A quick Google search revealed an endless number of dating sites, where on Earth is one to start with? That is a very good question.
Ten years ago, when I was last involved in the world of online dating, the site of choice was eHarmony or Lava Life. And I tried them both, the first was eHarmony. This was a site that asked lots and lots of questions, with the ideal of matching you up based on a complex personality profile. In theory a great idea, however after 45 minutes of answering these questions I was disqualified as I wasn’t officially divorced and this site only took single people. It in fact may have changed in recent years…
Then it was onto Lava Life, where I did actually meet and was able to date a few ladies. My second wife, Danielle was one of those ladies, in fact two long term relationships came from that period of my life, with both ladies met on that site.
In the summer of 2017, I signed up for Lava Life and Match again and honestly didn’t have any good experiences, basically I knew I was ready and a result the only thing I seemed to be able to attract where con artists, and people trying to steal my money… It was really ugly, and honestly turned me off the world of online dating for almost an entire year…
This past summer a co-worker and I were having a conversation about Tinder, and he was sharing his experiences with me. And kind of a social experiment I signed up for an account as well. So basically if you are unfamiliar with the site or app, it shows you a picture(s) of the opposite sex, and you have the option to swipe right if you like, or left if your not interested.
You do have the option of creating a small profile under the pictures, and I would argue that most people don’t read much of the profile and are swiping based on that initial picture they see. Originally I was not getting much interest on Tinder, and I’d be very interested to know what the man vs woman ratio is on that site…
I switched my main profile picture to a triathlon/bike riding shot and the interest picked up immediately. Imagine that…
The other site I decided to use was Match, and most likely because of a combination of already having a profile created there, and being just a bit on the lazy side. I did update some of the pictures, and re-wrote the profile. Match is more of a traditional online dating site, with a combination of pictures and words, and interests that have to help “match” you up with other people.
And once I ironed out the wrinkles, and learned a bit about how these sites actually worked, I was officially back in the game.
Now with regards to Tinder, you cannot actually send a message or “talk” with the other person until a mutual swiping has occurred. With Match feel free to send off as many messages to ladies as you would like.
Your introduction (what sets yourself apart…) I’ve found might be the most important thing on Match. Having gone out on a few dates, I have asked about some of the ladies experiences they have had with the men that they met. And let’s just say there are lots of interesting men out there indeed. Some ladies are getting hundreds of messages a day from different men, and this whole process can be completely overwhelming.
So how do you set yourself apart from every other Tom, Dick and Harry?
Simple.
BE YOURSELF.
I can’t state that one enough, you have to just be yourself.
This is one thing I’ve learned from a couple of failed marriages is that you just need to be yourself, the person you ultimately want to be with needs to be attracted to you. Not the image of the man you are trying to project. honestly, that just isn’t going to work if your goal is a long term relationship.
Being yourself, takes off so much pressure as to how to act, what to say, even what to dress. The lady is going to like you are or not. And I would much, much rather have them like ME not the man I am trying to project. It’s a simple concept, that I believe often gets overlooked.
I have yet to give any of the other dating sites a try, and I suspect that I never will. These two are more than enough, and I’ve honestly seen the same ladies on both sites over the last few months.
I look forward to the day I get to delete these applications forever!
#SixKidChaos 