[Rumor]

SAN BRUNO / Online suitor defrauded, slain in Brazil, police say / Man allegedly drugged, burned after meeting woman on Web; 2 held on suspicion of murder

I know this is an extreme case and probably doesn't happen that often. However, I've heard of many cases of people getting ripped off big time. Call me old fashioned, but I like to meet my women in a more conventional setting.

Anyone know of someone who had great sucess/failure with internet dating?

[imitchellg5]

Internet dating is a good way to get raped. I would never do it.

[Tuoder]

A friend of mine did that. She was fine, aside from the guy having a weird voice. They didn't get married or anything. The relationship worked like any other.

[starman]

Why is dating on the net different from finding a creep in a bar?

[ort888]

Or it can end in marriage, like it did for me.

Which could actually be worse then getting hacked up into bits, I'll have to get back to you on that.

[Chuckit]

File this under "The dangers of stepping outside."

I know a lot of women who do Internet dating. It doesn't seem to have much different results from normal dating, except the guys are marginally less likely to be alcoholics than men they meet at bars.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

File this under "The dangers of stepping outside."

I know a lot of women who do Internet dating. It doesn't seem to have much different results from normal dating, except the guys are marginally less likely to be alcoholics than men they meet at bars.

Good call. I agree, if you do it through a reputable source.

[Zeeb]

I date via the internet sometimes. I got tired of the people post who old pictures of themselves before they lost their hair and gained 50lbs. I went on a date with someone recently who used pics of someone else entirely. Not uncommon I know but it inspired me to shut down my dating profile a few weeks ago.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

after meeting woman on Web; 2

See, I knew that Web 2.0 thing was dangerous.



-t

[memory-minus]

Originally Posted by Zeeb 

I went on a date with someone recently who used pics of someone else entirely.

Do they expect you to shrug and just ignore the fact they sent you someone else's pictures? It baffles me what goes through people's minds when they do that, and I wonder if they are shocked when they are rejected in person.

Personally, I met my partner on the Internet and we've been together 6 years this month.

[SSharon]

One of my teachers met her current husband online and one of my classmates also found his gf online. Were it not for the fact that I am in a relationship, I would consider it since I don't like bars.

[vexborg]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Or it can end in marriage, like it did for me.

And for me as well...

[Mastrap]

I have several friends who met their partner online. None of them have problems to report.

[Calimus]

I met my wife online, though it wasn't really on "online" relationship. Her and a friend were bored on a Saturday night and were IMing local guys that were online to see if they wanted to meet for coffee. I chatted with them for a couple of minutes, and decided to meet them.

We've been together 5 years, and married for 1 1/2. Just had our first child two weeks ago.

[Rumor]

Congrats on those that have a meaningful relationship that originated online.

[Zeeb]

Originally Posted by memory-minus 

Do they expect you to shrug and just ignore the fact they sent you someone else's pictures? It baffles me what goes through people's minds when they do that, and I wonder if they are shocked when they are rejected in person.

Personally, I met my partner on the Internet and we've been together 6 years this month.

That's awesome and its good to hear there are positive outcomes of online dating.

The strange thing was that the actual guy wasn't bad looking and he certainly didn't need to use pictures of someone else. He admitted to me they weren't of him but I got the impression that he didn't think there was anything wrong with that. Being dishonest right from the start is just not a good indicator of future success so I never called him back. I imagine he lies about a lot of stuff.

[zerostar]

Originally Posted by memory-minus 

Personally, I met my partner on the Internet and we've been together 6 years this month.

Same here, been 7 years just 6 days ago... 7 long........... wonderful..... haha.... years.

[ort888]

Our 7 year anniversary is this weekend. 7 years together, 1 year married.

[Mastrap]

Actually, come to think of it, the internet had a hand in bringing my wife and myself together. When I met her she was dating another guy and wasn't interested in dumping him for me.

I thought 'what the hell, I like this chick - and had a feeling she liked me too - let's be friends'. So I shoot off an email saying next time you're in my city give me a call and we go for a coffee. I never heard back and assumed that I had got it wrong and that she wasn't interested at all.

Six months later I get a mail full of excuses that she hadn't replied (this was an old yahoo account she had been neglecting) and also that she was: visiting London in a couple of weeks time and b: had dumped her boyfriend who had turned out to be an ass.

In the meantime I had sort of started dating another girl, but I still took her out for dinner. Been together ever since (5 years), second wedding anniversary coming up on the 20th of November.

[Eug Wanker]

My time with MacNN has been full of joy. I wish never to part with her. Aside from the occasional flashing web ad, she's as beautiful to me as she was many years ago when we first met.

Without the internet this relationship would never have happened.

Where would all these single people be without the internet?

I tried internet dating and it was so-so. I did take out one woman who I found on the first date had posted pictures of her friend instead of herself. To which I immediately left her and her apparently psycho tendencies at the restaurant. Didn't make much sense as she was more attractive than her friend. Maybe she was up to something she shouldn't of been doing and didn't want to get caught.

I did find that the ratio of men to women on personal sites is horribly skewed. Maybe one woman for every 25 guys. Akin to living in Alaska, I suppose.

The girl I'm seeing now I met through conventional (stoneage) means - through a friend.

[memento]

I met my wife on Prodigy back in 1992. We've been married 9 years and we're very happy. My roommate from college, after getting a divorce is now married to someone he met online.

But it's not much different in that you still have to be a good judge of character. You can still meet a creep (like my SIL did, but she got pregnant by him).

[Todd Madson]

I technically met my wife online: I was a bulletin board sysop. She and her
college friends were dialing up local bulletin boards to see if there was
anything interesting to see or maybe just to harass the males with their
feminine wiles.

I didn't really think much of it at the time but one of her friends ended up
wanting to meet a friend of mine so they set up a blind date. But neither
of them wanted to go alone in case one of them was a knife wielding psycho.

So they figured the best way to combat potential problems was to meet
in a public place and to have safety in numbers.

So they set it up so that they would bring along two friends each so it was
three guys, three women.

I ended up dating the one that my friend wanted to date for about six
months and that ended badly, but I stayed friends with one of the ones
who was at the time dating someone. That did not last and she was
eventually single.

We eventually started dating and two years after that were engaged and
not long after that hitched.

Now we're going on 12 years as of next May.

It doesn't seem like much time has passed though.

[SSharon]

Everyone here seems to have met their SO in some interesting way and here all I did was sit next to her on a 12 hour flight.

[CMYKid]

its probably worth noting that TFA's arent really talking about people actually dating so much as people who think they're going to actually date and instead end up getting scammed/killed/parted out for organ sales... I'm always amused at people that are incredulous that people hook up via Myspace, Facebook and the like...because thats different than meeting any new person any other way? At least there you can halfway get an idea of what they're like by who they're friends with...

[Andy8]

I see no problems if you follow some simple rules:

1. Try and see them on cam first, or at least 4/5 different photos as proof.
2. Meet them in a very public place, I perfer Starbucks, as once the coffee is finished, you can leave if you need to.
3. Never give them you home phone or work numbers up front.

Having said this, from my experience out of 100% of "online" dates I have had:
40% are complete nutcases
40% are people you would meet just once, they are not bad, just no "click" with
20% you would meet more than once and some would become good/best friends.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Calimus 

Just had our first child two weeks ago.

Congratulations!

[DigitalEl]

Met my wife on teh Internets... Match.com, before it became a pay site. Three houses and two kids later, we have not yet realized the "dangers."

[OwlBoy]

Very interesting thread, glad to see apart from the first post is is mostly positive news

-Owl

[olePigeon]

She's uh-- she's got sandy blonde hair. She's, uh, pretty-look-- pretty good-looking face, but... I'm just gettin' really-- just kinda T.O.'d because, I mean, she hasn't even sent me a full body shot yet.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker 

My time with MacNN has been full of joy. I wish never to part with her. Aside from the occasional flashing web ad, she's as beautiful to me as she was many years ago when we first met.

Without the internet this relationship would never have happened.

Wait till she kicks you out on the street for a few months for bad talkin'. I tell ya, I'm still a little bitter at this mistress called 'NN.

[badidea]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

She's uh-- she's got sandy blonde hair. She's, uh, pretty-look-- pretty good-looking face, but... I'm just gettin' really-- just kinda T.O.'d because, I mean, she hasn't even sent me a full body shot yet.

Since about a week I know where this comes from!


edit: Oh, I also met one of my girlfriends online! It was good! Don't know why I never did it again!?

[Love Calm Quiet]

Originally Posted by DigitalEl 

... Three houses and two kids later, we have not yet realized the "dangers."

Houses and kids are not dangers?

[mitchell_pgh]

Here are my general rules regarding online dating:

1) Move the relationship to the real work ASAP.
Chemistry is key to any relationship, and while you may find someone interesting from a profile and the exchange of a few email, until you meet them and talk, you really don't know much about them.

2) Meet the guy/girl in a public place for the first few dates.
Until you feel comfortable with the person, do not spend time alone with them. Stick to places where the two of you can both get away without making it uncomfortable. It's also great to invite him/her out to meet your friends as a second date. Dinner, movies, show, etc.

3) Don't be too eager to exchange personal information.
You don't have to give the other person every bit of your personal information before getting to know them. Generalize... and if the relationship matures... give more information.

4) Trust but verify...
As the relationship matures, you may want to check out his/her background a little more. I'm NOT advocating stalking, but confirming the employer of your new significant other is a good start.

5) The three date rule.
After three dates, you should be able to figure out weather or not it's a relationship or not. Don't string anyone along... Also, if you aren't feeling it, just tell them.

6) The three phone call rule.
If you call three times and do not receive a call back, you should consider the relationship over.

OK, I'm said too much...

[mitchell_pgh]

Oh, and one final thing...

"The only people you'll meet at the bar... are people that go to the bar." - My Mom

[Dakar²]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

5) The three date rule.
After three dates, you should be able to figure out weather or not it's a relationship or not. Don't string anyone along... Also, if you aren't feeling it, just tell them.

That's not the three date rule I'm familiar with...

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

Oh, and one final thing...

"The only people you'll meet at the bar... are people that go to the bar." - My Mom

I lament this. I have the feeling the people I'd enjoy hanging out with most don't go there, even though I do.

[kmkkid]

The "everyone who goes to a bar is a drunk" thing is a myth. Sure there will be alcoholics, but a lot of people are just social weekend drinkers like myself. Of course I did meet my bf in a bar, and he is an alcoholic. So YMMV

[Mithras]

Originally Posted by kmkkid 

The "everyone who goes to a bar is a drunk" thing is a myth. Sure there will be alcoholics, but a lot of people are just social weekend drinkers like myself. Of course I did meet my bf in a bar, and he is an alcoholic. So YMMV

Everything about that post is just beautiful.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

The only people you'll meet at the bar... are people that go to the bar." - My Mom

Originally Posted by kmkkid 

The "everyone who goes to a bar is a drunk" thing is a myth. Sure there will be alcoholics, but a lot of people are just social weekend drinkers like myself. Of course I did meet my bf in a bar, and he is an alcoholic. So YMMV

I never said that everyone that goes to the bar is a drunk.

[Salty]

I've met two people online, one of them is now married, the other I confess I still have a "thing for" the second one is a guy who sadly lives in America, I live in Canada. Can we say problems? I've actually thought of going down for a visit, which would cost about 600 CND, which isn't so bad if you know it'd actually work out and stuff. The problem is then what if it does work out? I can't likely move down there terribly easy, and he's not the type to want to move away from his family. And it's not as if I'm exactly trained in a trade that is going to make me a great candidate for immigration . Sigh... the impracticalities of it all.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh 

1) Move the relationship to the real work ASAP.

You mean world, right ?

-t