Let's Hear it for the Girls

Welcome to life at the tail end of 2009. Dating life, that is. Please meet four roommates: Tucker, Abby, Andy, and Georgina.* We're all very pleased to meet you, although at times it may not feel like it. Dating is never easy, even for fab twenty-somethings in a metropolitan city.

The Players:

• Tucker: a 27 year old nurse. Loves zip up hoodies and ballet flats.
• Andy: a 25 year old architectural designer. Loves red lipstick and mid-century furniture.
• Abby: a 24 year old fundraising rockstar. Loves micro brews and new restaurants.
• Georgina: a 25 year old fund development extraordinaire. Loves high heels and a good Sour Patch Kid.

For years, our moms and dads have been telling us what catches we all are, and how one of these days we will get snapped right up by Mr. Right. Have they been lying to us all along?

Here we are, ten, fifteen years later, and we still have not been "snapped up". Generally satisfied with our lives - friends, families, and jobs - we're just looking for someone to share it with. Or at the very least, someone to fill the time - other than pets (read: a cat).

The Game:

This is where our little "experiment" comes in: for the next three months, four roommates will get on two different online dating sites...for one ultimate goal.

FINDING OUR HUSBANDS.

No, only kidding. One Giant Experiment. We want to see if, with Dr. Neil Clark Warren, you actually do "experience a difference". We want to see if it really is "okay to just look".

Some initial impressions on both sites:

• eHarmony moves a lot slower than Match. Abby and Georgina are both on eHarmony, and are still in just the initial communication stages. It seems pretty intentional to actually "start communication" with someone. It also seems pretty harsh to "end communication". For me, I received a closed message from a guy who said he wished to end communication with me because he was pursuing another relationship. Although we had never even exchanged "first questions" I still went "hmph" a little and took it personally.
• Match has more of a "meet at a bar" feel. You're able to search through hundreds of guys in order to find one who is visually appealing to you. They do, however, send five daily matches which you are able to sift through. Also, they have an email component which both Tucker and Andy have been utilizing already...and on top of that there is an IM feature. Feedback from this feature is that it is kind of annoying.

It's really up in the air which one is more successful at this initial stage. Match sent Tucker and Andy directly into email communication with tons of different guys, whereas Abby and Georgina are more cautiously sending questions back and forth with just a few select people. But let's all be honest: this is more action than any of us have gotten in a long time.
Stay tuned for Saturday's post. Andy has her first date with a match guy, and if past dating experiences foreshadow anything...it should be a doozy.

*Names changed from our own to our past (or current) favorite pet. So...we're not really protecting their identities...

DISCLAIMER: While this experiment is funny and we may from time to time poke fun at some of the dates we go on, this is not to falsely misuse any sort of social network and is entirely malice free. We are simply four girls who have tried everything else - it's the grapefruit diet of dating.