[pretzel]

I met my current wife through a dating site,

'nuff said.

[Texinator]

I tried registering a few times but they never let. Apparently I'm not supposed to answer 'What do you want most in a woman?' with 'My penis!'

On a serious note, I know that not all dating sites are equal. Some have you answer questions and then suggest a potential date for you, others are just a database of profiles through which you can browse. Regardless, I'd always worry about people misrepresenting themselves, especially on the sites where people are allowed to create their own profile in Facebook or Myspace style.

[Yvee]

I haven't really used any myself, but I know two couples who have met online. My boyfriend and myself have actually met online too, but not through a dating site..we have mutual friends.
In my opinion you should just not worry about it and contact them. Chat with them online for a bit, see what they are like. After all what is the worst thing that will happen? Especially since you dont have any person information on the site anyway!

[Explorer44]

I tried registering a few times but they never let. Apparently I'm not supposed to answer 'What do you want most in a woman?' with 'My penis!'

.

*snort, choke, gasp*

Is THAT how it works!?!! I had no idea!

BUT after my divorce I went on a dating site one night-wasn't looking to date, was just web surfing. Decided to take the personality profile, ended up getting matched to my now ex-fiancee, who was matched to me on my birthday! We dated and get engaged over several years, but ultimately his issues became insurmountable (ocd tendencies, for one).

I still think it's ok to try, but do choose a reputable site. Mine was the one that starts with E, lol....you know, like in Explorer!

[WildChild]

I tried registering a few times but they never let. Apparently I'm not supposed to answer 'What do you want most in a woman?' with 'My penis!'

Odd
Maybe you should have tried, "my tongue"?

[Texinator]

'My tongue' is my standard answer to almost everything, so I tried being different for once.

[grrrr]

I think it's a great venue - and I also agree with the "meet in public places" notion. I think that the barriers are coming down when it comes to meeting people. Have fun, but be safe while doing so!!

[GlassDaemon]

Just like the hundreds of people you can pass on a daily basis you have to shift through the many people on dating sites and it can be extremely tedious, but not unfun. Of course the more info/pics you have of yourself the more interest people will take in you. It's pretty easy to be descriptive without being personal, don't use your name, or not your full name, be very skeptical about your date of birth and area you live in, never ever ever put your exact house address. Most of the time it asks about your interests, which I don't think is too big of a deal. I use nicknames and pen names a lot.

I've gone through about five different dating sites, I've met a good 15 - 20 people in person(couldn't tell you how many I've just spoken with via pms, ims and emails), most of them are one daters, but a couple I saw a few times, and two of them I dated for awhile.

My current bf whom I've been with for 5 months I met from a dating site. Mind you I'm not the type to "settle" I hunted for him, there were certain qualities that if were in the individuals profile I wouldn't even waste my time with for instance, doing drugs, very active, very religious, as I am none of those.

Amusingly, my bf got through my filters, at 20 I'm not exactly looking for a guy with kids, but he has a daughter, and he smokes another thing that bugs me. I've fallen head over heels for his daughter though, and the smoking he's very considerate about (doesn't smoke around me, doesn't kiss me after he's smoked, always smokes outside).

However, regardless of that I encourage sticking to your guns, there's a ton of people on those sites so you gatta make your personal filter really tight to pick out the few potential ones. Oh and you really really gatta get over the shyness. ;P The main reason most people use dating sites is cause it takes less courage to message someone, than to confront them face to face. I admit I'm a panzy when it comes to talking to new people, but messaging someone on a site and possibly not getting an answer is so much easier than face to face rejection lol.