How to start internet dating

[wearymum73]

I've been single for 4 years now, and my sister has insisted I start dating again!
I'm not sure if this is the right chat room to post on...sorry if it's not?
I have no idea how the internet dating thing works, how do you start a chat with someone, I have joined match, but too scared to start any chats myself.
Any adice

I can't remember how match works but I think there is a facility to 'like' or 'wink at' someone. I'd do that to a few people that you like the look of and see if they contact you. I put something in my profile which said 'I'm quite shy about making first contact but I'd love to hear from you if you're interested and interesting.'

What happened was I got contacted by a variety of men who I wasn't interested in. I soon got fed up of that and sent messages to guys I would really like to hear from. Most replied and I was very careful about checking their profile and really thinking about whether we'd be compatible, from what I could see, before meeting up.

I went on three dates, each led to a long term relationship - one six months, one four years and one I'm married to now.

By all means dip your toe cautiously to start with but I honestly think you're more likely to have successful experiences if you're more proactive. No one thinks it's brazen or odd to contact a chap via online dating.

Why don't you try Tinder it's an app you can download from the App Store and it connects to Facebook (no one on FB can see you're using tinder). Easy to use and good for he confidence boost. Some suggest it's merely a hookup site. There are certainly people on there looking for a fun time and nothing else but not everyone. Easy way to dip your toe in I think (I've been single for a year and have just been on my first date through tinder, he was normal!). Good luck OP.

You might find it educational to read the Dating Thread to get a feel for the bizarre world of Online Dating. You need a robust sense of humour and a handbook of red flags to weed out the Losers. I met two men I liked. One was a nightmare the other is sitting on the sofa opposite me in our new house and we are getting married next year. I met him on Plenty of Fish which needs strong nerves!

There's loads of dating advice online - try evan marc katz for one. You can find advice on everything from profile writing to choosing pictures to writing and replying to emails (the basics; say more than just "hi" and show you've read his profile by referring to stuff in it and asking questions). Good luck!

Thank you sleeping, I've started readings Marc's site, it's good some good articles in that I hadn't even thought about before!
I didn't know there was a dating thread, I'll go and have a look, sounds like it'll be an eye opener!
I'll try tinder too :-)