Online Dating.
I opened this post yesterday and have tried to write something down for at least the last month. Yesterday I got distracted with watching The Mentalist (I really do like it, just the Red John stuff is FAR too infrequent) and then today I actually did a bit tidying and had a think about a challenge that I may or may not do and then flashed my phone with a new rom and so on.
I’ve heard people say that online dating is one of those things lots of people do or know about but don’t talk about (like depression but I’ve never got that. I didn’t grow up with the internet but it’s be a constant source of distraction for long enough that meeting people online makes little difference personally. (In fact I much prefer it, but that’s for another day*.)
So I finally got around to deleting my profile on My Single Friend this week. I’ve been a member for over a year now. Signed up a few times to message people and have probably paid enough to make me go, ‘really, that much’ if I worked it out. For that I’ve got almost no returns. (I did meet a very nice girl but that was on the Guardian dating site.) As in, I’ve never met anyone – not even for a first drink. Now I’m sure there are reasons for that it could have been the photos I chose, or the words in the profile or the messages I sent, who I chose to message, who knows. I gave it a decent go last month, I sent 14 different messages to 14 different people over a period of just under 3 weeks and got 2 replies to say thank you but no thank you and that was it.
The irony I suppose is that I was doing it because I finding meeting people in real life difficult (for all number of reasons but that’s for another day*) but the fact is online dating is just as tough. I liked to at least make an effort sending the messages, so inevitable (?) become more involved/invested in them – perhaps.
In any case, while there’s this urge to sign up one, more, time deleting my profile was just my way of cutting it out of my life. For a while at least. I don’t want to put myself in the situation which I don’t enjoy. Same reason I make a concerted effort not to drink too often and to limit myself when I do.
*Don’t hold your breath.
August 5, 2010