So I've joined two popular black dating websites in hopes of recharging my dating life. I figure if I'm a member of more than one site I'll increase my odds. Smart right?
So what's the difference between a black dating website and mainstream ones? Well, for one the black sites seem to be more affordable than Match, E-Harmony and other more popular sites. The black sites may not have a lot of the same cool features but there's a larger pool of black singles in my area to choose from than a mainstream site.
I've been doing the online thing for about a month now and so far I have two half-potentials. I haven't met either yet but I have been talking on the phone with both and have made plans to meet one already. I'm a little disappointed by the lack of variety of men there are online. Yes, I have about 10 times more to choose from than other sites but lets do the math.
- While using the ever so handy search tool, by the time I filter out black men between the ages of 25-37 within a 100 mile radius with no children that pool quickly narrowed down to about half of it's size.
- Then after you've skipped over profiles with usernames like PNastee, WETUMUP, just4thenite, Mr.Perfect or "Knight in shining armor" (as if!), gnasty, datoecurler, Pussikilla or any name that includes part of or all of the name of a hip hop artist or song.
- Excluding folks who don't even bother to fill out their profiles only offering you "I'll tell u later" in the "About me" section.
- Profiles that are written in complete slang, all caps, broken English (uses "c," "u," "da," "4," and other characters to replace words instead of writing complete sentences like a grown man should) are automatically excluded.
- Men who are posed half naked, in front of their cars, showing off their chains, wears fronts, throwing up hands signs that are other than "Peace" or thinks Dipset is the greatest hip hop group of all time.
- Men who are looking for "casual relationships" which is man code for booty call. Those take up about half of the search results to start with.
After all of this your pool of men has turned into a pitiful puddle. About the same size you would get standard on mainstream sites.
Now I'm not saying that the females on these sites are much better. Talking to my two "half-potentials" they too run into a lot of women that turn them off from the gate. Where there are brothas who have kids there's just as many sistas who have kids. One of my "potentials", who is single with no children and kids being where he draws the line with women, says most of the black women on the site have one or more kids. He also complained that a lot are really out of shape because he states that he takes pride in his body running three miles a day and wants someone who does the same. He too was just as frustrated with the lack of proper grammar and the ability to even "string a sentence" together properly followed by the limited interests black women seem to have on the site.
So because I was curious (and wanted to check out my competition) I decided to check out the women's profiles. If anything just to prove this dude wrong. The common thread among these profiles:
One or more kids, lazy grammar, bitterness with "no games," "real man," "imma real woman" (a whole lot of "real"), "strong black woman who needs a strong black man," "wifey material" (I hate that one the most) and other cliches invented by single black women throughout their profiles.
Geez.
Where are all the dateable black folks at?
6 comments:
the dateable ones are definitely not on this planet. i hope to marry a black man and that pool is about as small as the island of Reunion on the Indian Ocean.
Good Luck!
You know what is so sad about everything you wrote, you aren't asking much.
You sound like just a nice normal girl who is looking for a nice normal guy to have a nice normal relationship with. It shouldn't be that hard and yet it is hard and daunting and discouraging.
Hang in there though because here is the truth, even though the numbers are low, nice normal black people are still getting married all over America everyday ... so why not you?
Okay..... A friend of mine told me to check out your post because I have been talking to her about my experiences with online dating and your post has me laughing out loud! This is all so true! (And don't forget the guys who are too lazy to actually write something and just send you a canned message or a 4 word email.)
When I first started a profile on one of these sites, it was on a whim and it took me a while to come up with an actual written profile but that didn't seem to matter! Pictures were enough to get a FLOOD of responses -- and I mean a FLOOD. At one point I was getting like 2-3 every hour all day (even at 3 or 4 in the morning!) My initial cynical justification was that men were so visual and what I wrote didn't really matter. And I was right! But not all attention is good attention. Thankfully, when I actually put words up it weeded out a large portion of the useless messages and more easily identify the ones who had not bothered to read my profile.
My experiences have been hit and miss but overall I think better than my experiences on other mainstream sites. But, just because it's online doesn't make it much different than more traditional means. There is still ALOT of weeding out. Grammar and spelling is a big thing for me too, especially in a profile that you were supposed to have taken time and effort to write.
I have met a couple good guys who are long distance, one local guy who was a jerk and one local guy who is actually very nice (and is going to be away for the summer.) But my approach is to remain optimistic and trust my instincts. So, it is definitely not a panacea, but all in all, I think i feel a little more encouraged about dating than I did then I started 4 months ago. Hang in there! (
i understand that everyone is entitled to have their own tastes and all (i can be very discriminating as well) but what is with the prejudice against people who have children?
people are human and it is a proven fact that human beings will err from time to time.
it has been my experience that fellow RESPONSIBLE parents tend to be a tad bit more mature than their childless counterparts (not always true but then again i dont believe in "absolutes" anyway; there are always exceptions to any rule)
sorry for ranting...this topic is kinda "personal" for me
also maybe you shouldnt judge people by trivialities? such as typing in all caps...
i have a cousin who does that (for what reason i have no earthly idea) but she is one of the smartest most articulate people i know...hell i dont type in complete sentences unless i feel its really necessary or just have a random urge to do so
(to genie x:)
i found this blog by following a link in my wordpress dashboard...(someone clicked a link from your del.icio.us bookmarks to find my blog)
and i must say youve got some REALLY good taste girl! thanks bunches!
I am looking for someone special, to build and enjoy a good relationship, through friendship first,leading to romance and love,with a good sense of humour would be great, but I also want someone that will be loyal and trustworthy and won"t break my heart. You should be attractive,affectionate,sexy,passionate,probably 25 to 30 years old.Likes to drink socially, but hopefully not a smoker,nice if you can cook as I can"t,likes to cuddle up and watch a movie in the evening,and perhaps open and share a bottle of wine together. Not much to ask for I know, but if this sounds like you then what are you waiting for,get in touch now, and let me make your life special again.Many thanks.xxx
Black dating web sites? That should make for some interesting blogging for sure!
http://popwife.blogspot.com/
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