Do you think looking for relationships online has been a success for you?

Have you gotten everything you wanted out of your online relationships? Have you even had a real relationship, platonic or romantic, by using the internet as a venue? Personally, I consider my online tenure a disappointment. I've met one or two friends online that I've known for years but that's about it, never met them in person. As for romance online, it's never legitimately happened. I've used AOL back in the day, Myspace, Facebook, and a couple different miscellaneous chat sites I've googled when I've been bored such as this one. I've never had much luck when it comes to dating in real life. I never tried very hard either because, as it turns out, I never really wanted the kind of relationships that were available. Now I think I'd probably do better because I have more confidence, one of the main reasons being I dropped a lot of weight recently. If I tried to make a friend or get a date and I got rejected now, I'd probably be like "Well, what's your problem?" because I wouldn't understand why they wouldn't want my company. Not to say I'd be upset, just confused. In contrast, back when I was a teenager, I considered everything to be "all my fault" though. When it comes to making friends in real life, that's never been so bad. Most of them turned out to not really be good friends so I ended up doing away with them as I became an adult. So in the end that all never went anywhere and never lead to anything fruitful. There's just some days when I roll out of bed, nothing to do, flip open my laptop and find no messages, no friend requests, declined friend requests for no reason, or any trace of anything from a pretty girl on any of the online social networks I've used...it just doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. My personal opinion is: it's a waste. You'd think eventually someone would come along, friend or otherwise, and give your life some meaning. Think they'd like you and want to get to know you, right? Couldn't find a person they relate with and are more interested in , yeah? I mean, these things do have thousands of users after all. You wake up 10-11 years later and realize just how much time you've wasted online because nobody wants to talk to you for no reason. I basically get on these things to "see what happens". Even if you put forth effort, it's usually a whole lot of nothing. Can anyone relate? Just for the heck of it, please enjoy my chibi Taiga drawing. [img]http://i.imgur.com/IoCuzsa.jpg?1[/img]

I think I can relate. I usually try to talk to people even though I'm really shy and anxious by just texting but I always or end up getting ignored without even doing anything wrong and just being friendly. However, I go through this in reality so pretty much I get treated like this in both "world". I try to communicate but I always get ignored and I even got myself out of my comfort zone. Eventually, I thought "fuck it" and just go on my days and lose all fucks to give. (Sorry for use of vulgar language) There's times where I say, "hello" to people but I get ignored and when someone else says, "hello" suddenly there's a lively conversation between them. I guess I think it's still a wasteful effort but I did make three close online friends who I never met in person though so I guess that's the bright side. I still would talk to people but just not really expect much. Taiga >/////<

Nice Taiga drawing bruh - but in all honesty, I've had the opposite. I've made a ton of good friends online and I've had a few online relationships throughout the years and they were quite nice, especially when we got to meet up. But let me tell you, it's inevitable that you're going to get ignored and there's nothing you can do to avoid it. Even the prettiest girls and the most handsome guys get ignored by seemingly no reason online and even in real life. When people ignore you and aren't talkative with you, just move on and meet new people - that's what I always do, I'm always open to meeting new people and I leave the people who ignore me alone. One of my best friends who I met online and have been speaking with for years is perhaps my best friendship I've made, I talked her through her passions for cosplay and ever since I gave her that push, she's a rather popular cosplayer with a following. I think in your case you just haven't really found anyone that you've clicked with yet, don't get down if people ignore you, just move on and try to meet other people. It's easy for guys to get down when a pretty cosplayer girl declines their request but if they're ignoring you then chances are they aren't worth speaking to anyway. You'll eventually come across someone pretty great eventually, at least that's how it's been for my experiences.

Technically,yes. I met my current girlfriend online, but it was on another site. However, we live close enough where we see eachother pretty much every day and sometimes days at a time. If you're expecting to find love online, lower your expectations. The Internet should only be a tool and not your main focus. It's always better to form a friendship in reality. Talk, make friends, get hobbies, focus on personal growth and you'd be surprised how effective not looking can actually be. What's really attractive is a person who is happy, self sufficient and successful in what ever they're doing. Also, I've found that making friends is easy enough here, when I've actually wanted to do so. Hell, I had the chance for a relationship a while back from here, but I hate long distance. Yes, even those without pictures can get lucky.XD Gotta know how to talk, bruh.;P

Hmm... I guess you're right. I do move on but it just get tiring honestly. Pretty much been through this for awhile so I'm just like "Why bother?". I do enjoy lurking around just for giggles which is why I really haven't left.

Yeah I don't get long distance online dating. How can you date someone without being able to go on dates. Talking in person seems too important to the process what with body language being an integral factor in dating. I'm guessing that it would be like communicating through multiple filters that distance us from our actual personalities. Whether we mean to or not I think people project themselves online differently to our true personalities.

Some of my closest friends I met online and have known some of them IRL over 20 years now. Some of those led to relationships good and bad as any can. If you do not want to be ignored you have to put yourself out there in a way that draws positive attention.

I guess i can understand what everyone is saying but myself as a person when I'm out in a new place especially around new people i tend to be more shy and even if you ask a lot of my family They'll tell you if i don't fill comfortable i will sit or stand off by the side and not say anything now i get you have to put effort into forming a real relationship the one time i truly felt i put myself out there i got no real response now as many people know if you want to meet someone you normally have to go out and to go out you need money and time I'm not saying I'm poor but i get a check every month because I'm on dialysis for kidney disease and dialysis may help you but it can leave you weak and exhausted so when i don't fill like the life has been sucked out of me i only have so much money because half of my check goes to rent the rest daily living and to top it all off the places i do go that i would find people with some of the same interest as mine are all in a relationship already or not looking for one so to really get to my point what I'm i really suppose to do because i just feel so alone sometimes and i fill like being dead is better then being alone the rest of your life and I'm sorry if this is to long and depressing it's just how i fill because i never told anyone i really know how i really fill about my life

To me the biggest thing is distance when dealing with most online dating. Even if someone only lives a few hours away, unless both have reliable transportation, it can be difficult to make that work. I've met and talked to a lot of girls online with similar interests, but when I have to start thinking about taking a plane to see the vast majority of them? I'm not one who can easily just pick up his life and move halfway across the country on a whim and it would be tough to ask someone to do that for me as well. On the local level, most girls around here are looking for one of two kinds of guys. Dudebros or country boys of which I'm neither. If I run into a female gamer/otaku/geek etc. in my area, nine times out of ten she probably already has a bf or is married and I'm a bit past the point where dating college girls is really realistic for me given my age.