My apologies for abandoning this blog the way I did without wrapping things up- I was just doing my impression of all the guys I “met” on Match. The last guy seemed like a great prospect. We exchanged about four emails each then he asked for my phone number. I sent it to him and that was the last I heard from him. Another mystery. Up until the point I sent my number, Match showed that he logged on to the site daily. Then he didn’t log on for a week. By the time he did, my membership had ended so there’s no way to know if he emailed me but I assume he didn’t.

The disappearing guys really perplexed me. As has been established here, I’m very analytical, both about others and myself. There were a couple of emails I sent where I could have deciphered some sort of reason for not receiving a response. But these guys all vanished after brief, straightforward emails. Regardless of their reasons for being flaky, their lack of consideration will probably keep them single for a long time.

Some things I learned in this round of online dating:

1) Given that many qualities I possess and many that I’m looking for in a man don’t fit the typical mold, I really have to make a concerted effort to find a partner. An online dating stint every couple years probably won’t cut it. I have to make this a bigger priority. It’s so easy to get caught up in other aspects of life and then suddenly realize that months have passed without catering to relationship needs. I’m guessing that a lot of professional women who are content with themselves fall into the same trap. I’m glad I finally woke up to the fact that finding a good man is going to take some real effort.

2) I’m not the boy-crazy girl I used to be. One of the big mistakes I made this round was limiting the number of guys I corresponded with to one or two at a time. The reason I did it was so that I wouldn’t let someone fall by the wayside if one interested me more. That’s because I used to be the type who got really excited about a new guy who sounded great on paper. But now I’m at a place in life where even the ones who seemed perfect for me didn’t occupy my thoughts beyond the time it took to respond to their email. Next time around I’m going to find good prospects and compose emails to them before I even sign up for the dating service.

3) A three-month subscription is too long. For the price, it seems like a better idea than a one-month subscription but it allows for procrastination and boredom to set in. Plus, by month three, I was barely receiving any emails or even page views. I’ll be better off joining for a month here and there when I know I can devote a decent amount of energy to the process. And I’ll definitely avoid subscribing over the holidays!

So that’s it for round one. In the next month or so, I plan to take advantage of Yahoo Personal’s one week free membership and see how I like their service. I might check out a couple more dating services though I suspect I’ll eventually be back at Match. Thanks to all who have read this blog and supported my efforts. Please check back in a few weeks for round two. Hopefully that one will have a more exciting ending.