Online Dating – Does it work? (Glad I don’t need it…)

ayiRecently, I came across an article about Online Dating on the Huffington Post titled “The Mommy Penalty on Online Dating Sites.” The article references dating sites like AYI — short for “Are You Interested?”

Personally, I am happily married and I know that dating sites are both the butt of many jokes and the source of a growing number of television crime drama plots. The funny part is that sites like these seek to take the mystery out of dating but the very source of fictional fodder stems from the mystery that surrounds strangers interacting in a digital world and always that potential for something to go wrong.

In this article, it talks about whether having children and being a “mom” is a liability when filling out one’s profile versus the reaction men get, which is significantly lower.

According to the article by Jess Carbino,  “For example, among single mothers over 30, divorced women are more likely to be messaged relative to their never married, widowed and separated counterparts. Women with children theoretically may be considered less desirable because mothers are more likely to retain primary custody of their children.” Apparently, that changes when they turn 50 and aren’t perceived as being “tied” down with kids.

This is fascinating because, as a college professor, I have actually had students who met and married after meeting online and the trend is growing. By inputting real facts about yourself (not made up ones), you do shortcut the process of finding potential mates with similar interests where people would previously join local clubs or groups to maybe, MAYBE, find those people.

If I were to ever find myself in that position, I think I would stay in the church community where I know people share common beliefs (and I could get personal references) but I thank the Lord every day I don’t have to worry about it. I am indeed grateful for the hard-working, Godly man I married after meeting him during my graduate school years but I also recognize not everyone has it so easy.

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