Online Dating: Yes or No?....

Last night I watched a documentary on ITV called 'A Tonight Special'. It was about the world of online dating and focused on a variety of good, bad, and hilarious online dating stories.

Firstly I was shocked to learn that there are over 9 million online dating websites in the UK alone! That is crazy! I thought 'how many online dating websites can you have? Aren't they all the same?' Apparently not! It was interesting to see how many random categories there actually are. From cat loving ones, to bikers, golfers, swingers, naturists and - the scariest of all - CLOWNS! How you can sign yourself up to a dating website specifically for clowns I do not know. It confused the hell out of me! Maybe it's just because I hate clowns. They scare me with their evil smiles, stupid tricks, and jolly attitudes. I was always the kid that sat out of the circle at kids parties when the clown arrived, and the circus was never my choice of a fun day out when my parents asked!

Anyway back to online dating! I really enjoyed watching the documentary. So much, that I thought I would share with you guys my own online dating experiences (despite how stupid and embarrassing I may feel by doing so) ,and also express my view on the whole online dating world.

My first time online dating

I think I was sixteen when I first signed up to an online dating website. I'm not sure what my reason for doing it was. I can only think that it was out of pure boredom, curiosity, and maybe - at that age - some need for attention. I can't remember what site I joined, but I do remember lying about my name and age. I think I called myself something like Melanie or Maria. I didn't put up a profile picture or fill out any about me section, but to my surprise, I started getting pokes and winks after a few days by men of all ages (which intimidated me). I felt like I was doing something wrong and that I was going to get caught and get in to trouble, when really thinking about it now, I probably felt that way because I was young and naive and had no reason to be on the website in the first place. I think I spoke to one guy who was a few years older than me, didn't really know what to say, and once he asked for a naked picture I deleted my profile and promised myself I would never sign up to one again. 

My most random/unexpected online dating experience

That promise didn't last long, and after a while I had signed up to another dating website again. I kept doing the same thing for ages until I got more confident and had had some practice talking to guys online. I suddenly knew how to grab their attention. I knew what they wanted. I found myself enjoying the harmless flirting with random people online who I had no intention of meeting up or staying in touch with. All I wanted out of the dating website was someone to talk to and mess around with - verbally - whenever I was bored and had nothing better to do.

The most random experience I had was when I got talking to a guy who became my friend! After having a few conversations with each other, we realised that there was no sexual attraction there, no desire to flirt or send naughty photos, we just enjoyed each others company. We would speak daily about random things, places we had been, what problems we had going on, and other subjects friends talk about. We exchanged numbers, Msn usernames - yes Msn was the Facebook of that time - and continued our friendly conversations away from the online dating website. This 'online friendship' went on for six months until one day he asked to meet me. It was out of the blue and I didn't like it. I was happy with our little online friendship and as crazy as it sounds, I didn't want a real one. So after I rejected his offer of meeting up, our friendship eventually fizzled out, and after a few months we stopped talking for good.

My last experience of online dating

This was right before I went to university. I realised I was confident enough to meet people in person. I was a extremely sociable girl and the whole online dating thing was not for me. I was kidding myself online because everyone I met only wanted one thing - to meet up and sleep with me - and I felt it wasn't real, even if the person was who they said they were. I was also to scared to if I am honest. For me, it felt too dangerous, and deep down I knew I wasn't one of those people that just meet up and have casual sex. It's not me. I think it's very un lady like like, and that's all the guys I was meeting on there wanted to do.

After watching this documentary, I can see how love can be found through online dating. Some people find it easier to communicate online before they take the next step into meeting someone. Not everyone is a weird nutter, and if you are lucky enough to find someone real with the same intentions as you, why not? I also think you have to be a smart person and not too trusting to online date. The documentary introduced a woman who had fallen in love with the guy she had met online, and by being so in love he persuaded her to send him money abroad - £15,000 to be exact - which only a stupid person would do, in love or not. Of course it was a scam, and it left the woman devastated. There was also the hilarious story about a woman who fell in love with a guy online, actually spoke to him daily on the phone for hours, only to find out after six months that it was a fat woman with a man sounding voice. Imagine that? That's another thing I don't like about online dating. You can never be 100% positive about the other persons identity and that's why I prefer the traditional way of meeting people.

That's my little confession and rant of the day, what's yours?

What do you think of online dating? Do you have any online dating experiences of your own? Do share with me :)

LoveLove

-Elle-