On-line dating? Yes? No?

**davidpizzica** · 10-09-2004, 04:52 AM

Uabassoon, sometimes I think that she is my female counterpart! I'm usually kind of awkward around women, but not with her. She's only four years younger than me, and very easy to talk to.. Not bad for an old bachelor!

**slleipnir** · 10-09-2004, 05:21 AM

I might. I know I've talked to people in the past that if given the chance I would have met. I've only met 1 person from online but he was a friend of a friends. He visits here every summer so I see him then.

**teenster3** · 10-09-2004, 09:25 AM

Honestly.........
That's how I met my husband. He hates it when I tell people that though. He'd prefer it if I just said we met at a bar!

I've met a few weirdo's too before I met Matthew so, I'd just be careful I were you! I think the internet has changed a lot since I met him though. (that was 8 years ago) We actually just met in a chat room about music & decided to meet 1 night. YES, I was very bold & not afraid to meet people. Probably not a very smart idea on my part!

But, we've been together for quite awhile. So, I think it just depends on the person.

**Tonya** · 10-09-2004, 11:34 AM

Yes, I met my husband online. I think it is a start to a healthy relationship because you get to know the person long before physical attraction comes into play.

**Tonya** · 10-09-2004, 11:37 AM

I have to add, there are some fakes out there too. I went on a date with a guy right before Mike that turned out to be soooo strange. I suspect that he was married.

**moosmom** · 10-09-2004, 12:53 PM

I've been very wary of online dating because you really don't know a person simply by typing words on a screen. I've heard alot of horror stories too. But with Davidp, it's different.

I've talked to Davidp and felt very comfortable with him. I feel like I can tell him anything. I wouldn't mind meeting him in person. I guess that's how it's done. Who knows? It's been a long time since I've dated anyone. I got tired of being dumped and rejected.

As my stepmother always told me, you'll find love when you're NOT looking for it. That's how she and my Dad met.

**davidpizzica** · 10-09-2004, 02:26 PM

I feel the same way about Donna. I'm usually awkward talking to women, but not with Donna! I can tell her personal things about me and be comfortable having her listen. we've talked on the phone, and as Donna said, i'd like to meet her in person!

**GraciesMommy** · 10-09-2004, 02:40 PM

All for it if you are careful....You can meet in a bar or the mall and they turn into a monster behind closed doors...

I met my hubby online...in a chat room computer help desk..
we "talked" 9 months before I flew to meet him (500 miles away) and I took my best friend with me...we stayed the weekend,.shopped, ate out, had a great time...that was almost 6 years ago..we have been married 5 now..

He is my soul mate and I don't care how God got us together, just that He did!

**dappledoxie** · 10-09-2004, 02:44 PM

I agree with Ashley (binka_nugget), I met a great friend of mine on the Internet and we talked for about a year before meeting at a mall in Raleigh.

**K9soul** · 10-09-2004, 02:55 PM

I'm another who met my husband online originally, but neither of us were specifically looking for a soulmate online, it just happened. We were in college and the internet was newer then. It was a novel thing to meet and talk in chat rooms with people all over the place about anything and everything. We were just 2 college kids in with a bunch of other bored college kids and we happened to meet up, start talking, his first message to me was teasing me about the chatroom handle I picked (it was "Ozarks" which is where I grew up).

We went back and forth joking. When I saw him in the chat room again we picked up chit chatting again. After awhile discussions became more friend-like, sharing things we had in common, college stories, dog stories as we both loved dogs, and so on. After a few months, we genuinely became attached. We progressed to phone calls, letters, and finally meeting. The rest is history

We met face to face about 8 or 9 months after meeting online.

I think it can be a letdown if you go specifically looking to find a date, I think it's something that will tend to happen more naturally if you are just talking to people and happen to find one person in particular is more fun to talk to. I also have met some wonderful friends through the internet, but again I didn't come specifically looking for new friends, it just happened. It is very ideal for someone like me who is very shy about just approaching a stranger face to face and trying to talk. I'm much more self-conscious then, less myself, more withdrawn. Once I really get to know someone online, I begin to really want to meet them in person and tend to be a lot more relaxed with the few I have met. I sure hope I get to meet some PTers at some point too

**Fox-Gal** · 10-09-2004, 06:46 PM

I say yes. A few years ago I did my fair share of on-line dating and was luckly enough to meet some amazing people through it. Of course I meet some jerks but that happens no matter how you meet a person.

The key like everyone says is be smart about it and that doesn't mean just the noramal things like giving out you address phone # etc. You have to go even farther then that. Watch everything you say, make sure nothing you say can lead a person to you.

Sometimes even the simple things you say can give out enough information for that one creep to find you. I know it happened to me.

I though I was doing everything right, never dreamed that just giving out the town I lived in would be to much info. You would think that no one could track you down in a whole town. The problem was that once they had my town and the one time I said I was going to the Mall that next day was enough info. for him. Most towns only have one mall, so with that info, the name of the town and my profile picture was all it took.

You have to be very carefull what you say to anyone on-line, the little things can all add up to more information then you wanted to give out and a skilled sicko can take that info. and find almost anyone. BE REALLY CARFULL!

But even with that scare, I still say yes. I had a chance to meet a lot of wonderfull people that I would have never the opportunity to meet any other way. I would have hated missing out on the friendships I developed, they have come to mean a lot to me over the years. I been lucky enough to get to go to Vegas, Canada, Virgina and Ca. and even had some great on-line friends come down here, so there are a lot of good memories I will have for the rest of my life, from on-line meetings.

**carole** · 10-09-2004, 11:36 PM

If I became single again, I perhaps would try online dating, as I hate pubs,clubs, etc, and I would probably be very lonely, but I would be cautious and a little scared for sure.

My girlfriend met her American hubby online, they have been together four years now , he lives here in NZ, and they have a baby boy Lathan, so you see it can and does work out.