What do you think of this? (TB Link: 2nd Tri)

[BettyBookWorm]

I find it interesting that it seems like a good many of these women found their partners online. What do you think? Do you think starting off online is a good idea? I met my husband in college, so I never did the online dating thing. In truth it always freaked me out. Opine, TIP!

community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/66049017.aspx

[Muddled]

I am not going over there. Word on the street is that it is virus central.

oh, and.
REgarding online dating. I see nothing wrong with it. It's hard to meet people once you are out of school. Social circles are so insular, so unless you work with someone... How do you meet people? I find it hard to meet girlfriends, never mind boyfriends.

[partiallysunny]

My brother met his wife while online gaming. It's not going well.

That being said, I would totally do online dating (if I wasn't already married, lol). My social circle is limited and I don't go out much.

[exploding people]

I did a little online dating before I met H. The few guys I actually met in person were good dudes. If you're smart about it, I think it can be a good option.

[bowies]

I met my XH in college. I can probably opine better about why that's a shitty idea.

[broc]

I met my H on the internet. It seems to have been a good idea so far.

[imoan]

I have nothing against online dating. I think it's effective... and like Muddled said, once you're out of school, it's hard to meet ANYONE in a truly organic way. As long as you're smart about it, I think online dating can be a really good choice for a lot of people.

[fussbucket]

Don't something like half of couples meet online now?

I met H online which I'm so happy about because I never would have met him in a million years otherwise.

[BettyBookWorm]

If I were in a position to date online after college etc. then I would try it but try to be smart (as others have said). I think you are right, Fuss-- I read somewhere that half of couples who marry are folks that met online.

[Deleted]

I would do online dating if I were single. But, I would do it through an online dating site. I know people who have has really good luck with those. On the other hand, the people who met their SOs online through gaming are all divorced.

I know, I've met some awesome people gaming and I love them dearly. One was even my roommate in college when he ended up at the same school. But for some reason... dating people from your guild seems like a cursed thing.

[mortomo]

I tried online dating when it was still kind of a new thing. I was not impressed. A lot of people lie. Now that it's considered an acceptable way to meet someone, I'm sure the quality of people on those sites has improved. I met a few guys in person from AOL chat rooms in the mid 90's (I know...). They ALL lied about how tall they were. Really? You don't think I'll be able to tell that you're really 5'8" and not 6'2" when I meet you in person?

[malibu]

H & I met online, back in the days of AOL. (I think the site we met on is now match.com.) I would venture to guess it was a good idea. ;D

[wrathofkuus]

I think it's weird, and makes people feel like they know the person when they don't. They stop watching for things like doucheface if they've already talked to the guy online. I have two friends who only meet men online, because they think introducing yourself to attractive strangers at Barnes and Noble or whatever is somehow creepy. You should see what these women bring home; you know instantly upon meeting the guys that if they'd met these men in person first, they'd never have let them know where they live.

No, I wouldn't do online dating. Why bother? There's a Whole Foods within walking distance, and those hippies are on the prowl.

[Deleted]

I met my H online, but not in a dating site. It was more of a message board like this!

[statlerwaldorf]

DH and I kind of met online. We had some mutual friends and DH saw my avatar or whatever on one of his friend's Myspace pages. He contacted me since he thought I was attractive. *creeper alert!!!* DH was pretty shy and socially awkward. He probably would've never approached me IRL.

[5kcandlesinthewind]

I met my husband online (Match), and I think most of my friends who got married long after college did as well. As others have said, it's really tough to meet people once you're out of school, unless you're super outgoing. Which I am not.
I met some real jerks online. But I also met some real jerks in the bar/through friends. So it's the same odds, really.
I do think Kuus is right, though, in that there's already a built in "relationship" when you meet someone you've spoken to online for a while. I always found it was a lot better to meet them early, then you're not wasting any time and building someone into something they're not.

[fussbucket]

I didn't bother exchanging more than a small handful of emails with H before asking to meet up, specifically so as to avoid that kind of weirdness (and potential time-wasting). But he lived nearby and there's lots of places to meet in public here, so it was no biggie. I guess if you live in the middle of nowhere and your beloved is three Southwest Airlines hops away, that's different.

It didn't take longer than 2 or 3 minutes for me to realize that he was as awesome and funny IRL as he was over email, so for us "online dating" was more like a handshake, not an LTR.

[CurlyQ284]

I met my DH online. He saw my picture in my profile and sent me a message. He was in Iraq at the time and I was a sucker for military guys so we talked every day for about 5 months. I picked him up at the airport when his deployment ended. We have been fogether 8 years.

[lurkergirl123]

I met my husband online. We've been together 12 years, married for 9. I'd say it's going well.