on Mar 21st, 2006Dating Online For Seniors Grows (Weeding Required)
First kids got online. Then parents joined the act. Now grandparents are discovering that My Space is not referring to the sky above.
What’s driving all this activity? Dating, plain and simple - the desire to connect to another human being. Forget digging out that old high school yearbook to wade back into the dating pool though. The action today is searchable by zip code, comes with pictures, and is only a wink away from that first date.
If you’re single and looking, don’t be shy. It doesn’t cost anything to gander. They only get you when you want to make contact, but by then the passion and curiosity will be so overwhelming that you’ll accept the recurring subscription fee and plunge into the unchartered waters of fake photos, fudged ages, and learn that curvy is really another name for overweight but hey, ain’t that what makes it all worth it…the journey!
Gladstone is part of a growing trend: people in their 50s and beyond searching the Internet for romance, companionship, sometimes marriage. As in any age group, there are ups and downs. There’s the old stale-photo trick (it’s him, but 20 years and 30 pounds ago), or the date who asks right away how much money you have, or the ones who say how fabulous you are and then disappear. Still, many older online daters say that even if they haven’t found true love — yet — it’s been worthwhile.
Match.com, another large online dating site, says boomers (which it defines as ages 45-59) are its fastest growing segment — they’ve increased by at least 350 percent since 2000, and now number 3 million — or 22 percent of total users. Spokesperson Kristin Kelly says older users tend to be much clearer and more realistic about what they want: “There’s no substitute for the wisdom gained with age.”
Cupid’s arrow strikes older lovers online
By Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press
Tuesday, March 21, 2006