I haven't been in the market for a 'significant other' in 20 years, but enjoy reading the entries on Plentyoffish.com. I have corresponded with several gentlemen from that site, and found them to be very nice. This is my only experience with dating sites on the web.

Posted by Stargazer: "And they are not ugly, just dressed in black, long greasy hair, needing a shave. They look like someone you don't want to me on a dark street."

And those are the women!

I met my guy on match.com. Before we first went out, I went on several dates with guys from there, and none of them were really bad experiences, just not really what I was looking for. Then Steve and I went out, and we've been dating for almost a year.

(:o) @ zowilik.

I have dated several people on Yahoo Personals, and actually they were quite nice. But not "The One" sort of speak. But I did almost marry this one man but decided against it. But I am not giving up, there is someone out there for me and for you.

I was single for a long time so I was scared to death to get back on the dating scene. Just have fun and be VERY careful. You never know.

I've done more than my share of internet dating. It's possible to meet "the one" this way. So is winning the lottery and being struck by lightening!

Get out, join a hiking club, take a class, do the local art walk, become involved in volunteer work, hang out at the local coffee house, go to church. Internet dating can work but it's like trying to take a shortcut to your goal that is questionable, like a fad diet. My opinion!

With all respect, I've met some wonderful people online but nothing takes the place of social context and a sense of community when you date someone. It really does make a difference.

At this stage in my life, I would do a financial and marriage/divorce background check on any man I was going to marry on line or not. My neighbor and her daughter do online dating, the daughter found her true love. He had been married 13 times. He was described as a sociopath, who did not hurt women, just got his kicks the courting routine. She quit a good job, sold her car, moved to Texas, he gave away her Yorkie and kicked her out in a week or two. She was stranded in Texas with no money to get home.

OMG!!!! I did a search of my address, and found I have one sex offender living the next street over!!!!

Kayjones, I told my friend she had one living 3 houses from her and her reply was: "Well, he just probably did something stupid when he was a kid." Sure and my former step son in law rapes his son's girlfriend (a minor), then the son raped her. Their records were expunged.

I've been trying the internet dating thing for years. No one wants the first date with me. I can't figure out why. I'm a successful professional in my field. I have a lot of skills, crafts and hobbies that I do. I can tell that I'm basically what most of these ladies are looking for but for some reason a date never materializes. To say I'm frustrated is a bit of an understatement.

Trying to plug into local community hasn't led anywhere either. I really don't get it.

Maybe you scare them off with too much information in your profile. Mystery is a good thing! Have you thought of volunteering for some organization, such as a hospital, college or nursing home?

Maybe you could join a gym. Take a dog and hang out at the dog park. Perhaps you could volunteer for someone's political campaign or a charity event.

How about volunteering at the local animal shelter?

Come back and let us know if you try any of these ideas, and how they went.

I have known of 2 marriages from online dating. One didn't last too long, but another has and they've gone on to have a family. I've been on a few dating sites for a couple of years. I had one relationship that lasted about 6 months, but I found out that he was an alcoholic. I've had many dates. I think that I've found a really good guy, but he's 2.5 hours away so it's hard to get to see him as often as I'd like. He's worth it though because we have many things in common.

Well, that's wonderful - hope it all works out for you two!

Yeah, I'm 40 years old, too, and I've always been a friend to my kids. And then one day I noticed that my son was acting weird. He's withdrawn and all over the place. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me he was rejected by his girlfriend. I advised him to use this dating site http://together2night.com/austin-personals.html. He found not only a girlfriend there, but also friends!