Overview
Online dating has taken off recently, becoming the primary source of lasting and meaningful relationships among people of all ages. Although you might be hesitant to try it, there are many online dating services and websites that are trying to assist older people in finding true love. Just because you meet someone special online, doesn’t meant that your entire relationship will consist of screen-time, most people who start looking for love on a dating website have the intention of meeting their future lover.
Why Should I Use an Online Dating Service?
It is never too late to find love! Simply put, it isn’t as practical to just wait for the right person to jump into your life. It’s not very likely that you will meet this person out in public, just because you might be going to different supermarkets or coffee shops. There are plenty of fish in the sea and limiting them to the people who you will only meet publicly greatly reduces your chance at finding true love.
Types of Online Dating
Matchmaking
Online dating services that offer matchmaking often have a more hands-on role in finding you a partner. These services require you to give them a load of information, either through a “likes and dislikes” or through extensive user-generated surveys. The purpose of these surveys are to help you find someone with similar interests as you, such as music tastes, movie preferences, and even how much outdoor activity you enjoy. Some companies are really specific, asking about basic financial questions such as income or living situations, while other services are very minimal in this regard. Each of these services have their own unique database of users and offer paid additional features that can encourage your eligibility to finding a match.
Swipe Based Systems
These “love at first sight” apps often use the swipe functionality on your phone to give you more opportunities per hour. While they are not as customized, many of these services offer the best close range results, matching you with people close by. Unfortunately, these results are not as tailored to your desires and interests as matchmaking services. Similar to tinder, these sights provide you with a picture of a potential match—sometimes alongside a short bio—and ask you to either confirm or deny the person. If you confirm them and they like wise confirm you, the company will send you a notification that both of you have matched. Often, these companies also provide you with messaging system to get the conversation started and other forms of communication established.
Which Service Is Right for Me?
Unfortunately, no one can accurately answer this question except for yourself. Although we have explained some of the two most common types of dating websites, there are many new companies that offer a hybrid of these two services. You are the only one who can decide which of these dating services will help you find the special someone you are looking for.
Tips for Online Dating
Take It Slow
As exciting as it can be to match with someone you are attracted to, it’s never a good start to rush into things. Take your time getting to know the person over the messaging system provided, or by giving them your phone number and having a chat. It might only take you a couple of minutes in over-the-phone conversation to make you realize your latest match and you have nothing in common.
Look for Services with “No Unsolicited Contact”
Services with these “No Unsolicited Contact” clauses mean that you have to approve the people who are able to talk to you. These are usually the best services, as they prevent you from getting an inbox full of people you aren’t interested in. We use dating services to save ourselves time, so getting a whole bunch of spam from people you don’t have any interest in is really counterproductive.
Try Multiple Sites/Services
By trying multiple dating services, you increase the chance of making meaningful connection. Not everyone will follow this advice, and stick to a dating service that they are familiar with, or that they are comfortable with. We suggest that you spread your wings and put your profile on multiple websites, as this will increase the amount of people that will be able to see your profile.
Plan Your First Meet Carefully
There are two reasons to spend a considerable time thinking about your first date with a new match. Firstly, you want to meet in a public place, preferably during the day time and in a public space. You never know who is really on the other side of that screen, or what their true intentions are. Coffee and lunch dates make great first date ideas, but be sure that you find a place that doesn’t mind if you sit and chat for a while; as you know, new lovers can get carried away. Secondly, you want to leave a good first impression at the end of the date. Be sure to check the hours of the place you are meeting, if they are sometimes closed for holidays, you might want to call to make sure you and your date will have plenty of time to get to know each other.
Be Yourself and Have Fun!
Being yourself is the most important part of any new relationship, online or otherwise. If you are trying too hard to sound smart or sophisticated, or lying about your tastes and interests, it will become clear to the other person whether you know it or not. There are so many people to spend the rest of your life with, so there is no sense in trying to be someone you are not. You want someone who will love you for you.
Don’t Get Discouraged
It is inevitable that you will go on dates with people where the spark isn’t there, but don’t let that discourage you from trying again. There are so many fish in the sea, but if you keep getting out there and meeting people, you will eventually find someone you can have a meaningful connection with.
