Has being online toughened you up emotionally or made you more sensitive? Free Dating, Singles and Personals

Has being online toughened you up emotionally or made you more sensitive? Posted: 7/21/2009 5:00:15 PM
This site has definitely confirmed some of my less-rosy feelings toward the public in general; however, I'll be damned if I let the likes of a website actually affect my self-worth. Some advice for fellow sensitive people like me: Disable photo rating, and do not seek reviews of your photos. There are overgrown bullies on this site who treat photo reviews like a blood sport. You don't deserve to be their target. Back away from the forums when there seems to be a high number of negative/bashing threads ("NO JOB!!!" "Lives in Mommy's Basement!" "Fat people, oh horrors!" "Dating Outside your Race!!!" "Eww, She Has a Kid!", "White Collar Versus Blue Collar", etc., etc., etc. ) When I see a certain amount of that, I cool it on the forums for a spell, and wait for topics fit for those of us who already passed eighth grade. When you contact someone, just clean it right out of your "Sent" box. Don't track it, because all of those read/deletes can add up to hurtful after a while. It's not you. We live in an age where the last three generations in the US have been raised to hurry through everything, revolve around themselves, and have very little concept of empathy. Just delete your copy of the note, forget it; and when you do get a good response, consider it a bonus. Block the living hell out of anyone who messages you rudely. Do not get drawn into it under any circumstances- these people are either nuts, raised by creatures that live under rocks, or are suffering from personality disorders (you'd be amazed how many of those types are considered "functional" and live among the rest of us without being obvious at all). Don't believe what they say, and don't dignify it with a response. Just mash that sweet, beautiful block button like there's no tomorrow, and then go watch a Youtube of waves lapping away on some island beach somewhere. Do not assume that people who look, then don't contact, are snubbing you. Sometimes people just cruise without the intention of contacting anybody. I sometimes just look at them all, enjoy some of what I see, and wait for some other day to send out messages. Other times, people are shy or scared about taking the plunge, so they peek and then bolt. Other times, they rejected you for some abysmally closed-minded and trivial reason; thus, they do not possess the requisite maturity for a quality relationship to begin with. Pity the poor sap/sapette who does end up with someone like that. Use other sites and real-life opportunities. It's weird how two different dating sites (or two different real-life singles events) can have such vastly different atmospheres. Consider joining things likely to attract other introverted and/or sensitive people: book clubs, Mensa special interest groups, recreational groups hosted at an Episcopal church, environmental groups. You won't see too many narcissists or overgrown Myspace kids haunting those places! Realize POF for what it is: a free site draws out all kinds of people. Some of them are good; others are some real pieces of work, to say the least. It's like walking around the Grand Central train station in New York. You'll see people you find hot, people you don't, people of the wrong gender for your orientation, clueless tourists just looking around, drunks, and creepy unwashed freaks shouting random insults at strangers. When you think of it like that, it starts to sting less when some other member treats you to some messed-up behavior, you know?