Internet dating

[Carol Chan]

Have you or do you know anyone who has met someone special on the Internet and ended up in a serious relationship? Through a match.com type site or otherwise?

[jfrancho]

Yes. A coworker went on 22 dates and is still with the woman from #22.

[cyclohexane]

No, I have not met anyone special on the internet, nor do I know anyone who's done it that way (have an online acquantice who tried meeting someone on a message board but they turned out to be from the wrong age groups), but... in the UCLA stages of relationship lecture, the first stage is no longer "meet person", but "poke on Facebook", so times are changing. *=)

I'd like to think I'm too young to need something like that, but it seems like I see even a lot of people my age on things like Craigs List and whatnot. *I'm not going to dismiss it, but I'd still put my money on face to face interaction as a much better way to find someone.

[AlbertP]

I know three people who met their current husbands/wives from personals ads on the Internet. I don't know which site exactly. I am surprised at how many people find other people that way. On the other hand, meeting people the traditional way is really a crap shoot. If you can get some hard facts about a person's beliefs/interests, etc., before you go out, perhaps that's a better method.

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by AlbertP

I know three people who met their current husbands/wives from personals ads on the Internet. I don't know which site exactly. I am surprised at how many people find other people that way. On the other hand, meeting people the traditional way is really a crap shoot. If you can get some hard facts about a person's beliefs/interests, etc., before you go out, perhaps that's a better method.

I'll second that. I've stumbled into every relationship... which isn't all that many. I wouldn't hesitate to try meeting and getting to know someone on the internet but I would do it through common interest forums like this one... the matchmaking business is still very sketchy to me. I don't think matchmaking businesses are wrong, just not for me.

Chip

[Paul Shields]

I believe one of the mods on this board met her (or his - don't want to name names) partner after chatting on the Internet. He (she) made a post about it on this board if I remember correctly.

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by B

I don't think matchmaking businesses are wrong, just not for me.

I've never found them satisfying. I mean, how unreasonable is it to narrow my criteria to a mid-twenties, blond, slim, highly intelligent, very well paid life-partner? If they can't promise such things then they're just fleecing you of your money IMHO.

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by Carol Chan

Have you or do you know anyone who has met someone special on the Internet and ended up in a serious relationship? Through a match.com type site or otherwise?

My S-i-L found her husband this way, she is now happily married with a daughter of 3 yrs and a twin, both boys, of 10 months )

If I may ask: why are you asking

Max@Home

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by Max@Home

If I may ask: why are you asking

Maybe Carol's on the lookout. After all this is the Internet, and there are probably lots of single males on here who find it hard to communicate with women without a DSLR in their hands :P.

[Shortie]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Maybe Carol's on the lookout. After all this is the Internet, and there are probably lots of single males on here who find it hard to communicate with women without a DSLR in their hands :P.

LOL

[silentPartner]

Yes. My wife and I met on the internet in 1995 on IRC (Internet relay chat). She was in Montreal, canada and I was in Portsmouth, England.
I chatted to her for a while but wasn't really that interested as I was in a long term relationship. She and a friend of mine got chatting and he went to Canada to see her. It didn't go well and they didn't get on. When he came back I wasn't attached anymore and after a bit more talking she came to visit me in august '96 for a 3 week holiday. She didn't go back.
Just after that I was sent to San Francisco for my company for a year and a half and she came with me, then we came back to the UK. We got married just before 6 months (the time when she would have needed to go back as a commonwealth citizen) in July of '98.
We are still together and show no sign of that changing in any way.
Obviously without the internet we would have never met as I had never been to montreal and she had never been across the pond and if we had met I don't see that we would have necessarily got together either.

[AlbertP]

Originally Posted by Shortie

LOL

Shortie, you're available, aren't you?

[dean1401]

I actually own a dating site that is growing daily. www.dateplantation.com

I want to see all your mugs on there to give it a boost................ to date no couples have got together permanently though.

Cheers
Dean

[Sidebyte]

Well fellow members, ten years ago I met my wife on the internet on ICQ. We communicated almost daily for 1 1/2 years, camera etc.. In 1998 I sold my company and decided to go to Colombia S.A. to meet this lady in person. I spent several months in Colombia, returning to the U.S. a couple of times and in 1999 we got married.....My wife is from a large professional family in Medellin, father is a retired M.D., she is a retired bank officer, brother is the Pres. of the phone company, seven children in her family.
Having been unsuccessfully married previously and single for 18 years prior to meeting my current wife, I'll tell you that it "ain't" all bad. She is a wonderful person, humanitarian and extremely nurturing. She had also been single for 18 years and never had children. We are both retired and thoroughly enjoying each other and life in general.

[jfrancho]

Wow! That's crazy and awesome.

[brian.austin]

I think all it does is simply expand the options.* I've heard great stories, such as some of the ones here, and horror stories, where what was presented was not reality.

In person, people judge based on visuals immediately and base their followup on that attitude.* Online, it's all based on content of the message (regardless of e-mail, website, etc.).* The attraction happens in a different way.

For those of us who don't look like Lorek, it gives us a fighting chance.* (Not that I need it since I'm happily married)

[davidsl222]

Married five years to my current wife. We met on kiss.com.

[ScottBuckel]

I know several friends that met their significant other via match.com. They seem to be very happy with 6-8 year marriages.

Scott

[jfrancho]

I'm gonna make a guess that many of the people that use these services are committed to meeting someone and starting a relationship. Not always true about that guy/gal at the end of the bar in a popular singles club.

[Jon]

Neely and I were initially introduced to each other on *gulp* myspace. Neither of us were particularly looking for anything, let alone a significant other of any kind, then we met in person at one of her competitions. Things just kind of took a natural course from there, she now lives with me, and I told her the other day that if she puts up with my shit for a couple more years, I'd *gulp* marry her. And those of you that know me know how excited I am about marriage in general.