You’ve heard the success stories – but should you try online dating?
We all know that story about the couple that met on a dating website. They’re totally compatible and are probably going to get married, like, tomorrow. While online dating can definitely help you wade through a multitude of eligible bachelors in your vicinity there are a few circumstances under which online dating may not work for you.
1. You’re impatient
You may be hoping a computer algorithm is going to pick out your perfect match and deliver him to your inbox. However you will probably be presented with a large number of available suitors, and wading through them all and sending messages back and forth with potential beaus can be time consuming. You also may not be happy with the matches you’re given, and then you’ll have to personally peruse profiles (searching for deal breakers, of course).
Once you move onto meeting people in real life you need to be prepared for the fact that they may not be live up to their online persona. Then it’s back to the computer screen. So unless you’re willing to spend hours online, maybe try speed dating?
2. You’re really picky
When reading through profiles it can be really easy to take one thing that a person has written, or one less than stellar photo, and completely write them off. Everyone makes mistakes when creating a profile or choosing images (Note: Prepare yourself for a lot of phone pictures of topless men in their bathrooms). In real life you would be judging them by the interactions or connections you have, not an arbitrary list of likes and dislikes.
So even if they have a typo in their profile, or are obsessed with a strange hobby, or don’t like the same music as you, you may still want to give them a chance. Besides, who wants to date someone just like themselves? You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince.
3. You’re incredibly shy
Wait, isn’t online dating supposed to be for shy people? Well yes and no. Sure, you can safely, from the comfort of your home, set up an attractive profile and show people “the real you.”
However, if you’re not brave enough to message the guys that you’re interested in, or give them your number if you do have a connection, or meet a few of them in person, there’s not a huge chance you’ll have a lot of success online. And yes, you may be recognized on the streetcar by someone on the site or give your number to guys who turn out to be weird or obsessive. But there’s no reward without some risk!
