Take my opinion for what it’s worth as a traditionally married stick in the mud, but I have a soft spot in my heart for online dating. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: If I was living in an alternate single person universe, I’d set up a profile in a heartbeat.
We send email instead of snail mail. We drive cars instead of horse-drawn carriages. It only makes sense that we could successfully find love on the internet instead of scouting out random guys at a bar.
Maybe it’s the potential “danger” of the internet that holds people back (the same danger that applies to bringing home a sketchy dude you just met at a bar, I might add), but many people are reluctant to date online.
Fair warning for those who fall into this pool of skeptics: These absolutely adorable and absolutely true online dating success stories will probably change your mind.
1. Blast from the past
?Image:Andrea-Rachel Parker
Andrea-Rachel Parker, working actress and founder of Foubeaubelle.com, shares, “I don’t know remember clearly how we ‘met,’ but we went to junior high school together. We were in different classes. We knew many of the same people. I was way more popular than he was though, so he kept to himself, and we simply said ‘hello’ and ‘bye’ to one another. My distinct memory of him was at a party. I had to leave rather early. My step-father came to pick me up, and as I was leaving, he pulled me to him and asked me to dance. I remember saying to myself, ‘Wow, he is hot!’ It was the first time I realized how cute he was, but we were young. I was a good girl raised more conservatively, so nothing ever happened.”
“We went onto different high schools and different colleges, and once we went to college, we found out about Facebook. He and I became Facebook friends, and so every so often, I would check in on him — never, ever did I write a message or leave a comment. So it wasn’t until after school when he reached out. He came to see [me once] and took me to grab a bite. We didn’t speak for a long time after that, years I believe, and so one day, I see an inbox with a long, beautiful compliment. We went a long time just talking online and then eventually moved through text. I didn’t know that I would fall in love with him then, but looking back maybe I should have. It was always just so comfortable, no pressure, and he was always just so open to all my quirky ways. We have been together for two years, and I never thought that it would be him to have me feeling like this. If it wasn’t for the online social world, who knows what could be our realities now?”
More:I got married at 17 to a man I met in a chat room
2. Last chance at love
Image:Lindsley Lowell
Lindsley Lowell, author of My Knight in Shining Armor is Coming…He’s Just Stuck in Traffic, explains, “I online dated on and off for about five years. Yes, five years. I had so many train wreck dates and a lot of weirdos, whack jobs, losers and players contacting me that I started to record them all and eventually wrote a book about my dating life. I also had some success — three boyfriends from online dating, but none were the one. On my fortieth birthday, I was talking to my dad on the phone, lamenting about my single status and whining that I would probably be alone for the rest of my life. My father suggested I go back online, to which I said, ‘Are you crazy?'”
“But I got off the phone and thought about it and decided to go back online to Match.com for one more month. Then I would close the book on online dating forever. Two weeks into my month, I met someone. Our first phone conversation was two hours long! I broke my rule of no meals on a first online date and made dinner plans. I figured even if there is no chemistry, I know I can talk to this guy. The first date was instant fireworks for both of us. Jonathan had a second date the next night with a girl from online, and he cancelled it, telling her, ‘I met someone!’ After our first date, he knew. I knew. We were engaged six months later and married five months after that.”
3. Looks can be deceiving
Image: Neerav Bhatt, Flickr
As an insider in the online dating world, working to develop the customer service division of the popular online dating site SugarDaddie.com, Noah Van Hochman has seen it all. Van Hochman, author of , recounts an unexpected matchup that led to true love, “We had a member a short while ago that we thought was a serial dater — the number of online messages he sent out was staggering, and his photos were of him in a beautiful Ferrari. The editorial staff placed him on our monitor list as a potential spammer just to be safe.”
“About a month later, we noticed a significant drop in his outgoing email, followed by exclusive emails to one particular member and then a request to remove his account. Several months went by when we received a call from the young woman he was corresponding with asking us to remove her as well. It turned out that they had begun dating, but she was looking for more of a family and thought he, due to his lifestyle, was too much of a player. (Remember, we are a Sugar Daddy dating site!) According to the woman, he showed up one day in an SUV with a puppy and a small section of white picket fence and had sold the Ferrari. This, all in an attempt to show she meant more than anything else he had. We received an invitation to their wedding.”
More:Woman’s reaction to proposal during a selfie is so perfect (VIDEO)
4. Love at first click
Image:John Maier
Sona Howell tells SheKnows, “We got married on Pi Day this year because it’s a once in a lifetime moment (3.14.15), and that’s how we feel about the way we met. You see, the backstory is that I was interviewed by a TV Asia reporter at a conference that I attended. She was so impressed by my enthusiasm that six months later she asked me to blog on her online magazine. She wanted me to talk about my experiences as an Indian born in America and the dating scene here, as a relationship expert of sorts. I decided then that I needed to take down my online profiles and start to meet people in the real world.”
“Just as I emptied the contents, taking down photos and removing all but a few lines of information, I saw his photo. I looked down and noticed that he only lived ten minutes from me, and so I threw caution to the wind and sent him a message. I invited him out for a drink and to play darts at a pub that was halfway between us. I heard the tiny ding of the notification on my phone when I realized he’d responded back, and positively, even enthusiastically. It’s funny, still, when we look back on it and realize that we were both so nervous we almost didn’t go. That would have been sad because we’re made for each other. So, for us, the only thing that kept us apart was the meeting. We didn’t need the profiles, the contents never made a difference. I just saw his adorable face and happened to fall for the man of my dreams.”
5. The language of love
Image:Julie Herniak
Julie Herniak shares her online dating success story that sounds more like a delightful rom-com than real life. Herniak, with a wedding date set for May 2015, sets the scene, “A Polish Canadian living in Spain met a Frenchman living in La Reunion. We met on the internet, and we started emailing each other. He knew little English, and all I knew in French was ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Je suis Julia.'”
She continues, “We started writing every day, and then finally the day came for a Skype call. He came online, and he was super cute with a heavy French accent and started to speak English. I would pre-write my French sentences and struggle with accenting the words correctly. Sometimes I would have Google Translate do the talking for me.”
More: 5 Tips for meeting your online date for the first time
“Now it has been three months, and he is finally coming to Spain. I am now providing audio recordings of my voice saying all the irregular English verbs in the past, past continuous and future conjugations. He is listening to the audio files and learning English at the same time. What I have learned from our dating experience is that a lot of patience, humor and laughter are required to keep the flames strong in online dating. Also, the occasional sexy dance sent by Skype keeps the passion strong. Despite the long distances, the poor Skype connections and the language barriers, I have found the one for me.”
6. The not-so-sleazy Craigslist hookup
Image: Adella Curry
Adella Curry, with her now-husband, recalls their unlikely love connection, “My husband and I met on Craigslist in 2005 after my girlfriend and I put up an ad to ‘get free drinks and interview guys.’ The headline was simple: 2 sexy active girls ISO 2 sexy active guys. The text went on to include: Your picture gets ours, don’t send us pictures of your penis, must be over 6′ tall (my girlfriend is 5’11”). We’re looking for fun, adventurous types to do the same. No strings attached, but we aren’t commitment-phobes.”
“We received about 500 replies in three days, many were penis pictures. One guy in particular was 6’7″, transplanted to Venice Beach from Portland, Oregon, and seemed sincere and outdoorsy. We wrote to Joseph, and when he wrote back, he asked to meet us at James Beach, a popular Venice bar and restaurant. He said he would get his roommate to join, who was also over 6′ tall. Of the 500 entries and 10 personal responses, these were the only guys we ever met from that ad. His roommate Mike and I hit it off, talking all night. The next day, they invited us over to barbecue. After kissing for the first time, Mike said he was going to marry me, and I laughed. Five and half months later, he proposed — ring in hand, on one knee, with my father’s blessing, under a volcano in Costa Rica. We were married a year later.”
7. You know when you know
Image:Jasmine Henry
Jasmine Henry, analytics and digital marketing professional in Nashville, Tennessee, tells of her seven-week whirlwind online romance that ended with wedding bells, “Seven weeks ago, my husband Elliot and I met on Tinder. On March 26, we eloped at home in Nashville. People may think we’re absolutely insane, but we’re both certain we’ve found our soulmates.”
“I was a few months out of a very long-term relationship and feeling pretty bitter about my prospects of ever finding another boyfriend. I have a Master’s degree in Computer Science and actually ran an elimination algorithm on my chances of ever finding someone. It’s hard to assign actual numbers to dating prospects, but I concluded there were less than 900 men in the entire world I’d even be willing to spend much time with. As a nerdy engineer, hardcore metal head and health nut, I knew I was so ‘weird’ I’d be hard to date.”
“I decided what I needed was best summed up with the Type O Negative’s lyrics ‘She’s in Love with Herself.’ I downloaded Tinder and wrote a bio that explained I was only looking for someone to ‘buy me vodka once a week.’ Four hours later, I swiped right and immediately matched with a long haired blond boy who plays guitar in one of Nashville’s best thrash metal bands. 18 hours later, Elliot and I met, and I hugged him like I’d missed him for years. We’ve spent less than a handful of nights apart since we met and have this incredible ability to get completely lost in conversation for hours or even days.”
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