In the past, online dating was seen as more “desperate” than traditional dating, but as more and more things are going online, the social stigma of online dating has all but disappeared. Now it’s more of a tool that you can use to meet people that have similar interests in your area.
There are both free sites and paid sites. The question is, which do you choose?
Dear Dan and Jennifer,
I just can’t seem to meet single women in Real World situations. I’ve tried to meet women on 100% free dating sites, followed the rules to the best of my abilities (being honest, having no pictures with girls in them, talk about specific hobbies and life goals, etc.), and still nothing.
My friends are bugging me to join a pay site like Match.com or eHarmony, but isn’t a PAY site just telling the world that I’m so desperate that I have to pay someone $30-$50 a month just for the POSSIBILITY of meeting women? What reason do I have to think that I’ll be anymore successful here than I was there? Are pay sites an insulting admission of desperation, or simply using another tool in the world of meeting women?
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The Benefits Of Unpaid Online Dating Websites
Unpaid sites have their advantages namely you can meet people online for free. Your credit card never gets billed and you don’t have to risk paying for a service that might not ever be useful.
That is, you might never find anyone online that you’re compatible with. If you’re using a free online dating site, it’s more of a disappointment rather than a financial issue. But paid dating websites have many advantages as well. In fact, many of the popular paid online dating websites have benefits that far outweigh the drawbacks of paying for an online dating tool.
How Serious Are You?
Whether you want to pay for an online dating website service or not is up to you. You know your financial situation and you know if this is something you can commit to financially or not.
Think about this though. How serious are you about meeting someone online? If you’re simply doing it for fun or for friends and don’t mind if you never find anyone you’re compatible with, a free online dating website might be right up your alley.
However, if you’re more serious about finding someone you really enjoy spending time with and might end up being that really special someone, a paid online dating website is going to give you more of what you’re looking for.
Paying For a Membership Is a Big Commitment
Why is that? For starters, to fork over the bucks each month to belong to an online dating website service requires a pretty hefty level of commitment from you. You definitely want to make sure you’re serious about finding someone you really like if you’re going to pay each month for the possibility of meeting them.
The biggest benefit of belonging to a paid online dating website, however, is that everyone else who belongs to the website also forks over money each month for their membership. That means they’re serious about dating too.
So you know going into it that you’re going to meet people online that are just as committed to dating as you are, and that’s quite refreshing when you really think about it!
Online dating isn’t for everyone, but if you choose to belong to either a paid or unpaid online dating membership, don’t be afraid that you’re going to appear “desperate” or silly.
Online dating websites are excellent tools you can use to meet like minded people in your area that you probably wouldn’t have met otherwise! Just make sure that if you find someone you really like that you take that step forward and bring the relationship from an online introduction to a real life, real world relationship.