Online Dating Guide & Blog

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Valentine’s day and remind everyone that your ability to have a great day shouldn’t be determined solely based on your relationship status. Most of the dating service deals going on will be ending today but one last one will be occurring at Lavalife tonight.

Lavalife will be allowing everyone to use their service from free from 6PM until midnight. I added this to my previous article (see above) but since it was such a [...]

Filed under: online dating guide

I recently read a great article that describes some situations that may seem bad on a first date but could actually be a sign that things are going quite well. The article, 6 Bad First Date Signs That Are Actually Good, is worth reading because sometimes we convince ourselves that things have going horribly when they’re actually going fine. As an example, how many of us have gone on a job interview and thought we did a bad job only [...]

Filed under: dating articles

While researching other dating sites, I stumbled upon PoorMatch.com. At first glance I thought I must be reading something wrong…but then I realized it was a big online dating parody. A really, really funny parody at that (we’re talking The Onion kind of funny). If you’re frustrated due to online dating, check out Poor Match for a few laughs to lighten the mood. Every page has great jokes, some that are harder to spot than others.

A few of my favorites [...]

Filed under: rambling

When I started writing my online dating guide, I had hoped it would be helpful to people that were either brand new to online dating or who were considering using a dating service. However, based on my traffic, it appears that most of my readers are already taking advantage of an online dating service. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I suspect my guide is much less useful to people who have experience with online dating. For example, advice [...]

Filed under: dating advice, online dating guide

In a recent post, as well as in my guide, I argue that it is a good thing to date as many people as possible. A very interesting article at 40s Singleness takes exception with this advice. The author, one Lisa Q, challenges this idea with some questions that point out that simply dating for quantity can be, at best, just a waste of time or, at worst, simply dishonest. If you have a few minutes I’d recommend you read [...]

Filed under: dating advice, dating articles

crass /kras/ – without refinement, delicacy, or sensitivity; gross; obtuse; stupid

I read an article today that got me worked up regarding what some men see as reasonable communication with women. The author, Barbara/Layla, describes a bad online date which isn’t really the problem (we all have those). The problem begins when the man emailed her after the date to let her know he was not interested, in as rude a fashion as his small brain could devise. I’m not [...]

Filed under: dating advice, dating articles, internet dating

Near the end of my online dating, I discovered that sharing my dating experiences with my dates really opened the discussion up. Not only that, these candid conversations also opened my eyes to the absolute hassle women have to go through and gave me a glimpse of how they felt about online dating in general. Eventually, I found I was even enjoying dates where there was no “spark” because we became fast friends sharing our online dating experiences. Since my [...]

Filed under: dating links

Today, I found an interesting article about online dating and MySpace. As I have mentioned, I think MySpace is not the best place to try and begin a serious relationship. However, the article does make a few points I had not thought of:

The community of MySpace or Facebook creates a little more security in regards to who you are meeting.
Specialized groups make finding someone looking to date easier

I think the second point changes my mind slightly on the usefulness of [...]

Filed under: dating advice

Are people really having success finding love with MySpace? I’m not talking about a purely physical relationships. Based photos I’ve seen, the site is obviously a self-advertising platform for some people. What I am talking about is actual success finding good relationships. I find myself asking this because many sites I have found in my search for good dating articles seem to suggest MySpace as a valid online dating service contender.

This reminds me of the McDonald’s from high school. All [...]

Filed under: internet dating

I briefly described what I thought a good email looks like in my online dating guide. Basically, my opinion is keep things short and simple while proving you actually read the profile. Today, I found a site called I Liked Your Profile that is a collection of weird, scary or just out-right funny emails people have received at their online dating accounts. There are many opinions to be found across the internet stating what your message should look like. While [...]

Filed under: internet dating

I was recently contacted by someone from the Plucker project with interest in converting my guide to a format for Palm handhelds that could be viewed offline. I was not familiar with Plucker but saw no reason to decline the offer so now the guide is available for handhelds here. Hopefully someone out there using a handheld who would never have found the guide otherwise will find it useful!

Filed under: online dating guide, technology

When my wife and I first started dating, we had joked about making up a story on how we met since we were unsure how acceptable online dating would be. We actually tried it out a few times: my favorite was telling friends we met while she was operating a lemonade stand (she had been out of work when we first met). This was not much more than a game between the two of us to see who could be [...]

Filed under: internet dating