Today, i did a basic search for women in their mid 40's to late 50's.

I used the zip code for downtown Dallas since there is a lot of people moving inot that area.

I only asked for women who had pohots and were of average build.

Got no results.

Then i sckeded any build. I only got 5 pages for such a densly packed residental area that is made up of a large number of the type of people likely to use on line dating.

And match.com is headquartered in Richardson or Plano, Texas which are both suburbs of Dallas.

So match.com which is the second largest date site only has 5 pages ow women when i would have thought there would be dozens of pages of women since I set the search for a 5 mile radius search outside this zipcode. That should have brought me in a list of at least a few hundred women.

This tells me in an informal way that on line dating is in real deline and people are learning that the date sites are a bunch of nothing but money and time wasters.

I hope they all go out of business. . And are replaced by something that gets results for people looking to date.

Is "sckeded any build" a new dating technique?
Inquiring minds want to know. Very confusing.

Its computer lingo. The type that pops up everytime you turn around. Like OMG. I think that means oh my God or oh my gosh.

Or JMO. Is that just my opinion?

Or it could be that i am not a good typist or proof reader.

I meant I did another SEARCH and this time listed women with ANY body type. On the firsr search, i asked for women who listed that thye had an 'average' body size. But match,com has several different body sizes to choose from.

And some of the women that listed they had cury, a few pounds, etc did look what I would call average- for their age. Of course, the photos could be old and when they werre of average size.

I was just trying to show that about a year ago, there would have been hundreds of women listed with profile (not necessarily members who can e mail). And that there seems to be a real decline in people trying on line dating since it has been around enough that people know that it is mostly a bunch of BS. I watched the TV show ER in its seasn's finale and one nurse said that internet dating stank.

When I searched on May 15th, i got 5 pages when I asked for women livng in the center of downtown Dallas which has a lot of new apartments now, all i got was probably 100 women in the age group I mentioned.

I am sure this post will contain typos. My spellchecker does not work.

I certainly hope these dating sites don't close---they're good for a lot of laughs (and that's about it). I can't believe how many men are looking for women half their age. Men in their 50's and 60's are looking for women in their 20's and 30's. Not only that ,but they specify they want an attractive, sexy woman that likes to cuddle. Then you look at their photo and they're standing in their Bermuda shorts with their beer belly hanging out, holding up a big fish and smiling from ear to ear showing off the one tooth that they have left. The majority specify that they will not respond to anyone that does not post a picture. (Wow---picky picky picky!) LMAO !!! I think they must still be feeling the effects of the LSD they took in the 60's (hallucinating).

This certainly isn't directed at all men on these sites. Some of them seem like genuine people (except the one I met for coffee and didn't recognize because he had posted a picture of himself that had to have been from at least 20 years ago LMAO AGAIN).

I'm sure women on these sites pull some fast ones over on the men too but I'm just giving my perspective. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

To Miss Muffett

You sound like a very feet on the ground person.

But youroepning sentence is the reason i replied. Personals -be it print (if you can find any) or on line ads are NOT meant to be used for any type of amusement. A LOT of people are really honest in their attempts at meetingi someone they can make a life with. Or maybe just have someone to make the world a better place. Or simply not wake up with that 'I am alone again-what is my problem' feleing.

For amusement, I suggest that you try the funny papers.

And your reply is one of the most basic problems of dating. Too many are attention seekers, looking for someone to take care of them . Fix their world. They had a normal , stable life with a decent job and when they hit the dating world, they are unemployed, have no car and living with a friend.

If only you had met them when their life was not a mess. But they were probably dating a very nice person and whne thier life fell apart, the nice peson left. Maybe not because deep down, this person was a jerk. It takes a lot to run me off if a person has problems, but if they are indeed a long term situation, I have found it best NOT to get involved or stay with that person.

I wish that the fakes, scammers, golddiggers, spoiled, would be culled from the dating world . Or perhaps wind up on some remote island way from normal, sane people who do want someone in their lives and want to make a go of a relatiohsip and do not bail the first tiemt they have a fight.

This will never happen but I can dream.

Sorry but that's all I'm getting from these dating sites----->amusement. Men claiming to be someone they're not and/or posting old or fake pictures, Plus the added enjoyment (?) in reading such unrealistic 'wants'. ie 80 year old men who post a picture of themselves in a ripped t-shirt, haven't shaved in 2 days, and are holding up a can a beer and are looking for a 30-40 yr old classy woman who is financially secure and likes lots of affection ,need to step back and say to themselves "What's wrong with this picture?"

I didn't join the 2 sites that I belong to for amusement but that's what I've been provided.

Maybe this thread isn't the best place for my post. Perhaps I should start one entitled "Share your experiences on dating sites". I'd be interested in hearing what kinds of experiences other people have had---good or bad, regardless of the site they belong to. I

I respect your opinion and I agree. It is unfortunate that the evolution of something that worked so well for me, the print personal ads in a local paper, have become a national joke.

Mainstream papers like the NY TIMEs and NEwsweek have given their 'ok' about meeting online. It is fine since we now live in such a fast paced world. Where do you meet? All that.

But my profile on datehookup is NOT an old photo. It is recent. I am not a game player, I am more than willing to exhange phone numbers. I am one of the REAL people on the on line sites.

But I get lumped in with the fakes.

And while i have tried every type of profile in hopes of meeting the woman i would love to share my life with 9and I am not seeking a supermodel or other nonsense), I have had 3 dates. One might had turned out to be someone special but in the end, she was a golddiger.

Perhaps you are correct. The on line personals should be taken for what most ar-a joke.

But it still hurts those of HONEST people who hafve no other way of meeeting someone.

I live in a small town and there are no ways to meet someone since they are taken or married.

Going to bars are not an option. It is the old 10 percent get the attention and the rest go home alone be it male or female.

Good luck to you.

That's exactly why I've been trying to start a local singles club (not a dating service). Just today, in fact, I applied at a local paper's office to place an ad for said club. I won't tell you the name or web address of this club, but basically it's targeted at commitment minded singles who are 1.tired of being jerked around and 2.think paying a membership fee of a couple thousand bucks and getting zero in return is ridiculous. The club is set up based on zip code, and people who apply have to show up in person before they can join. This will keep out most of the jokers sitting in front of a computer a couple thousand miles away.

And I know the industry is in decline, because I got an e-mail recently, asking if I wanted to become a speed dating event host. I guess they're really hurting, if they can't find enough shills to help them rip people off. But with this new club, I'm pretty much trying to hurt the dating service industry, not help it. Sure, it cost me 200 bucks to place the ad, but it will run for 3 months, and I know plenty of places that would be happy to host a singles club meeting for almost nothing.

I stopped complaining about lousy service and decided to do better... and help other fed-up singles in the bargain. You should, too.

not all of us has the money, time or know how to do this.

So when we complain, we are hoping that it will trickle up to the dating sites in hopes that the on line dating industry will improve.

Maybe it never will.

I know what worked for me-Print personal ads in a weekly paper. Cheap and effective.

And THAT is what I judge date site by.

But maybe the free ones like datehookup and plentyof fish are just bad because they ARE free.

Maybe it takes a finaincial interest to weed out the fakes.

But from what I read, paying money equals the same results as the free sites. Waste of time-unless you are a woman or wiling to date the bottom of the barrel if you are a man.