Romany, your post was not taken that way. I read you expressing a viewpoint and not directly targetting others with insults, thats a fair thing in this place.

I'm stepping back almost two years for my past experience but I suspect that not a great deal has changed.

I've had mixed experiences with online dating. Those I've got as far as meeting with have so far been people who I have enjoyed meeting but I've taken some care to be selective and tried to be very honest up front which probably provides a level of filtering.

My worst experience has been dealing with "kisses" from people I find unattractive (not just looks either). The sense that you don't know where someone else is at makes the thanks but no thanks reply difficult. Sometimes I've spent the extra to reply with an email because the pick a reply options just don't cut it.

There are shallow people out there but also plenty of others who are trying to find ways of making contact with a broader range of people.

As for me, right now I'm still considering my options.

Cheers
R0bert

o.k., no worries, then.

p.s. I still think that joining on-line groups could be one good (and free) option. If you joined one called, for example, Life, the Universe and Everything, you'd know that the people on it are those who, for a start, understand and love the book/film from which the title comes. Or Potheads Forever, or Love, Peace and Happiness...or whatever one's personal bent may happen to be. And even if nothing develops, its a lot more fun logging in and joining in than trawling through pictures of strangers who will always remain strangers.

One development in RSVP's services which I think is a step in the right direction is the expansion of social activities beyond the mega-parties and speed dating type functions.

A browse of their Queensland events calender shows that at this point there are not many alternative activities scheduled but there are some http://www.rsvp.com.au/content/events/qld.jsp

It will be interesting to see how well those types of event go.

R0bert

RObert - I did have at look at the site - pretty heavily weighted on the "Baby Boomer" side it seemed to me: which is a rather interesting social comment in itself.

Reflections: Perhaps these agencies could organise more outings which did not categorise through age, but through shared interests. I would have thought it is more important to find people with whom one has shared interests rather than shared birthdates. For example - I have been to an Eighties Evening with friends who weren't over 20 and had a total blast. Equally, have taken a couple of friends in their sixties to a Trance and also had a fantastic night.

Anyone over the age of 17 who approaches a social gathering in the hopes of finding "The One" as the blurb coyly suggests is not only out of touch with reality, but bound to be disappointed. And if that's their sole impetus for going they will have had a lousy night.

But if someone goes somewhere to do something that really takes their fancy they are guaranteed an outing with people who share their enthusiasm so that, even if they dont meet The One they have the opportunity of making new friends.

A Laughter Yoga evening with vegetarian bbq afterwards and no age restrictions for example, would be guaranteed to attract a bunch of people who would be kindred spirits.....and maybe one of them would have a brother, sister, aunt, parent or offspring down the track that turns out to be the mythical One?

On the other hand, a night out with a bunch of people who may be ones own age but who are hell-bent on living in the past and imagining they are just as fascinating as they were back in the day could turn out to be the Night From Hell.

Looks like the Story Bridge outing could be one of those interesting ones: perhaps they are just trying out different ways of doing things just at the moment to see what works?

Romany, interest based outings and activities do seem like a much better approach than mega-parties and browsing online profiles.

I'll be interested to see what kind of range of activities they run over time. The Story Bridge one would be fun but I suspect that the cost will a show stopper for a lot of single parents. I've got a view out my office window that looks out over the Story Bridge and see groups on top from time to time.

The Noosa paddle would be more my speed (cost and interest wise).

I'm not sure how well all this fits with the article, the relevance may be in the diversification being taken by one on line dating group.

Having a look back at the article "“man still meets woman” according to explicit and implicit social criteria" - I'm not so sure how explicit those social criteria are anymore. My impression is that much about the dating process on and off line is still in a state of flux. I don't think that my generation has really worked through the issues resulting from changed roles when it comes to dating.

Also "but so far, any developments have been curbed primarily by the commercial interests of the online dating and to a lesser extent, technology industries" - I think that the developments have been curbed more by human behaviour. People bring to online dating all the expectations, self interest and hang ups that all to often form a part of romantic relationships in our society.

On or off line people are judged by perceptions of what they can bring to a relationship and the expectations and or level of desperation of the person doing the judging. I've not seen anything that leads me to believe that it's the technology or commercial factors that are holding things back, rather it's people being people.

The point made later in the article "love has become so fluid that it is “liquid”, devoid of real shape and meaning." does make a lot of sense.

Anyway enough rampling for tonight.

Cheers
R0bert