One thing to remember about dating sites. If you can't find a match in real life, dating sites aren't going to help much.

Pocket Ninja:
I still don't understand how this makes financial sense for Match. I mean, wouldn't whatever the cost of paying one of these "expert daters" to go out with some loser who can't get any interest in his profile exceed the earnings gained from his one account? They've got millions of customers, and more coming every day.

Paying an actual person to go out with a customer doesn't seem right, unless he was a reviewer of the service or something. But the fake emails definitely seems up their alley. A friend of mine tried Yahoo dating and they did that shiat to him. In the trial service all these women would be interested in him, so he signed up, and suddenly all the emails expressing interest went away.

On another note, the entire business model of these dating sites has always confused me a bit. It seems to me that, in order to be successful, they *must* lose customers.

I don't think that's a real problem. Wedding photographers are doing OK, and I doubt that would change too much if divorce rates went down.

etymxris:

One thing to remember about dating sites. If you can't find a match in real life, dating sites aren't going to help much.

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner!

okcupid had this funny in one of their questions:

Do you have a STD?
(x)No
(o)Yes (click here)

link went to match.com

well, i laughed.

Match.com supplies fake dates for money.

If only there were a word for that kind of transaction.

Shadowspawn: Do you have a STD?
(x)No
(o)Yes (click here)

link went to match.com

well, i laughed.

I think they sell insurance for short-term disability.

Like in any business, there are some customers who barely are worth serving and others that create tons of income. Given that many dating sites offer all kinds of add ons like the ability to have your profile at the top of the list, extra photos, etc., I can see them wanting to keep certain members in the fold. Sending out emails or "winks" to those with memberships about to expire would cost a dating site next to nothing. Sending out an employee on a date would only make sense for a customer who has been generating a lot of profit for the company. I'm sure there are some who fall into that category.

I hate these websites and i feel pity for the people who think they can score by paying for an account on one.
My best experiences in finding partners on internet is communities etc. where the account is often free with the possibility to pay for an upgrade (ability to upload more pictures etc.)

Sort of like the Fark (and everywhere else) personals banner ads?

etymxris: One thing to remember about dating sites. If you can't find a match in real life, dating sites aren't going to help much.

One thing to remember about making sweeping generalizations. You are wrong.

BXRWXR: Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner!

One thing to remember about supporting those making sweeping generalizations. You are wrong.

ez_bake: One thing to remember about making sweeping generalizations. You are wrong.

One thing to remember about responding in a thread on Fark to those who are making sweeping generalizations. You are wrong (and a dork). Carry on.

ZAZ

I remember a TFer posting an advice thread saying how every time he let his dating site membership lapse he got emails from hot women persuading him to renew.
---
I remember when I let my TF subscription lapse I got sexy emails from Drew persu***BANHAMMER***

There's always the chance that when they go out on the date and the 'date bait' could actually like the person.

/I smell a romantic comedy plot

I used to be a subscriber to Match.com. No real horror stories, I did go out on several dates with women. But I also learned that there are some really dumb people out there.

I would specifically state my desire for no kids, and for some reason I always got the replies from the women with three kids, no job and ink barely dry on their divorce papers.

I finally got sick of the rate increases. One month used to cost $14.95, now I think it's $29.95. I only paid for a month here and a month there over a couple of years, plus a few fee 3-day trials. Then I found out who owns Match.com -- Ticketmaster -- and it all made sense as to the greed.

I wouldn't put it past them do put some fake profiles in there, but I am skeptical about it.

For those of you who want to flame me for using Match, all I have to say is that it's a decent tool for people like myself who travel a lot (125,000 miles a year). When someone becomes totally dependent on Match.com (or any other dating service), that is when you're going to be disappointed.

For what it's worth, I met someone outside of Match.com I have been seeing for five months now.

I had a friend who was on Match and her profile had over 30,000 views. She was hot.

/on topic

I work for Match.com and I get paid to shag ugly fat-assed wimmin.

Profit and sexual gratification, woohoo!!

I used Match.com for a little while, dated a few girls off of it. It wasn't too bad, (this was years ago) and I think I only got one pornsite offer from a user. I ended my subscription when a girl I met on there seemed promising. They sent me a congratulatory email for finding the person of my dreams through their service.

I ended up marrying the girl I dated after that girl, but Match still sends me emails asking me to come back.

I stand by my statement. Of course there are exceptions, as there are to anything. And inevitably the 1% of dating site customers that actually got what they were looking for are going to get all pissed off, not realizing they are the exceptions rather than the rule.

If you're a woman, dating sites will probably work well for you. If you're a man, well, good luck. Because you're going to need it.

You mean this wasn't ??? Wha?

ez_bake:

ez_bake: One thing to remember about making sweeping generalizations. You are wrong.

You had us going there for a second!

ez_bake:

ez_bake: One thing to remember about making sweeping generalizations. You are wrong.

You had us going there for a second!

i met my last girlfriend on lavalife, and we lasted for two years and are still great friends. i think online dating is a good tool for people who are between college and a career job. it's hard to meet people your own age if you're not in school, or in a job with employees you're compatable with.

of course, i think if you totally rely on any one activity to meet women you're gonna be screwed in the long rung. but online "profiles" is a great way to meet people who you know are also looking for someone to date.

that being said, i had some bad experiences with yahoo personals. scads of cute girls who are online constantly, but never reply to any emails makes you wonder. like, why is this cute girl online 24 hours a day? doesn't she sleep or have a job? smells like a plant to me.

my favorite part was when they billed me for an extra month because they didn't have a record of my request to cancel my account. "oh, i'm sorry. if we don't have a confirmation number, we can't refund that last month we autobilled you for" even though they never GAVE me one. biatches.

Quantum Apostrophe: I love women's ads with code like "weight proportional to height"

"I'm not fat... but I am not super skinny"

Super skinny being, "les than 200 pounds" and fat being "Richard Simmons put a hole in my house to get me out."

etymxris: I stand by my statement. Of course there are exceptions, as there are to anything. And inevitably the 1% of dating site customers that actually got what they were looking for are going to get all pissed off, not realizing they are the exceptions rather than the rule.

After reading this, I believe that if I were you, I would stand by your statement as well. When I responded earlier, I didn't realize that you had hard statistics on your side. Only 1% of dating site customers get what they are looking for?? That is horrible! What is your source for this information? I'd love to look over the case studies and analyses for myself.

p.s. sorry your online dating experience didn't work out.

Did anyone else catch the use of the word "Newfangled" in that article?

That's the kind of english I need in news.

i'd say most of the people on the dating sites are divorcees or over-worked professionals in their 30s. oh, and grad students. Chances are if they're under 30, they're a grad student. yeah there's a few malsocialized folks around, but the majority are about as normal as you'll meet in any bar...

/tried it a few times
//no horror stories
///now dating a girl i met in a bar

etymxris: One thing to remember about dating sites. If you can't find a match in real life, dating sites aren't going to help much.


I met my wonderful woman in chat 6 years ago, and couldn't be happier. But, it wasn't so much that I couldn't get a match in real life. But the fact that the dating scene had changed more than a little since 1975, when I last dated. Not to mention at the time, I was a single father of a teenage girl, and didn't really have time for all the game playing and related bullshiat.
But imagine my surprise after 3 months, when she told me she wanted to fly the 1500 miles for a face to face meeting.
And imagine my shock when, 30 minutes before her plane was due, I found that a friend I'd known for 5-6 years turned out to be her first cousin she hadn't seen in 10 years.
I got to show up at the airport with a character reference.
Now, let's talk about an "Am I on Candid Camera" facial expression.

/small world anyone?

You got to remember ez_bake, though you may think etymxris may have put some research into that "1%" answer. You also should remember that 87 % of all statistics are just made up. :-D

I sold my car on tickle.com. Never got a date from the girl, (which is too bad, cause she was cute, and not fat!), but all things considered I needed to get rid of the car at that point in time more than I needed a date.

"One thing to remember about dating sites. If you can't find a match in real life, dating sites aren't going to help much."

I don't agree. Most people meet their partner at work. I work in I.T. and there are few available women in that field. You could be a perfectly acceptable guy and never get to meet women. I've never used a dating agency but I wouldn't consider it a disgrace, people lead busy lives and anything that widens the pool of potential partners is to be welcomed I think.

ijason: i think online dating is a good tool for people who are between college and a career job. it's hard to meet people your own age if you're not in school, or in a job with employees you're compatable with.

Exactly the reason I used it. I was working for a small computer company (20 people, and usually the only girl there was the student accountant who'd be 3-4 years younger than me). My mom told me to go back to school or to church to find a girl, because then we'd have something in common.

Yeah, that makes sense mom. I'll start doing something I wouldn't normally do to have something in common with a girl.

ha... now that i think about it, i signed up for a profile on match.com a long long time ago. the search criteria for the girls i was looking for was pretty simple, "21-28, no kids, non-smoker, within 50 miles" that was IT.

who do i get in the constant emails they send me about exciting new matches they found for me? all women over 30, half of them with kids, and almost every last one living across the country. wtf?

DarkSoulNoHope:

You got to remember ez_bake, though you may think etymxris may have put some research into that "1%" answer. You also should remember that 87 % of all statistics are just made up. :-D

You should also remember that 60% of the time, it works all the time.

Quantum Apostrophe: PS: I love women's ads with code like "weight proportional to height"

Hence on Match.com you select women that are either "Slim/Slender" or "Athletic", not "Average" (about 30-40 pounds overweight), "A few extra pounds" (about 50-70 pounds overweight), or "Large" (I don't want to know.)

/average guy that dated anywhere from "Slim/Slender" to "A few extra pounds" without hang-ups.

What always cracks me up about match.com is the categories for body type:

Slender... ok
Average... ok
Athletic... ok

And then about 6 different categories that are euphemisms for "overweight". "Few extra pounds", "stocky", "curvy", "big and beautiful", "heavyset", "full-figured".

All of that just means one thing... fattie. Sad thing is, abot 50% of the women fall into one of those categories.

sod213

exactly. i live in a complete college town. being 26, it's rare to find people my own age out in the bars or in the clubs. they're all little kids just old enough to get in, or 30+ ers who are trolling for those little kids.

i install security systems for sonitrol; all big commercial jobs for the state and municipalities etc. not exactly a lot of chances to meet co-workers who are my age.

online profiles seem to really fill a niche where you can find someone close to your age, where you know you have at least a few compatable interests, and you know is actually LOOKING for a date.

///now dating a girl i met in a bar

Watch out for those bar girls, they tend to "return to the source," if you will.

TheDirtyNacho, I'll second that most people under 30 on those sites are grad students. I'm a grad student, and it's damn near impossible to meet people outside of your research group. At least half of the people I know either have used a site or currently do, and I met my boyfriend of 10 months online...

You're SUPPOSED to meet women like God intended -- AT CHURCH.

They're big ol' sluts.

I dated a gal from Match.com for ... I dunno. Almost a year.

Never paid for the service (this was in...98?), I managed to get my email address to her through their 'filters' and we communicated directly for about a week before meeting (and farking, odd girl)

It was a one-off thing, really. I'd just been out of a three-year long relationship and thought I'd just toss out a line, see what happened. I recall she used her initials in her login name - between that and our conversations, I already knew who she was, her major, and where she lived, via searching the university people-search. (Remember that, girls!)

We were totally incompatible, 'cept in the sack, and even that got a little stale after a while. I don't think we actually even liked each other - you know, friends-wise.

About the only good thing I can say about it is that she was pretty good looking. I was always afraid to do it again, since I figured I lucked out so much the first time, I'd get some huge manatee the second try. Karma evening out and all that.

It used to be well known that the ratio of men to women on dating sites is 5:1. I guess things have been changing, because supposedly it's now 3:2. I'm still very doubtful. There are certainly more women online than there were several years ago. However, the incidents of trickery such as fake profiles and fake "winks" is something that wouldn't even have been considered several years ago.

I've done some online dating and met a few women through Craigslist. But they all had fairly unique circumstances and lost interest. Anyway, I don't plan on paying for dating sites anytime soon as profiting off people's loneliness already puts you at the bottom of the barrel.

So what is the real success rate of dating sites like match.com? I'm sure if it was anything to brag about they would be bragging about it. But they're not.

I signed up for Match.com a while back, got busy with work, and didn't get around to filling out my profile for a few weeks. When I finally logged in, I saw several 'winks' and e-mails, mostly from women in Dallas (apparently the home of Match.com). The e-mails all had the exact same text in their messages. At that point, it was fairly obvious what was going on and I cancelled my account.

I hate to sound naive here, but weren't most of the Fark personal pics fakes?

These services aught to be sued for false advertising too. "The girls are looking for love in (YourDNSLocation) " Of course they aren't from your city, and are probably not even real members.
Or when they let you have a "free" membership, but then you have to pay to email other people.

/not bitter
//married now
//didn't meet her online.

I met my fiance online (MUD, 7 years ago) and I still think internet dating is stupid. Go find a guy/girl in real life, loser.

/hypocrite...sort of