Online Dating Websites: Cookie and Magnus – Our Cats Helped Us Meet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melindajosie/119700492/

Helen talks about online dating and how her cat and David's cat helped them meet.

by Helen Krasner

I’m just about to celebrate a rather important anniversary. It’s exactly two years since I first contacted my partner, David.

That isn’t long, especially for two confirmed singletons who initially thought they just wanted new friends. But, neither of us can imagine ever being apart and things seem to be going pretty well. And, that seems to me to be a good enough reason for celebration. But, I’m getting ahead of myself here…

Online Dating Websites

I first started using internet dating websites a few years ago. I’d been single for years, and I was quite happy that way, but as I’d got older I’d begun to feel that having…someone, just someone who cared about me…might be…rather nice.

Dating websites seemed like a simple way to meet people. So, I registered on one and wrote a profile. At first, I picked free sites, of which there have always been a number if you look around carefully. I live in the UK, so Loveandfriends.com and Midsummerseve.com seemed to be good sites to try.

What I Learned About Internet Dating Sites

Details of the next few years would fill a book. I emailed several men quite soon, and I usually got replies, but I found out several things quite early on.

I needed to make the first move, as women in their 50s were all but invisible on these sites.
I needed to have a presentable-looking picture…maybe to prove that I didn’t have one foot in the grave just yet.
Unique profiles were crucial; I worked hard to make mine sound interesting, and several people wrote, ‘Love your Profile’….even if they didn’t seem to like anything else about me.

People Lie on Dating Sites

When I began to meet men, and I did quite a lot of this over the years, I found out a lot more.

On the positive side, I met some nice people and had some enjoyable conversations and meals out. But, on the negative side…oh dear! I discovered that a lot of men lie on the internet.

For the record, I’ve been told that many women do too. Photos are ten years old. Years are knocked off ages. Marriages, still current, are conveniently forgotten.

How to Read a Profile

There is a special language used in online bios, and here is how to interpret internet-dating phrases into English: