So after breaking up with my girl friend, I'm taking a shot at online dating. It has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I'm a good looking guy: nice smile, have all my hair, in great shape, etc. I've even got a new car and a college education. I'm a catch.
So where does that leave me in the online dating world? With nothing. My response rate is probably 5%. Yeah, I do message the most attractive women, but that's only because I know what my equal is and I'm not going to settle for less.
I've on Match, POF, and OKC. I try to mix it up. I send out different kinds of messages. I've tried to find common interests in profiles, use a random subject header to stand out, focus on something specific, just introduce myself, write three or four paragraphs like a poet, etc, etc. Just about nothing works. No women respond. And when they do, it's usually mindless and boring. Sometimes it will lead to texting and then sometimes they just vanish out of no where.
Nearly all the profiles of women are the same (so coming up with something "interesting" to say is infinitely more difficult than it should be.) If you've never tried online dating, let me summarize them for you.
1) All women are world travelers. They just love to travel! If you're not a traveler, you are a chauvinistic, conservative, philistine who isn't cultured.
2) All women are vegetarians or vegans even though they eat poultry and fish.
3) All women just love their job! Even if it's just as a cashier at CVS or working as some other menial drone.
4) All women of course love to go out or stay in. Obviously.
5) All women love their friends and family and would do anything for them.
And that's it, folks.
It's not unusual to find solely photos of women dolled up for the ball who snapped pictures at the perfect angle complimented by the perfect lighting. These make them look infinitely more attractive than they are in real life. But whatever I guess.
Another thing is it's almost always the same people on these sites over and over again. Like, do they even want a relationship? Are they just using it for casual sex? Or do they use it as an ego boost and just sort through the 30 plus emails they get a day from the desperate, randy men who populate the internet?
Whatever it is, it is clearly depressing. For example, as I said before, I am a pretty attractive guy. And yet, women who are 6's (slightly overweight, etc) are being treated like royalty.
The whole online thing is just weird. Profiles are weird. Pictures are weird. The people are weird. It's sort of like in basketball, I guess, when the defense is leaving you open, it doesn't necessarily mean you should shoot. These women are available for a reason. I'm sure there's something wrong with 50% of them. Imagine meeting someone in person, and the first thing they started doing was bragging about how they have been to Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Somalia, and Australia. And then said "I work as a bank teller and I just love my job!"
It's so weird...