Tell me your positive experiences on dating apps. I'm beginning to thinks it's all a con!

[RoseWineLover]

I'm on 2 dating apps and feeling absolutely deflated! I like guys, I message guys and I get nothing back!
I always reply to guys who message me saying thanks but no thanks. I think its rude not to acknowledge them when someone has reached out to you. I've been blocked (what an over the top reaction that was after one message!) and ignored numerous times! It's absolutely brutal out there! Is it worth continuing? If you've been OLD how long did you do it for before you called it a day? And if you were successful, HOW??

I set myself a time limit. Six months.

I went on a couple of dates with a lovely guy a week or two after joining, but I wasn't feeling it (really hope he's happy now though!).

Met my (now) husband on there just a few days later.

I think stick with the ones who sound like real people and want to talk. No stupid chat up lines and whatnot. Be brutal. You only want and need to hit gold once.

Good luck!

I remember going on crappy dates or just not getting any replies. Did Match (including a date with a man who had just left the priesthood) and then pof. I was about to give up but decided to go on a date with a bloke I didnt think was my type, on the grounds that my type wasn't working out for me. We've been together for six years now, married with two children.

I've never used OLD but I have 3 friends who met their subsequent wife/husbands on there. To the best of my knowledge they are very happy.

All my friends have met their husbands online

• many of them said they were about to jack it in and gave it one last go when they met future DH

Met my DP on Tinder 11 years ago, getting married this year. Try not to get too hung up on it, there was a lot of weeding to do!

I’m 50 and my brother told me it’s unlikely I will find anyone now, I’ve been single for a long time.

I'll always answer a message, and I'll always be honest about what I'm looking for /not looking for. Have had some lovely dates, and a couple of more involved situations too. Generally a good experience, but I just dip in and out of it, not expecting much. Have met some rude people too, but most are OK. Profile photo has to be good (not with random, unexplained men in them, or it's mostly their dog, or they're pissed on a dancefloor.)

I met my lovely husband online but we actually already knew, and liked, each other in real life.

A friend had actually introduced me to him years before suggesting to me that he was the man I should marry!

What an awful brother

get a new one!

I'm with my lovely guy who I met on hinge 2 years ago after a year of being happily single.

I honestly think the short hair is a thing. When I was younger I had a pixie crop and got way more attention when older with longer hair... it's lame but it's facts.

don't give up, I do think they work but they can make you feel like dogshit so take breaks often and don't get invested too quickly. Fingers crossed for you.

I’m a similar age and in my brief foray into OLD I was getting messages from men in their 70’s who resembled Dobbys older more wizened brother telling me age is just a number.

And far too many men my age looking for a nurse with a purse - I gave up pretty quickly

@pinenuts75 I'm 51 and have been on my own for 6 years. I just want someone to go out for dinner with, the cinema, a drink, just some companionship really! I just feel if I live until I'm 80+ it's a long time to be on your own.
Eurgh honestly, less misery more manifesting!!
@Loloblue I honestly think the short hair does put fellas off. I'll swipe right then literally within minutes I can see they've checked out my profile and thought - nah! 😆

Goodness Facebook dating! All I seemed to attract were men who looked like Fuckboys and sexualised messages. I lasted a week!

I went in with no expectations. I had moved to London and wanted to meet people over the course of the summer. By the end of the summer, and multiple first/ second dates, I had had enough of the small talk and decided one more date - said date turned out to be DH. After the second date I knew he was the one. We met in 2012, got married in 2017 and 5 (!) dc later, here we are.

In terms of how, I didn’t bother with anyone who sent just a ‘hello’ or a copy and paste first message. Any short/ personal messages I responded to and went from there. I also met anyone I liked quickly - for me at least, there was no point spending months chatting online to meet in person and there be no spark.

Really charming from your brother! 😄

I met the man I’m seeing now just a few weeks into starting OLD. I was lucky, he was only my second date. I do think it’s just luck.

I married dh years before OLD was invented, but I do know a few people who have got married after meeting on-line (incl one of my dc). It does happen.

I met my dh on a dating site (paid) - I closed 648 complete non starters over about 4 months, and seriously thought I'd give up, then saw his profile and said out loud to myself, "now that's more like it!". We met up after a few weeks (I was divorced, he was widowed) and very quickly fell for each other. He's a sweetheart. I was late 40s, he was mid 50s when we met.

If you carry on OP, definitely thick skin and try to be v casual in your approach (easier said than done sometimes!). You can always come off the apps for a bit then think about trying again another time.

Glad it's not just me!

Depends on what counts as success. I’ve successfully met men and had a long term relationship. But it ended after 2 years and honestly he never wanted the serious LTR he made out he did. His profile also said he wanted kids and he was very much not bothered.

A little different but I met my husband on a Muslim marriage app. I’m told by him and friends they can be just as bad as OLD. I did a paid subscription, he was my first match, we met 3 weeks later and we both just knew it was meant to be. He’d been on and off there for 5 years so I know I got lucky.

I met my husband on Tinder. I dated a lot from there (all Army officers, I fear I have A Type) but my husband was relatively normal compared to most of them.

We now have two children and live overseas. So it’s worked out for me. 🧿

Ignore anyone saying you have to go older or that you won’t meet anyone at your age, it’s rubbish. People of all ages have trouble on apps. I have friends in their 50s/60s and they met people their age.
I’ve never liked apps but a tip from me to meet men is go to things where there will be a lot. I go to biker days, car events, wartime events, gigs etc. My mum always met men volunteering in outdoor things

I signed up to Match last year and would not recommend it. All the guys I spoke to on that site were creepy and weird. I lasted a week and then closed my account. Constant messages from men complimenting my body as the conversation starter - just weird and gross.

I have given up on the apps now. I was using Hinge, but I've encountered so many married/partnered men on there, just looking for attention or hoping to cheat. And they're not necessarily that easy to spot.

I recently logged back in, hoping to try again, but it's all the same - guys just wanting sex, guys who aren't sure what they want, guys who are poly and partnered, guys with a chip on their shoulder... and every so often, a rare and genuinely lovely guy - who I have zero chemistry with and, despite going on numerous dates to see if a spark/attraction grows, nothing develops.

Good luck if you decide to keep at it. I keep hearing that some people have success with the apps, but it seems there's a growing majority of people who are not. My plan is to focus on meeting people in real life instead. If we all collectively stop using them, hopefully this will make real-life connections easier too.

I don't know how accurate this theory of mine is - but so many online dating app success stories seem to be from 10-15 years ago.

Does anyone have any very recent successes to share? Like from the past 1-2 years?

Call me jaded but I think the likelihood of finding a decent partner is significantly worse post-Covid. I feel like a whole bunch of people are using the apps now purely for an ego boost and attention, because they were stuck at home during the lockdown and this inadvertently created a shift in how, or why, people use these apps which has had a detrimental effect on the people who are on them and genuinely looking for a connection. Does anyone else share this view?