It’s impossible to find any decent males out there at the moment. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it certainly feels that way when hitting the clubs, bars or your local Vida (desperate times ladies, desperate times).
With online dating, however, you have complete control and can find someone who meets your
specific needs.
When COSMO Features Writer Linda Mali decided to give it a try, she wasn’t expecting much. ‘I had been single for a while and after a few dud dates, a colleague suggested I sign up to an online dating site,’ she says. ‘I had never considered it before, believing that online dating was for desperados and psychopaths!
‘I registered my profile without a picture just to look around and see what’s out there. I stumbled upon a profile of a guy whose image looked good. His profile name was “The Great One”. He sounded a bit smug, so I didn’t make contact initially. A few days later I received a message from him asking to chat and we did. He seemed interesting and normal, much to my relief. We eventually exchanged numbers and e-mail address and started talking almost every day.
‘We decided to meet three months later. I was extremely nervous, but when I saw him in the park at our designated meeting spot, I recognised him and was relieved to find he looked just as good in real life as he did on his profile. He spent the weekend and we had a fantastic time. We’re not officially dating, but I enjoy chatting to him and it’s nice to have a voice at the other end of the line I can chat to when I need a friendly ear. I’ve had a few unpleasant experiences online (guys sending erotic messages about the things they’d like to do to me – shock horror!), but once I met “The Great One”, I felt no need to keep looking.’
Just like Linda, 24-year-old, Suzanne Byers* decided to give online dating a try. This is her story:
‘One day, I got a message from this blonde, surfer boy, asking to be friends. I decided to accept, and at first, we’d send each other a message once a week, but this soon escalated to as many as a few messages a day. Eventually, we swapped numbers and started SMSing and talking every day.
‘I realised I was starting to develop feelings for this guy, a guy who I had never even met. And he was feeling the same way. We decided to meet in January 2006. I took a risk and flew up to Durban to meet my crush. The rest is history. He moved to Cape Town soon after, and now, almost five years later, I’m planning our wedding. Through online dating, we actually got to know each other first before we met. Obviously online dating can pose a few safety worries, as you have no clue whether the guy is actually telling you the truth. But for me, it was worth taking the plunge. I’ve never been happier. I have found my soul mate.’
If you’re not sure how things work in the world of online dating, visit
Cosmopolitan Dating and
get started.
*Name has been changed