Other dating forum sites seem to be just as afraid of criticism by posters as some dating services are of sites which criticize them. For instance, anyone who puts up an anti-Great Expectations page will be forced to close it down... just google "anti great expectations" and you'll get a bunch of 404's. Other dating forum sites do sort of the same thing, they are populated by a bunch of game players who will ban you for telling the truth about online dating (= that it's no longer taken seriously). That kind of intolerance of criticism is a dead giveaway that online dating (and the jokers who go along with it) are trying to hang on to what little credibility they still have. To them, local singles clubs like Chicago's Nerds At Heart are the ultimate threat, because once a club gets established in any given area, dating services aren't able to make a penny in that area again.

Here in Los Angeles, I'm encountering practically no opposition in trying to launch my own local club. My only real competitor is a woman across town whose specialty is seminars for matchmaking, and none of the big outfits like Great Expectorations, eHarmOnMe, etc etc have contacted me and told me to stop (yeah, like I'd stop just like that), despite the fact that I've distributed hundreds of ads which I myself printed. For every hundred or so ads, one person contacts me about attending the club's next meeting, and there are at least a half dozen local areas where I haven't put ads out yet.

My point is... the in-real-life social networking thing is the way to go, as more of us figure out that the dating services are all a joke. So, don't take the abuse any longer, start a local singles group of your own.