Online Dating… OKCupid... what a trip. What works for you?

Have you gone to any local poly get-togethers? That can be far less hit-or-miss than OKCupid - most of them are really intended as a social no-pressure environment, but at least everyone there is poly...

Our local group specifically discourages people from using the group to pick up partners. We've had bad experiences with people coming to our meetings, looking for an easy lay. Not all groups work this way, so check first.
 
I definitely agree - I've been to a few get-togethers where it was fairly obvious that a first-timer was looking to hook up - not a comfortable situation. Best not to go to a get-together with that motive.

However, if you are looking to get to know poly folk, maybe make friends with them, and see whether there is any chemistry there in a low pressure situation, they are fantastic. Worst case you will get to know some new folks, right?

I met one of my current partners at a poly gathering and neither of us had any intention of finding someone... that was over four years ago...
 
kimber607507 said:
Should we take the OK cupid plunge? . . . put together an Ok cupid profile..what's the worst that could happen?

It's really not that big a plunge to take -- although I remember how nervous I was when I first decided to do the online dating thang, after over ten years of being monogamous and married. I had it all built up inmy mind because it was totally new to me. However, you will soon find out it is more like having a second job than anything else. It gets tedious answering idiotic messages from crazies, imbeciles, sexaholics, judgmental SOBs who feel they must nitpick your profile and tell you what's wrong with you, and generally gross ugly people, OR sending out tons of messages to people you think are hot and getting no responses whatsoever! You just shouldn't have your hopes up -- **BUT** there is always the chance you will meet someone lovely, sweet, and exciting, with whom you hit it off. So the risk (and tedium) can bring its rewards. So, why not make a profile. Show some cleverness and a sense of humor, slap some good pics up there, answer a bunch of questions, take a few quizzes, and see what happens! Just go for it.
 
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I would definitely agree about focusing on local poly groups. I've had no luck with OKC, very few people have actually responded and none had any interest beyond that first message...which is fine, the people I've met through my local meetup seem to like me, so no hard feelings.
I check OKC once a week or two to see who has looked at my profile and if any of them jump out at me, but it's very ancillary in my social life anyway. I've heard similar stories from other people at the meetups, too, kind of makes me wonder if it's worth checking anymore...
 
Thanks all for suggestions and feedback
I opened a profile on Ok Cupid and no worries, no pressure, no tedious emails to go through...*crickets*
LOL
No emails, nada, nothing..BIG zero!

*sigh*

Ok back to the drawing board..Kim
 
Thanks all for suggestions and feedback
I opened a profile on Ok Cupid and no worries, no pressure, no tedious emails to go through...*crickets*
LOL
No emails, nada, nothing..BIG zero!

*sigh*

Ok back to the drawing board..Kim

You only talked about starting an account there yesterday. It hasn't even been one full day. It could take months to get any responses -- it isn't as if people are there just waiting for you to join. And if your profile is as a couple, you will not have as many responses as a single person looking for monogamy. You have to be patient. It could wind up being very fruitful for you, but will likely take a lot of time before that happens. That is why I said to have no expectations.
 
With OKC, I find I have to be the initiator of any contact. I do searches with keywords like open, poly, etc..

I am currently talking to a lady through messages. We may meet later, depends on how this intial feeling out process goes..

Good luck, it can be disheartening at times, if you let it.
 
I've been on OKC for about eight months with mixed success.

I've met a couple of great people there (we haven't ended up in a relationship) but for the most part it kinda seems like throwing bricks in the Grand Canyon. It also leads to an absolutely maddening occurrence where you meet someone that seems as close to perfect as you could reasonably ask for....and they're monogamous with absolutely zero plans to think about anything else.

Online dating in general seems to kinda suck. It makes people over-picky and everyone thinks they can gauge a person's true personality and intentions from a two paragraph entry.

I've actually had some open hostility on OKC, which I was not expecting. Two were people who were responding to messages I sent and one guy just messaged me out of the blue saying I needed to find another "more appropriate" site if all I wanted was group sex. None of them sent more than one message but it was still unexpected from a site that, I've been told, is one of the few places to go online to meet poly people in number.

Sadly there arent really many other choices. There's a poly dating website but it has MAYBE a few thousand people on it. I only found five other people in the Los Angeles area on the site. There's another site that claims to be for poly dating but seems to interpret "poly dating" as "lots and lots of fucking."
 
It also leads to an absolutely maddening occurrence where you meet someone that seems as close to perfect as you could reasonably ask for....and they're monogamous with absolutely zero plans to think about anything else.

You must have missed some key personality questions, or else not put enough importance on the answers. I've answered a ton of poly-type questions and made all the "Answers I'll accept" be "Mandatory" and so OKC doesn't match me romantically with anyone monogamous.

For example, one question is "Would you date someone who was already in a committed relationship with someone else?" Options are:
Yes, even in secret.
Yes, but only if everybody knew.
No, but I don't think it's inherently wrong.
No, it's wrong.

Well, since I'm in a committed relationship with someone else, and I don't endorse lying, I chose "Yes, but only if everybody knew" for my own answer, as well as the only answer I would accept. Then I set that answer to "mandatory" for matches. Anyone who chooses another answer is completely unavailable to me, so why waste time? And since that's a dating question, it's not factored into friend-matching.

OKC has a very smart scoring algorithm. It assigns points to answers based on your importance. "A little important" is worth 1 point, "Mandatory" is worth 250 points. So someone would have to agree with you on 250 minor things to override one mandatory thing. Since I've answered at least 10 poly-questions as "Mandatory" that makes it more like 2500 minor things.

Msg me if you want my OKC profile name, and you can go to my "Dating" questions and find some poly-friendly questions to narrow the field.
 
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You must have missed some key personality questions, or else not put enough importance on the answers. I've answered a ton of poly-type questions and made all the "Answers I'll accept" be "Mandatory" and so OKC doesn't match me romantically with anyone monogamous.
I've found a lot of them and answered them accordingly. My matches are still generally astoundingly bad.
 
OKCupid changed their matching algorithm awhile back to create more high value matches.
Personally, I found it a horrible decision. Those people really aren't good matches for me, so I much preferred the previous algorithm.
Now, I mostly look at the friend #, rather than the "match" #.
 
Yeah, not everyone that matches highly is really a good match for me. Love isn't logical and expecting any kind of mathematical algorithm to accurately reduce romance to a single percentage is preposterous.

Even though I met my girlfriend through OKC, I honestly think it was more of a fluke than anything. I've met about half a dozen people through OKC, all matched over 85%. She's the only one with whom I wanted so much as a second date, never mind a romantic relationship approaching the 1 year mark.

But then, that all comes back to being in the right head space. You're much less likely to find someone when you're desperately searching. If you go out only looking for friends, you'll have a more open mind about what people are like, and hopefully be less likely to write off people who seem less than ideal at first impression.
 
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Online dating in general seems to kinda suck. It makes people over-picky and everyone thinks they can gauge a person's true personality and intentions from a two paragraph entry.
This is precisely why I hate online dating when I've tried it in the past. In part because I found myself doing it.

Despite that, I just signed up. Last time I tried online dating I was mono (in theory, anyway), things might go differently this time.

Hmm, lots of attractive poly people in the Detroit area. Now, if I could just grow a pair of balls I might message a few of them.

*looks at crotch* Anytime now, guys.
 
I'm on OKC.. I get views and responses.. most people are nice. I have that I'm looking for friends, activity partners, long term and short term dating.. I state in my actual profile that I'm looking for friends and open poly people which is honest and true. I'm not looking to get laid. I'm not a player and I'm not looking to make anyone jealous/envious or be a secret or have a secret. I have that I'm in a poly/open relationship. Responses are good so far. It just takes time. I suggest spending alot of time on your profile. Really work on being authentic then do your 500 questions before you contact anyone.

bottom line, I have never had any issues getting laid. I find it rather amusing how absolutely easy it is actually. I'm online to find someone to connect with and I'm interviewing potential matches. I defiantly deny some, that's part of the process. Being poly is special and it takes a process to ensure whomever you're bringing into your life is fully aware of your love life. I weigh alot on the pictures.. I skim profiles and look for words like open, poly, etc.. I message them and start the conversation.. at some point I make sure they read my profile and they are fully aware I'm poly. They usually affirm it's cool or they're just looking to be friends. Which is cool by me, I like friends.
 
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Question about meeting new potentials

So I have been involved in the poly world all of a year almost and there is something that is bothering me a bit. Is it really this hard to meet another poly person or a couple looking for another male? I mean, I am the most open-minded person in the world (also Pansexual) and I am finding that it feels near impossible to even find anyone interested no matter where I post an ad or anything. Is there just something that I am missing? Are my ads too dull or do they just demand too much? Am I too blunt? I just feel like I am doing everything wrong and it really bothers me. My Love can put ads up herself and have people flock to her (Though, the thought there is because she is female biologically). Is it just hard to be a poly male looking for a poly female or a couple that can help meet his needs in ways his primary can't? Is it because i'm in the middle of Pennsylvania?

I welcome all advice and any feedback. Also feel free to note me as well if you wish to talk further on this subject.
 
Hi,

We have found that there is a gender imbalance in all directions. We used Cupid and my husband had a hard time meeting anyone, at first. I got tons of messages. So, don't fret, it's definitely not personal!

I can speak to what I responded to online. I responded to guys who took the time to write out a long - thought out message, guys who engaged me about the books I read, or guys who were witty. I ended up dating someone who actually sent two messages and second-guessed himself in the second message, this showed me some humanity and gentleness.

I DIDN'T respond to guys who wrote one word or mentioned sex right away or wrote how are you/ etc. Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
I think OKC is good, my husband has had lots of luck there and after recently reactivating my profile on there, I think I know why.

Most messages I get are "Hi I like your pictures and your smile" with nothing at all about anything in my profile. Make sure you don't do that. Even a poly guy who was a 96% match just sent me a "I'm in town tonight, are you free?" That makes me have zero desire to get to know them at all, its lazy and a turn off.

Make sure the messages you are sending people are relevant to their profile, call out if you have hobbies in common or they say something you want to know more about, and don't write to them if you're only writing to them because you find them attractive, write to them if you like what you read too (I mean if you're just looking for casual stuff and dont care if it leads to a great relationship, I hear a lot of good things about craigslist)

Have you asked your female partner for input? If she knows you well she could help remind you what awesome qualities you have that she'd want to know about when deciding if she wanted to write back to you or not.
 
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