  • Livefully said November 4, 2009 at 12:00 am
    In reply to paigeworthy:

    Hey Anna! It's Marcin the first Bachelor for this week's vibin section! I love making new friends and you never know. ;) So you should definitely add me on facebook! www.facebook.com/livefully

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