Contemplating

     I am surprised by the continued support and attention my little dating experiment has received over the past year.  Many of you will have noticed that I signed off on this #eHarmony experiment once my account had been active for a year and I chose not to continue using it.  As anyone who has read this blog will know, the algorithm used by #eHarmony didn't work for me.  I met one man in person and we didn't have any common interest or chemistry.  That was the highlight of my experience and that's not saying much.

     I don't have any access to statistics for any online dating company.  However, I believe that there maybe many women in my age category (over 40) who have sought out online dating sites to find a potential relationship partner.  It's a challenge for us to meet single men to date as the pool of available, age appropriate men gets smaller in the 40s.

     Let's face it, it's easier to meet people when we are younger.  Generally, we are surrounded by social peers both at school and in our cities/towns.  As we age this social grouping tends to falter due to a variety of reasons.  This includes people marrying, moving, starting families and just the general gravitational pull that happens when common interests change.

     I have heard from several people who experienced these situations via email since launching this blog.  Mostly, I have heard from women who have had similar online dating experiences.  One of my friends is using #Match.com and isn't fairing much better than I was.  While she is able to browse and search out men on the site (something I consider a plus) she also finds several fake profiles that write to her in broken English and come across as phishing scams. In fact, one "man" who wrote her had his profile altered to be a woman with different photos but the same written content. Obviously, this is a fraud account and probably being utilized by multiple people. I wondered if the dating sites look into reports of that?  

     I titled this entry as Contemplating, not because I want to try another dating site, but I'd like to ask you - my readers - to write in about your experiences.  Perhaps together we can find alternative ways to online date safely or discover new outlets and gathering places to do so.  Would any of you like to interact, discuss and discover these things?  Please comment below or email me directly. And thank you for reading!