Thursday, August 09, 2001

So are internet personal ads better?

Made some updates to my personal ad again. My last ad actually drew a few responses (I sorta posted it on a whim back in July never dreaming that anyone would be interested), but I've been so busy the past few weeks and it's been so hot that I've only been able to e-mail tag. Now I figure I'll wait until after vacation before I go on any dates (I'll have my new car (with A/C) by then and I won't be frantically wrapping up work so that I can go on vacation).

So far I haven't gotten more than a handful of responses that were risque or iffy in other ways. I'm pretty careful in my ad and on this website at not revealing any personally identifiable information (if you know me then you already know everyone that I'm talking about so I don't need to name names). I'm not too concerned with being stalked (not too likely), but I've had close enough brushes in the past that I do take some precautions about not using my real name until I get a feel for whom I'm talking to.

Probably the nicest part about on-line ads vs the ones in the newspaper is the pictures and the additional information that most people post. It makes it much easier to decide whether or not I'm interested enough to get in touch with that person. Pictures help as much as the additional information because it's harder to mislead with a picture (when you look at my picture, I can't claim that I'm skinny as a twig when I'm actually a few pounds overweight). I won't say that people lie on their personal ads, but the temptation is certainly there for you to stretch the truth a bit to make you sound more attractive.

posted by Wuphon's at 10:15 PM