Senior Dating Advice
Top 10 Tips To Help Senior Singles Master Online Dating and Matchmaking
If you are a senior who is thinking of getting back into the dating game, congratulations! You are very lucky to be dating at a time when the internet has so greatly expanded your options and your ability to meet people anywhere in the country - or even in other countries for that matter.
Senior singles have it easier now than ever before, in fact.
It used to be harder for people to meet potential romantic partners as they got older. We all remember how incredibly easy it was to meet people in high school and college. Single people, and opportunities to socialize, were everywhere! After college it got a little tougher, as people started pairing off and getting married, but in one’s 20s it wasn’t that hard.
But really, before the internet came along, it was hard to meet people once you hit your thirties, let alone dating above the age of fifty.
Now, thanks to online dating sites, it doesn’t matter how old you are or if you are working or not working. You have the ability to meet people in your home town, the surrounding towns, or anywhere in the country, that you never would have met before.
And even better - you have the ability to quickly scan through the profiles of thousands of people in your age group and find out a lot about them, about their likes and dislikes and their personality and outlook on life, BEFORE you decide whether you want to spend an afternoon or evening with them.
So if your excuse for staying home alone night after night is that it’s just too hard to meet people - that excuse is history! Senior dating is a snap.
If you aren’t comfortable with computers, now is the time to learn. There are classes available through senior centers, at libraries, and at community colleges, geared specifically towards people who have never been on a computer before.
You could also ask one of your children or grandchildren or a computer-savvy friend to help you get up and running.
Basically, being on the internet is no more complicated than typing. And if you don’t know how to type, there are keyboarding classes for beginners too.
And if you are worried that people on online dating sites will think you are too old - don’t worry at all. There are numerous websites these days targeted specifically to seniors, so you can join these sites and not feel the least bit self conscious!
Even on big “one size fits all” dating sites, you can choose what age group of people you want to look at and all you have to do is click the settings which pick an appropriate age range for you.
Tip for guys and gals: be honest about your age! You don’t want to start a possible relationship having anything to hide, and if someone is not interested in you because you are 70 rather than 60...best to know that BEFORE you meet and both waste your time. There are a lot of divorced or widowed seniors out there who are eager to meet a fun, intelligent quality person to spend time with...so you have nothing to hide!
PART 2
Now, let’s talk about the specifics of online dating. I’m going to give you some tips on how to present yourself in the best possible light, and how to scan people’s profiles to get an idea of what they are really like and whether they would be compatible with you.
First of all, you definitely want to include a picture. Profiles that have pictures with them get significantly higher response than profiles with no picture.
The picture should be recent and it should be flattering, but not airbrushed and fake. A professional picture taken at a Sears or a studio like Glamour Shots or some other professional chain is always a good choice.
If you take a picture of yourself or have a friend do it, make sure that you are not in front of a cluttered background and make sure that you are smiling. An angry or sullen picture is such a turnoff! You may think that is obvious but if you have ever been on a dating site, you would be surprised at how many people post pictures that are terribly unflattering.
If you just use a professional photo showing you at your best, you will be way ahead of the game!
Now, let’s talk about how to write your dating service profile page.
You want to reflect your authentic self and talk about your interests, but now is not the time to talk about any negatives.
You will quickly realize that if you see headlines like “Tired of all the lies” or “I’m lonely” on someone’s profile, that isn’t particularly appealing.
You want to show people that you are a fun, interesting, positive person, someone who is pleasant to be around. If you concentrate on talking about the things that you enjoy doing, music that you like, exercise that you enjoy, you will achieve that.
And when you are looking through people’s profiles, keep an eye out for people who appear to be negative or angry or needy. People reveal what they are really like online, even without meaning to.
Look instead for people who want to have fun, who want to connect with others, who have a good attitude and seem to like people.
Of course you don’t want to let your guard down and trust that everything that people say online is true.
Your first few meetings with someone should be in a public place like a coffee shop or restaurant. You should let a friend know that you are going on a date, and where you will be, and arrange to call them and check in afterwards.
Don’t post revealing information about yourself online; as in, don’t reveal your home address or where you work or go to church or do volunteer work. And when you first give your phone number to someone, make sure it’s a cell phone number that you give them.
Let your common sense and instincts be your guide. If you are uncomfortable with someone, respect that. There are so many people out there for you to meet that you never need to settle or keep dating someone out of fear of being alone.
If you haven’t dated since you became a widow or widower, you may feel guilt about moving on with your life.
It’s important to understand that you deserve happiness, that you are not betraying your late husband or wife by wanting to again experience the kind of the love and companionship that you experienced with them.
If anything your desire to meet new people and experience new relationships is a testament to the time that you spent with your late spouse. When you have had a wonderful, loving companion, it is natural to want to experience that again.
So sign up for a few online dating services today, post a good picture of yourself, spend some time writing up a great profile - have a friend read over it before you post it! - and get ready to be pleasantly surprised at how many wonderful people are out there waiting to meet you.
Online Dating Services Related To This Article:
Match.com is #1. After a detailed review of the fourteen largest general dating services on the Internet our editors ranked Match.com the very best for dating above-age-30 singles - Not only did we find a greater number (59%) of singles age 30 to 49, we also found a greater number of singles with 4 year college and graduate degrees, which could explain the higher income levels of singles at Match.com and this can be extrapolated out to indicate a higher number of motivated, ambitious singles.
SeniorFriendFinder is #1. With over 400,000 members this is the most popular senior dating service for English speaking senior single primarily in the USA, Canada and the UK. This very active online senior community is sure to please even those senior singles that are just looking for a place to belong to share common interests, and are not necessarily “hot” on the trail of their next marriage partner. Although romance is certainly in the air at SeniorFriendFinder all be it ever so low key as it is.
PrimeSingles is #2. Prime Singles is #2. A site to strongly consider for online dating success, has state-of-the-art dating tools, a popular general senior dating site with about 300,000 members many of which (29%) are age 30 to 49 with 57% of all members in the age 50+ senior singles category.
AgeMatch is #1. AgeMatch is #1 among age-gap, transgenerational dating sites. A site to strongly consider for online dating related to younger singles dating older singles and not having any hang ups with regard to age related issues.
PerfectMatch.com is #1. After a detailed review of the five largest matchmaking services on the Internet our editors ranked PerfectMatch.com the very best matchmaking service for dating singles above the age of 30, including senior singles over age 50. With over 15 million members this is a perfect matchmaking service for singles over age 30, including senior singles, to strongly consider if they want a dating site where matches are chosen for them by dating experts, after evaluation of a very detailed dating and personality questionnaire.
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