Online Dating for Boomers and Seniors
Posted by Dr. Brickey on November 15th, 2008
Host: Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey
Guest: Dr. Jim Houran
Broadcast and podcast starting: 11-17-08 on webtalkradio.net. After 11-23-08 the podcast is also on the links below (to download, right click download and select “save target as.”)
It’s not just young people and the 23½ million single Baby Boomers using online dating, more than five million people over 55 have used online dating as well. Instead of dating being largely limited to coworkers, people in common organizations, bars, and introductions from friends and family, online dating casts a huge net that greatly enhances your ability to find exactly the kind of person you are looking for. Online dating psychologist Dr. Jim Houran helps us learn how to meet Mr. or Ms Right and reduce the chances of getting burned-or even flamed.
To summarize Dr. Jim Houran’s advice, novices probably do best by starting with large free sites like PlentyofFish.com to get a feel for online dating. With that feel, they may want to move on to niche sites. The biggest mistake people make is not investing the time and effort in well thought out postings and engaging photographs. The other big mistake people often make is not being clear about who they are and what they are looking for. It’s not magic, it’s a process of increasing the odds of success. I especially liked the idea that it isn’t necessarily the most glamorous photo, but often the most friendly and approachable photo that gets the click. On similarity and compatibility, it appears that similarity helps with religion, values, and perhaps politics, and is somewhat important for education and intelligence. When it comes to personality, however, it is hard to predict what works. Finally, Dr. Houran suggested that rather than just matching for similarities, as eharmony.com does, the most sophisticated online dating is assessing and coaching. I.e., assessments give suggestions on where and how to look and how to present yourself. Of course, this runs the risk of the advice being self-serving for paid services as opposed to objective advice that is in your best interest.
Dr. James Houran is a columnist for onlinedatingmagazine.com where he has several dozen articles. Rather than the usual off the cuff advice, Dr. Houran’s columns are solidly based in research and even footnote sources. His Office Hours with Dr. Jim column are at www.onlinedatingmagazine.com Dr. Houran also is President of 20│20 skills, a company that does assessments and training for service industry businesses.
Dr. Houran’s “Office Hours with Dr. Jim” column are on www.OnlineDatingMagazine.com. His consulting business is at www.2020skills.com. Dr. Brickey’s other websites are www.DrBrickey.com and www.Anti-Aging-Speaker.com.
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November 16th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Yeah I’ve used plentyoffish.com . It’s definitely a good place to start. I’d actually recommend using a paid site like eharmony.com to start off with, because you are going to get a lot more responses. The women on these sites have actually paid and are looking for somebody while they have paid, whereas plentyoffish.com users aren’t taking it as serious
Jonathan Skywalker
http://www.surveymethod.net
November 16th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Very nice article, thanks for the tips! I might add that another good place to start besides Pletyoffish, is Matebook.net. It has reviewed over 100 online dating websites.
Good luck finding love online.
http://www.mateboook.net
November 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
If people are really looking for truly Boomer dating sites then checkout The Savvy Boomer, http://www.thesavvyboomer.com/the_savvy_boomer/online_dating/index.html
I’m not associated or affiliated with them.
lavalifeprime.com which caters to seniors and only seniors. Apparently, seniors like sex too!
November 18th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
[...] and baby boomers. With thousands more trying online dating every day, Dr. Michael Brickey of Ageless Lifestyle Radio interviewed Online Dating Magazine columnist Dr. James Houran about what seniors should look for [...]
December 18th, 2008 at 8:21 am
[...] Dr. James Houran is a columnist for onlinedatingmagazine.com where he has several dozen articles. Rather than the usual off the cuff advice, Dr. Houran’s columns are solidly based in research and even footnote sources. His “Office Hours with Dr. Jim” column are at http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com. If you would like to hear the free MP3 of the 50 minute interview, just go http://www.AgelessLifestyles.com. [...]
February 28th, 2009 at 11:30 am
amazing stuff thanx