To ask if you have met somebody long term from OD?

Met my partner 6 years ago on pof. Originally rejected him based on picture but just got chatting anyway and then he came to help me put some flatpack up… ended up really fancying him!!

I met my current partner on OD. Weve been together just over a year now. All the other men i dated were absolutely awful. I'd lost hope tbh. I have two kids from my previous relationship and so does he.
We chatted for a couple of weeks then started meeting on dates. Knew pretty early on it would go the distance.
Don't give up, theres the odd needle in that haystack to be found.

That’s so true. I met some great blokes years ago on OLD. Then I watched the whole thing deteriorate massively over a 10+ year period (and that was going back 10 years ago).

The last experience I had with it about five years ago was awful - and I have no doubts that it’s gone downhill even more since then. For many women, it will be just be grim, fruitless and soul destroying.

Yes, we met on an app that was specifically for casual sex 😂 He asked me for a drink pretty quick and we just really clicked straight away. Neither of us were looking for a relationship but you meet the right person when you least expect it.

Exactly that. I only had one face to face date before I met my bloke but there were loads of interactions that either fizzled out or one of us called time on.

As I said I very rarely swipe right on anyone so it’s not that I’m not ‘churning through’ profiles. I got to point where I’d run out of profiles to view within a 50 mile radius and barely had a match.

Im nearly 60 though so the pickings are very very slim

Met my partner online. We’ve been together 3 years; have a baby together. We chatted via the app and then WhatsApp for a couple of weeks and then met up and had a date every week for a few months; then became more frequent and moved in together last year, baby born last Nov.

It’s not about going on dates with men you’re not interested in. The numbers people are referring to are the number of profiles you need to churn through to find the suitable men.

You can get really good at spotting tells on profiles for no hopers so you don’t have to get to the chat stage.

Yeah XH starting messaging within days of us splitting, first date a month later. I joined OLD 5 months after we split but I wasn’t really ready until I met DP after almost a year.

So why waste my time swiping for people I’m not interested in?

I don’t want to go on numerous dates with men I’m not attracted to or don’t have anything in common with.

Thats a waste of everyone’s time imo

Absolutely nothing wrong with feeling happy with yourself and being happy in your own company.

Met my husband on there. I was on there about 2 years and had a few short term flings before him. I mainly used it to chat to people of a night time because I was a single mum, bit lonely and it kept me company. I didn't really approach it seriously and wasn't really looking for anything long term. I had lots of interest but I didn't bother meeting the vast majority in person. My now husband really surprised me, there were no mind games, he made it clear from the start he wanted me and my kids and that we came as a package. I could not wish for anyone better. He's gorgeous, kind, hard working family man.

Met my partner 7 years ago on Tinder. Fancied him from his pics, had a few dates and it feels like he just never went home!
Two DCs later and we’re doing great.
Waded through absolute grotbags before him though. 😂

I met DH on Bumble 7 years ago and we’re now happily married with 2 kids and a dog! Before him I had 3 longish relationships (over a year) from OLD and met plenty of other nice people where we weren’t compatible for whatever reason but they’d be great for someone else.
It does take a bit of searching and a lot of tedious messaging/rubbish dates to find the right person though

I found someone who quickly, but I absolutely rinsed the apps. I paid for a subscription because I was running out of swipes within 10 minutes and I dedicated 45 minutes a day to just swiping profiles.

I made a point of messaging every single match. If I got a one word message back or something sleazy I binned them straight away. And within 2 days was moving to a coffee meet. You suggest face to face and it quickly weeds out the penpals.

I have friends who have been doing OLD for years. But I think if you just do a couple of minutes every few days it doesn’t work. Someone who matches you if you don’t see them for 5 days is going to go cold, fall off the app, meet someone else; you start to see old profiles that are no longer active.

I think you will get different answers depending on how long ago people were on there. I know lots of people who successfully met someone online 10-20 years ago but no-one recently. I personally found that people are now really lazy and don’t put in any effort, either with conversation, meeting up or genuinely engaging with anyone and usually seem to just want an ego boost or some dirty messages. It definitely wasn’t as bad years ago.

I met my husband on there 7.5 years ago. The key thing that was different about him compared to other dates or those of my friends, was that he treated me kindly and respectfully from the first message. No sex talk too soon or trying to steer conversations that way. Just a genuine interest in finding common ground and good chat. And that lack of sexual pushiness/innuendo continued in person until we’d been on a few dates and established a mutual attraction.

Met my DH online 10 years ago! Before him I had been dating online for about a year or so on and off.

In my experience there are some wankers out there but I got quite good at weeding them out. I came up with my own rules eg- profile picture holding a fish (there were lots!) or with their kids was a definite no. Slagging off their ex was another big red flag. Anyone who just messaged with a ‘hi’ or something equally generic was also a no as they clearly hadn’t read my profile and were just messsging everyone. I always chatted online for a bit before meeting but not too long- maybe a week or 2 at most. In the end everyone I met was perfectly nice actually, just didn’t really have a spark until I met DH!

I have a good friend who has had a bit more success on meet-up.com recently rather than dating apps, so that might be worth a try?

Oh yeah it also took a year and several dud dates before him.

I met my husband on an online dating site 18 years ago. We’ve been through a lot together but I would do it all again to spend time with him and just wish we’d net even sooner.

That’s where you went wrong because it’s a numbers game. Unless you’re very lucky it’s going to take time and contact with a lot of people.

What does OD and OLD mean in this context? On demand?

I know POF and a few others, but unsure of OD. I don't want to keep googling it in case my DH gets the wrong idea 😆

My husband and I met 15 years ago from online dating. When we met, we just clicked and that was that. Even when life has been tough, being with him has been easy. Been married for 10 years and have 3 children.