Online Dating: Increasing Your Chances for Love
By John M. Grohol. Posted on .
This guest article from Psych Central was written by Drs. Les and Leslie Parrot.
“All the good ones are taken,” Jennifer complained. “There’s nobody to date – even if I lower my standards. I mean it’s not like I’m looking for a guy to ride in on a white horse and sweep me off my feet. I’d just like to meet a nice guy with a decent job and a sense of humor. Is that too much to ask?”
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“I know what you mean,” her friend Sarah commiserated. “It feels like all the guys where I work are already paired up or they are simply not dating material. I mean, I’m not going out with a guy whose idea of a nice date is Taco Bell and video games.”
“Seriously,” Jennifer continued, “I don’t even know if some guys think of it as a date. Three weeks ago, I went on that hike with First Church and there were some cute guys in the group. I ended up talking to one of them most of the hike and then he asked me to have a cup of coffee with him when we got back to the church. I think he’s a nice guy, but I don’t even know if he considered that a date or what? He texted me a couple times since, but was it just a friendly thing or what?”
This little exchange between friends is echoed in one form or another countless times between singles everywhere. In fact, it’s one of the top complaints that single people lament: Finding a date is hard.
The Truth About Finding a Date
But could this really be true? With 90 million singles in America, could it be that “all the good ones are taken” near you? Unlikely. According to the American Association for Single People, an “unmarried majority” has emerged in most major cities, as well as in several states. In fact, the majority of households in the nation are headed by unmarried adults. So, why is it that singles are complaining about not finding a date?
In fact, let’s make this more personal. Consider your situation. If you were to make a list of all the potential people to date in your social circles right now, how long would it be? Can you list a dozen eligible people you’d consider dating? A half dozen? Or are you, like most single adults, having a tough time coming up with a significant list of potential people to date?
The problem, of course, is not that there are not other compatible, attractive, interesting, fun, and successful singles to date – they are more plentiful than ever. The problem is that most singles just don’t know where to find them.
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That’s where dating online comes in. Never before has the single community had such an effective and powerful tool for increasing their chances of not just finding a date, but a serious romantic match – someone who is highly compatible and a potential “keeper.”
A Dozen Dates in the Same Room?
