Free Online Dating – Mars and Venus
August 5, 2008 by Michelle Smith
Filed under Relationships
John Gray, Ph.D, author of the well-known Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, now offers Free Online Dating on his website. I’m a fan of John’s simple way of explaining the basic differences between women and men. Some of my first insights into the male mind I picked up from watching him on Oprah, years ago.
The dating site is totally free and offers tools such as dating advice and personal quizzes (I love quizzes), as well as a discussion board for members. And did I mention it’s FREE? (I also love bargains).
Have you tried online dating? Care to share your experience? Which services do you feel work best? If you give the Free Online Dating a try, please drop us a line and let us know how it went.
I tried Lavalife a few years ago and met a wonderful man (who dumped my ass a year later). I’ve since tried it again and it sucks. Desparate people. I’ve also tried Plenty of Fish and Blackplanet.com and they were both equally horrible. But dating men I meet elsewhere sucks too, so whatever.
Darcie, dating can seriously be a challenge – draining even. I’m sorry that your Lavalife match didn’t work out.
I haven’t heard of Lavalife or Blackplanet before. I have tried Plenty of Fish. I got some weird emails. I got the impression that the men who contacted me were more interested in finding someone who would talk dirty with them (not what I was looking for) and not actually meeting someone to date. I’m sure that they are not all that way, but when you put an ad up, all kinds will respond.
Did you have a chance to look at the Mars and Venus dating site?
I don’t find it a challenge at all. I love it. Lavalife is a pretty major dating site worldwide. Blackplanet is geared towards black people.
Yes, Plentyoffish is disgusting. When I was on Lava, I would cross check my potential dates with Plentyoffish. If they were on there, they were out.
I find it challenging – trying to balance my family time with my grown-up time, it’s a balancing act for me.
I looked up both sites after your original comment. My mom met a nice man on plenty of fish, they both like to dance.
I haven’t tried any of the services so far. I have been warned by my friends that these websites are mainly populated by spammers or by people looking for 1 night stand. So am not sure whether i should try or nope. Btw have u ever tried any one? Would love to know about your experience.
PS. Its Mars and not Mar. Lol
Oops, a typo! Thanks, I will edit that.
I think that there are people all over looking for one night stands. If someone wants that you can either ignore their email, block them, or say, “no thank you.” I haven’t had much of a problem with spammers and really it’s the same sort of thing – delete them, block them. I’d suggest setting up a seperate email address, like a yahoo box that you use only for that. That way, if someone is bugging you, they don’t have your main email address.
Yes, I have used a couple of sites. I have had coffee with a couple of guys I met at Match.com and I’ve talked to a few guys over at Plenty of Fish. I have a couple of friends who met some very nice guys and are in serious relationships because they used eHarmony.
I think that there are good and bad and screwy people anywhere – online or off. The important thing to do is to be smart, don’t give out personal info at first, if you feel like warning bells are ringing, don’t continue.
I think I’ll write a post about it later. Thanks for the idea. Now I’m off to change that typo.
I tried the dating website eharmony. Becoming a member was really tedious. I filled out endless questions to join the site. I guess that is their “screening” process. Obviously it wasn’t a very good screening process. I met several men on the site either they were 1) married 2) were nothing like what their profile described 3) looked nothing like their profile pic. I was turned off by the entire thing. Does anyone have any success stories from Eharmony????
I haven’t had much luck with online dating either
I had the same exact problems. I encountered a lot of men that were preying on needy women. There is no way to know what a persons true agenda is on these online dating sites. They can pretend to be whoever they want to be ~ it is a little scary.
Judy and Natalie, did either of you get a chance to look at the Mars and Venus Dating online?
I think that when it comes to meeting dates, whether it’s in the bar, or the health club, or online, you are going to have to go through a weeding out process.
It’s probably easier for people to lie online – they aren’t looking you in the eye as they fib – but I don’t think that online dating is necessarily full of more men looking to “prey.” Since the beginning of dating, there have always been people who are going to try to see what they can get away with. You can meet people like that anywhere. Married men, they cheated before there was online dating.
Meeting people online, it’s just the first step. After that initial meeting, you are going to get a little better feel for what the other person is looking for. And the next date, an even better feel, and the one after that, more, and so on.
I do have two good friends who are dating men (for more than 6 months) that they met on eHarmony. I think I’m going to approach them about their experiences. If they agree, I’ll write a post about it. They are both very happy.
I didn’t have great luck with it, but you know, I wasn’t really serious at the time. I went on some coffee dates and none of it went anywhere. My boyfriend, I reconnected with him through Classmates.com. If you’ve ever wondered about an old flame, I’d say give that a try. They might not be available and it doesn’t go anywhere, but really if nothing is ever ventured, nothing can be gained.
We can say, this doesn’t work, that doesn’t work, the guys there all suck, but if you don’t work through the process (and sometimes that includes endless questions for screening) you aren’t going to know for sure Honestly, in dating there is a certain amount of weeding out no matter where you meet someone. Maybe they are all nuts now, but the next time, you might find a great guy (or girl).
I can remember my mom saying years ago that it’s like a job, you’ve got to go about it like a job, with a plan and realistic expectations.
Hi Judy, Natalie and Michelle!
I have tried a number of online dating services over the past few years. Some have been an absolute disaster others more successful. I took a break from the online dating world, but I recently got back into it.
A friend introduced a service called Great Expectations – she met her soon to be husband on there website. The website is exclusive – you actually have to go to a Great Expectation center for a screening process. It gives you a chance to check them out and for them to decide if you qualify for their program.
Yes, it takes an hour of your time, but it’s well worth it. These other dating websites seem to let any and everybody join while from what I’ve experienced and heard Great Expectations takes the time and effort to weed out the bad apples.
I dunno from my friends rave reviews, and my recent experience it seems like a better alternative rather than some of the other dating websites.
Good luck ladies!!!
Hello yourself, Rynn! Thanks for the information. I’m going to be interviewing a few ladies and writing an additional post about this subject.
I’m wondering, how do they recognize bad apples? Is it like a credit check? I agree that you’ve got to do some weeding, no matter what.
I hope you find someone great through Great Expectations.
I LOVE the site vdateonline.com I have met some great people on their site and it is absolutely free. They also have video dating, which I wasn’t sure about but since I had a web cam on my laptop I tried it out with a friend and it’s really cool. I can now screen my dates before meeting them in person. If you get a chance let me know what you guys think. I haven’t met Mr. Right yet, but I’m hopeful!