About 4 months ago, I opened an OkCupid account. This was less out of lonely desperation and more out of anticipation of being single in a new city. A friend of mine once did a similar thing when he went on exchange to Boston and had only good experiences, so I decided it might be a good idea. In this new world of Web 2.0, our generation does everything over the internet, so why not dating? I could meet some people, go on a few dates, and maybe meet the women of my dreams/love of my life. Or experience a torrent of rejection. Win-win.
At first it was a weird experience, looking at profiles, trying to imagine the real people who made them. Were they actually the age they said? Was I messaging of bunch of 14 year-old girls? Or 40 year-old men? This is the question we all ask of the Internet, and it's a good one, and one we should always ask. Even if they were truthful, flirting with girls via anonymous messages can be awkward, and as I’ve found out, requires more skill then you might think. It requires certain techniques that I would gain as I went along, but did not have when I began.
I started my profile when I was still in London, Ontario, but set my location as Montreal. I figured I could get a head start on the Montreal dating scene. Filling out the profile was awkward, I mean, who really likes talking about themselves, except pretentious bloggers. I filled out the bare minimum, uploaded a picture, answered the basic questions and left it at that.
At first it was a weird experience, looking at profiles, trying to imagine the real people who made them. Were they actually the age they said? Was I messaging of bunch of 14 year-old girls? Or 40 year-old men? This is the question we all ask of the Internet, and it's a good one, and one we should always ask. Even if they were truthful, flirting with girls via anonymous messages can be awkward, and as I’ve found out, requires more skill then you might think. It requires certain techniques that I would gain as I went along, but did not have when I began.
I started my profile when I was still in London, Ontario, but set my location as Montreal. I figured I could get a head start on the Montreal dating scene. Filling out the profile was awkward, I mean, who really likes talking about themselves, except pretentious bloggers. I filled out the bare minimum, uploaded a picture, answered the basic questions and left it at that.
At first I just looked around. Window shopped. I couldn’t bring myself to message anyone, because then it would be real-o’clock and not an anonymous Facebook, of dating. Then I started getting messages.
“youre really cute :)
just thought id put it out there hehe”- JulieBeeee (74% Match, 43% Friend, 29% Enemy)
She was not, and I was weirded the fuck out. This girl didn’t know me, she thinks I’m cute? Does she really? Is this a man?
Then, I became flattered. Yeah, I am cute; yeah that just made my day, thank YOU for putting it out there! Maybe this whole thing was a good idea.
A few minutes later I got another message:
“Good music choice. What are a few of your favorite movies. I'm not asking for the top cause thats too hard. but you can tell so much by a person by the type of movies they watch. I think so at least.
I dont normally send messages to guys in montreal since I'm in Vermont but I got bored tonight just looking to talk to some new people and found you, and I saw that we have a 86% match, so I felt like I had to message you. haha. So message me back if you feel like chatting. I may not live in Montreal but I spend a good amount of time up there. My family lives in Montreal, I'm origninaly from Ottawa. Lived in the states most of my life, but spent most of my summers as a child up in montreal. So its like a second home to me.
you said your just starting your masters program there, where did you live before Montreal?”- JGoods_taco (80% Match, 89% Friend, 3% Enemy)
This message was less weird, but ever so much more frightening. Someone put thought into that, she read my profile and actually had an opinion on it. It was non-threatening though. She was in Vermont, and thought I was in Montreal. Remember, at this point I was still in London (this was stated on my profile as well). So the next day I figured I could look past the bad grammer, and so-so profile pictures, and reply:
“I don't know what this will tell you, but I watch nearly everything that comes my way. I like Tarantino, Wes Anderson is good. I'm pretty strictly into north american films, not much experienced otherwise.”
I went with aloof and detached just to be safe. She responded, 10 minutes later:
“Tells me nothing haha. Nah if you said you enjoyed the new movie disney came out called Prom I would know not to talk to you anymore.
In case you did not see the trailer I'll attach it for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJKOiS-C94Q
I dare you to watch the whole thing.
jess”
That was the end of that. I never responded again. I wasn’t ready to have an online relationship with an unattractive girl from Vermont with bad grammar. Plus I had a thesis to write. But it wasn’t long until I was messaging girls and juggling an online dating persona with mixed results. And by mixed results, I mean of course, complete and utter rejection. But that is for another day.
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