Online dating – the way of the future? Or just really, really sad?

So I’ve been single again now for almost a year, and every now and then, I think to myself, “yeah, it’d be nice to have a man in my life who’s not a work colleague”.

But I’ve only been on one date during that time, and that was… shall we say one date was enough? Sweet guy, I s’pose, but that kind of puppydog intensity just makes me nervous. Not to mention that we had absolutely nothing in common. I met that boy in a pub, and I was drunk enough to give out my number.

But I’m not one to go out much, and when I do, I’m much more interested in having a good time with my girlfriends (who are an intensely interesting and amusing bunch) than I am in picking up. And no, I’m not gay. Except if it was Claudia Black. Or perhaps Katee Sackhoff (aka Starbuck) from Battlestar Galactica.

So how do you meet boys these days, if you don’t go out? The answer that so many people are turning to these days is found not in the personals section of the newspaper, but on thousands of dating sites, some free, some claiming to be free, and some charging anywhere from “a decent amount” to “a kings ransom”.

Now, I’ve had experience with online dating before. I’ve had dates from RSVP.com in Melbourne, met some lovely guys, but not had the kind of success that I’ve heard other people having (ie buying houses together, getting married – if you class that as “success”). I’m signed on to a few now, but most of the ones which are any good, cost money. In fact I’ve only seen one free one which had decent design, and of course, it’s in the US. But here’s the thing. If an online dating site’s free, then the person it will attract will be the person who’s not really interested in really finding a partner – they usually just sign up for the blague, and then end up stringing you along with endless excuses, acting interested EVEN when I give up sending them emails, but then not following through with the promise of meeting up for drinks (you know who you are, boys). What’s that all about?

Stupid boys.

Aaaaanyway. Am going out tonight with the girls (and Ubiquitous Jessie is coming up from London for some Edinburgh Fun) and I have decided that it being St Paddy’s Day weekend, I’m going to at least be receptive to the idea of men on the radar.

One last thing that struck me as odd – I just thought I’d mention something interesting about the graphics on this US site, which makes me wonder about racial divides in America (or perceived racial divides). There are four pictures of couples up the top – a caucasian couple, an arab/indian couple, an asian couple, and a black couple. No racial mixing. Just blatant photographic apartheid. There’s a LOT of mixed race couples here in the UK, and an increasing number in Australia. US readers, help me out – is there an unspoken disapproval of mixed race couples in the US, or is this site just creating boxes where none exist?