With Valentine’s Day coming up, some folks may take to senior dating sites searching for the perfect match.
After researching some sites, I was surprised at the scale of the burgeoning senior dating industry. One reason is that dating apps present an almost overwhelming opportunity to meet new people.
One professional matchmaker explained, “It’s like putting a bunch of fishing lines into a pond. You don’t know which line might bite.” Well, I would say it all depends on the “bait” one is offering.
Another explanation for the interest in senior dating sites is possible health benefits. A newsletter published by the National Institutes of Health suggests that dating and romantic relationships may be good for the heart.
Perhaps. But I’m not sure that dating and romantic relationships are real healthy for one’s bank account.
Research shows that 35% of women prefer to date younger men. Now it’s reasonable to assume that a similar percentage of men prefer to date younger women as well.
Doesn’t that pretty much guarantee that the only way those particular folks are ever going to get together is if they lie about their ages? Just wondering.
And if you compare how older men approach setting up a date using these dating sites to how women handle the same process, there are some clear differences.
For many men it’s like trick-or-treating. Sort of a “Just throw it in my bag and I’ll check it out when I get home” philosophy.
For example, a man might respond to a picture in a woman’s posting like this: “You’re pretty cute; let’s get together.” And he might repeat that reaction to a hundred different women without having actually read any of their profiles.
Whereas women tend to first carefully read what the male candidates have to say. Once they have narrowed their list, they may go a step further and search the men on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. They may even discuss their options with close friends before deciding.
Come to think of it, the contrast in the behavior of these “mature” men and women is similar that of the teenage boys and girls in my high school classes that I taught!
