Go Beyond

Good bye OkCupid,

I've been with you for over a year now. Even purchased A-List for a while. I've
found that I only manage to limit people to stereotypes and pictures, and
rarely have the chance to read into who someone really is. I've sent many
messages and received few back. I've met up with two people from the site, but
both stopped talking to me out of the blue.

Not your fault, of course. You're probably one of the most brilliant online
dating machines ever built. I just need to get out into the real world and talk
to real people. Read them for who they are, and not a precise compatibility of
match which I dictate in four choice questions.

It's been good knowing you. I've learned a lot, and feel that moving on is the
best way to keep learning and growing.

Sincerely,
Teran

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That was my last journal post on OkCupid before disabling the account. By all
means, it's about as good as you can get for a dating site, but I need to
venture into the physical realm and meet people there, rather than expecting
them to fall in awe of my intimidatingly long essay-style profile.

I've met some very cool people there, but only one in the past while who (so
far) has kept up talking with me. She's even close by, which defeats Murphy's
law. Although, I've had many messages from "Preppy Princesses" and many from
people who might struggle with even basic English for texting (nothing against
people who know English as a second language, just against those who know it as
a first language and fail to find the beauty in written and comprehensible
English).

Certainly not the site's fault, but it's been interesting.

Some rough guesstimate stats proving why I need to get a life and leave the
site:

600+ messages sent

500+ conversations

2 people from the site who I added to Facebook

2 people who I met in real life

7 dates with said people

Over 9000 in wasted time.

Not really wasted, but maybe ill-spent. A date that didn't go well is not
necessarily a failure or misspent time, but on the whole I've spent far too
much time in a digital medium when I could have been out meeting people,
enjoying pieces of a somewhat normal life. Not that I haven't gotten out at all,
but certainly not enough. Hopefully this change will help me do that.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,
Teran