I tried online dating back when it was just getting popular. I started because the only people I seemed to ever meet were friends of coworkers— and while I appreciated the offer— they had terrible taste in people they thought I should date. So, I decided to try online dating. I was very blunt about myself on my profile, put up a couple of regular pictures, and got a lot of interesting responses. Most of the men were within the desired age range, professional (accountants, architects, professors, etc.), and every so often I would get a dud — some 20something who just wanted to date an older woman. Ultimately, I only went out with people I actually thought I would have something in common with and who offered up more than a couple of sentences like, “You’re hot.” or “Can I have your number?” How am I supposed to build interest with so little?

There were some ok fellas, but nothing much came from the dates, and others who were obviously just looking for a hookup. That wasn’t what I was looking for. Then there were the guys who would go out with you on a date, but spend the whole time checking out other women or watching “the game” over my shoulder. They didn’t get a second date.

While it was an interesting experiment, if I found myself single at this point, I likely wouldn’t do online dating again.