Online dating - what a useless waste of time.

No i'm never going back. Full of rude skanks who deserve nothing but a smashed up and destroyed heart.

I've been using OkCupid and it's the same. I've messaged a few saying "Hi how're u doing" and i got no reply. Should i persist?

I don't use it anymore, but, when I did... the messages that caught my eye regardless of the sender were the ones that took the time to read what I'd said about myself; ones that opened with a quote from my favourite tv show and the ones that could spell...

Same here. I thought dating sites would be a good way to bring my confidence levels back up, but it just ends up making you feel worse.

The feeling when you know someone's looked at your profile and have tossed you aside is painful. The feeling when you aren't even worth a small 'thank you' response

man up!

most girls on those dating sites are ****ing wrecks! wheres your sense of self worth? is that what you are going to settle for in life?

who gives a **** if some 2/10 doesnt reply to you...cos guess what, she has 200 other losers messagng her as well.

Out of those 10, ONLY 3 had the DECENCY to reply to say that they had as much received my applications (though of course, they had no available vacancies so would put my letter on file for the next 6 months)

This.

I'm female and it worked for me - making messages personal, different from the norm, you'll get a reply!

...is it better to not reply if you're not interested than give false hope by replying in a friendly way?

From my experience the girls on there are usually either single mums, overweight or older women. The attractive ones act like demi-gods on there due to the masses of sad, horny losers putting them on pedestals.

When I was searching for a job, all the companies that I sent the CVs to took the time to give a reply, whether via phone, e-mail or in one case, face to face. This may quite possibly be 'cos I'm a web developer...



I have never sent a generic message. I always write something personal, even if it takes me half an hour to craft something because they put hardly anything on their profile.



Well, I'd rather a message was sent along the lines of "nope, not interested" than no message at all! I see what you're on about about time though!



There are people my age on there (~20), but they tend to be rather attention seeking people!

Every so often I toy with the idea of giving online dating a proper shot. But then I realise that:

- Even in a big city, there's only about 5 active users I'd rate above a 7 out of 10. I've genuinely seen more talent packed onto a single decker bus.

- Having messaged all the 7.5s within half an hour of joining, you're left with 2 options: 1) quit or 2) feign interest in a whole bunch of slightly below average chicks who have 'shopping, clothes and partying with my girlies' listed as their sole interests.

- Incredibly average girls still get loads of messages every day. Because there's so much competition you probably won't get anywhere with a girl unless you're way out of her league. And even then there's no guarantees.

Bottom line is you'll get better quality girls with less effort in real life.

Guys - Don't use online dating as a way of boosting confidence with women, because it'll probably do the opposite. Unless you're Brad Pitt, chances are you'll be rejected by a lot of ugly women and end up assuming you're completely unnattractive to the majority of women. Reality is half of the girls ignoring you online would be easily obtainable IRL.

I don't use it anymore, but, when I did... the messages that caught my eye regardless of the sender were the ones that took the time to read what I'd said about myself; ones that opened with a quote from my favourite tv show and the ones that could spell...

Something that puts me off a lot of men is whether or not they can spell and differentiate between your and you're, too and to, their, they're and there!

Not everyone is the same.

I've used 2 lately, and have always replied to emails where the person has made an effort. I'll be honest, I haven't to the ones that just purely go along the lines of 'Hey, how are you?', just on the grounds that if you were that interested you would at least put a little more than that!

It is quite hard to write to a complete stranger that you're not interested. I had to let down a single dad and tell him that I'm too young to get involved with such a situation! It's not a nice feeling.

As for girls never emailing; I've just met someone who I emailed first of all. And it's going quite well! If you use them properly and make the most out of them then it's just a matter of time.

Good on you for replying to most of your messages, but the bit in bold goes to show why online dating is such a ball breaker for guys.

In real life as a decent looking, confident bloke you can normally get a good response with an introduction like 'how's it going?' or even 'hi'. There's no need for witty lines, profound observations or anything like that. If anything you're better off without them.

But online some real graft seems to be expected - even when the girls give you peanuts to work with on their profiles. Yet at the same time if you write too much, it'll be branded try-hard or 'needy'. I just think the whole thing is a mug's game.