Met my current very lovely girlfriend online (and many other perfectly lovely people, some of whom are still friends). I think the number 1 mistake people make

Met my current very lovely girlfriend online (and many other perfectly lovely people, some of whom are still friends). I think the number 1 mistake people make online, which leads to disillusion, is thinking that online dating is a replacement for meeting. I hear all the time complaints of not being atracted to any of their matches, or that they seem boring, etc. etc. "Well, did you meet?" "No, he's so not my type." How can you possibly know? Instead, understand the purpose of the online phase, and adopt the following strategy: 1. Match with someone who does not seem completely unappealing (some people look a lot worse online than in person... and vice versa. To a striking degree! -- Being charming in a chat room and sexy in a picture does not always carry to the real world). 2. Make sure they are not a completely insane person. 3. Skip the Q&A. Ask to meet up for a quick lunch. Your goal is to meet as many people as possible. Forget it's even a date. Seriously, every day go have lunch with someone new. Worst case scenario, you had a boring meal. Best case scenario, you had 30-60 minutes to talk one-on-one with someone interesting: now ask them out for a proper date! To me this is far superior to trying to subtly-or-not-so-subtly hit on people at random events, or, God forbid: a bar.