Free Online Dating Sites Drive Me Crazy!

68

By stricktlydating

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In just one week I received 279 replies from men in response to my Personal Ad on a 100% Free Dating Site! I posted just one photo of myself - standing on the beach in shorts and a pink T-Shirt. I said I was a financially secure feminine single girl seeking an educated clean-cut single man. I have not been able to keep up with the replies I've received, let alone respond to them (if I had wanted to).

But don't be too impressed by this! Even though I'm a huge fan of online dating (I have had several long-term relationships with men I've met online and I promote some of my favourite Dating Sites in my spare time), the responses I received were shocking and I still don't have a date!

You might be thinking that maybe I'm just being too picky - it's a huge amount of interest in just seven days - surely one of them must be alright? No! Unfortunately not, not at all.

One of the first replies I received was from a strange looking young man, who wrote that he worked part-time packing shelves in a Supermarket and enjoyed wearing Nappies in his spare time! Did I advertise for a Diaper wearing boyfriend? Or anything similarly kinky?

Over the next few days I received tons of responses from guys, as I opened each message, I thought surely there'll be some genuine men in my area looking for love - or at least a nice date. I was wrong. Also, because the Site I was using was free, I'd expected when they contacted me they'd tell me a little about themself, their interests etc, and also ask more about me. But I received over 100 messages with less than five words - such as :

  • What u doing babe? (albeit usually an overweight bare-chested tattoo'd body photo attached - not exactly the best view to give a lady a good impression).
  • U got msn sexy? (Hmmm, I don't even know his name and he's wanting to set up a webcam date - guys you're not even introducing yourself to me yet!)
  • Hi, where u from? (My profile clearly stated which city and country I live in!)

Next there was a five paragraph message from a guy - and three messages after this I see the same message again from someone else - Does he have two profiles on the same site? It was obviously Copy - And - Paste to every girl he liked on the site!

There was one contact which interested me briefly, when I caught a glimpse of his profile photo. I clicked on it to enlarge it - And I'm lucky I knew that the man in the photo was a famous Actor - Johnathan Ryhs Meyers, otherwise this guy would have got a date with me, and I would have been sadly disappointed if I turned up and it wasn't Johnathan!

Needless to say it was a total waste of time using that website - which I'm hesitant to name because I don't want to promote it - but it starts with Plenty and ends with Fish - And I can tell you they sure are out there! But not the kind of fish I'm looking for. I cannot emagine the responses I would get if I was a woman who put up a more 'raunchier' profile - I have the impression that most of the men who contacted me were looking for online (or real) sex, because it was a free way to go about it. One contact even said he'd been doing it for two years. It's creepy!

I don't always pay on the Dating Sites I use, because even the pay Sites let you create a Free Profile - and usually it's free to reply if someone contacts you (or the man pays to write to you and he can send you his email address so you can contact him more freely from there if you're interested).

I've found that Sites where the men need to pay, even if it's just a little to have contact with you, he will put more thought into what he says, he will have thoroughly read your profile and will be more genuine about looking for a relationship - and it weeds out a great deal of the online preditors!

My advice for single ladies is to stick with the big name, reputable Dating Sites, and if one site doesn't work for you - try another site - as there are still a lot of genuine singles looking for love online! For the guys - If you're looking for a relationship put some thought into your profile photo, read the woman's profile and send her an appropriate message, so that she doesn't get the wrong impression. And if you're not looking for a genuine relationship, use an Adult's Only website instead.

StricktlyDating -

One Big Name Dating Site I recommend is:

Leave A Comment:

KateWest profile image

KateWest 2 years ago

I feel like I've tried them all and have not had much luck, in like, years. Not for me, I think, although it's tough to meet guys in "real time" these days.

Julie-Ann Amos profile image

Julie-Ann Amos Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago

Great hub! I found my other half, Rud on the internet, but it was real needle in a haystack stuff...

Danielle Farrow profile image

Danielle Farrow Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago

Thanks for the low down on that particular, not-named, site! I've never tried a dating set-up of any kind, but was thinking hey, it's free, why not give it a go.

Good to know there really are better things to be doing with my time. I'm still not really interested in these things, but should that change, you're the one I'll be coming to for advice - thank you!

stricktlydating profile image

stricktlydating Hub Author 2 years ago

Thankyou all for your feedback, best wishes!

Cheeky Girl profile image

Cheeky Girl Level 4 Commenter 2 years ago

Hy strictlydating: if this is yoo n the picture, you should not have any problem getting a nice guy whereyou live. That's not to say you won't find a nice guy on the net I kow a brit girl who had the similar problem with guys who only wanted a certain type of thing with her on a dating site. So she had an idea. She went to a different site and posted up a very plain, not too flattering pic of herself and put up a very minimalist description of herself. Result! Now she's dating a guy from Germany who was one of the few who responded! You look like a model to me, and maybe you have done modelling. So what are those guys all thinking when they see this prety girl looking out at them from a page on a dating site?

A change of tactics might work. But the underlying question I have is - why use the internet? I hope I am not putting you in a spot there, sorry if I am, but whatever the case - I sincerely hope you find someone special out there. I think you will. Cheers!

stricktlydating profile image

stricktlydating Hub Author 2 years ago

G'day Cheeky Girl, Nice to hear from you, and I really appreciate your suggestion! I did change dating sites after not receiving any quality contacts on the free dating sites like POF and got better results straight away, a new boyfriend infact! And I agree that it's a good idea what your friend did by putting up a more plain photo (just a casual snapshot/certainly nothing that could be seen as being too sexy and could possibly convey the wrong image to potential dates). When I'm single I enjoy Internet dating in addition to my usual socialising just because it's convenient when I'm working long hours and because often the only time I get to socialise is when I'm with a large bunch of girlfriends, and usually we're all having so much fun together that I hardly have the chance to meet someone! Also, many of my best friends have met great guys online so that's part of the motivation.

sweetpartners profile image

sweetpartners 21 months ago

Good article, find that free dating sites are not monitored the same, good dating sites monitor each profile that comes in, to make sure they are bonafide.

stricktlydating profile image

stricktlydating Hub Author 21 months ago

Great point sweetpartners, I agree with you there!

1964human profile image

1964human 11 months ago

Very interesting. A friend of mine and I have both used the site in question and oddly, had VERY different results. She get's things a lot like you described all the time, I get a few of those but mostly I get regular type guys. I have met the assistant dean of a large college, the owner of a 2500 acre ranch and many other assets, and 2 pilots on that site. All real men, all what they claimed to be. My friend and I live in different states and I wonder how much that has to do with the extreme differences. I don't know if it is profile, picture, location or a combination but we get radically different types of replies. Very interesting. Over all I am pleased with on line dating, real life meetings have turned up weirdos over the years for me just as often as online. Great hub!

Bo

stricktlydating profile image

stricktlydating Hub Author 11 months ago

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

ubanichijioke profile image

ubanichijioke Level 7 Commenter 7 months ago

I enjoyed you little dating story. It was funny and interesting. Take care.

stricktlydating profile image

stricktlydating Hub Author 7 months ago

Thanks Ubanichijioke!

Relationshipc profile image

Relationshipc 2 months ago

I agree. The dating sites that you pay for are going to have more serious men (and women) looking for love. I mean, they are paying for it!

stricktlydating profile image

stricktlydating Hub Author 7 weeks ago

Yes it appears that is very true!

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