I've got an idea.....why not start threads like 'If you're between 20-30 (30-40 and so forth), single(as in would like a relationship), and would like to have a casual PM with someone, post here a few of your interests. We can all assume you love the Lord and want a Godly mate. If someone would like to get a PM, give them a 'heart'. Have the casual PM chat and see what blossoms. There would have to be made clear, 'no offense taken' if one bows out and I can see that could create rejection feelings but that could be done gracefully.
I know this isn't a dating site but it seems this would be more fruitful than some threads that are well-intentioned but end up in ongoing quarrels. Of course the mods would have to approve.
I have a friend who met her hubby on E-Harmony(after a while of chatting), and two who met their spouses on YT chat sites(and they all were Christians). It does happen.
What's wrong with this idea. My goodness so many attempts have been tried and then fizzle out. We don't know how much time we have here on this planet and for those who are interested in getting to know someone, wouldn't it be nice JUST TO DO THAT? If I was looking, I wouldn't be wishy-washy about it. No offense but is it just me who finds this standstill a little sad?
Hi Tabin,
Thanks for thinking of ways for singles to be able to meet and talk to other singles. I joined this site in 2009, and I only mention that because I've seen a lot of what you're suggesting that has gone on during all that time. Just because people aren't stating out in the open that they are meeting others on this site doesn't mean it isn't happening, I assure you. 2018/2019 was a record year for me, as I was able to meet about 7 people from CC (and one particularly awesome CC'er twice.) It's funny because God literally squeezed my last meetup in right before the lockdowns. And these were all people I've known from CC since around 2015 or earlier, so if any of them were waiting for me with a knife behind their back, they had been waiting an awfully long time!
Singles has had several "get things started"-type threads encouraging people to share interests, what they're looking for, what they have to offer, but threads here never last long -- now days a thread can disappear off the main page in an hour (years ago, there was enough activity to sustain them several days to a week or more.) Unfortunately, you can't really keep reviving the same threads about these topics because many of the people who posted might be gone from the site and will never respond. Many people seem to make one intro post and then disappear. I was reading an old thread the other day and nearly everyone in it either said "guest" under their name (they requested to have their account closed) or were banned.
So the suggestion to have "connection" threads is great and actually has been ongoing over the years, but they only occur sporadically because very few people start them. In order for your suggestion to work, people who are here would have to keep re-writing the same threads over and over, and new people who came in would have to volunteer to continuously keep the threads going, rewriting them as they (and old users) disappear in order to keep the responses current.
I find that there are often tons of ideas thrown around for threads or groups or that we should set up things for people to connect.
But when it comes to the actual work, if you ask for volunteers to start, implement, monitor, and keep the methods going... No one has the time or energy to do so, which is understandable. People want the forums to feel like fun, not work. But the fun could only be had if there were people offering do put in the work. 98% of people enjoy posting on the threads, but cannot or do not want to start them, and there's no where to go without a fair amount of people to write and sustain topics of discussion.
"Dating-style" threads are also vehemently opposed by some members who see the singles forum as a welcome escape from such atmospheres, so it's tough to keep a balance that the majority are comfortable with. It's also a little more difficult now for people to just PM each other, because apparently there is a fee to be able to private message (which I think is $25, and I'm not sure if that's a yearly fee or forever?) This fee was not in effect when I joined, and when they added it, those who had already been here were grandfathered in.
And as mentioned, just because no one is talking about who they're talking to on the site, you can almost guarantee that people ARE indeed talking to each other when they are determined enough. The last time we had a series of "getting to know things about people and trying to apply it" threads, I got at least one message from someone who said they had met a lot of people specifically through those threads.
In the past, CC almost DID feel like a dating site, with all the problems that go with it. Live chat had a singles room, and a moderator would come in occasionally and ask each of us on the live mic if we were married or not. We each had to answer publicly in front of the rest of the room, and the mod explained that they were doing this because they had had a lot of problems with people who had left their spouses for someone they found on CC.
We also had problems with catfish (people pretending to be unicorns that others fell in love with and then found out that the person didn't really exist, or at least not in the form they they claimed to be,) cat fights (people fighting each other for mutual objects of affection,) situations in which someone would be the target of another person's unwanted or unwarranted affection, and some people who would compete to see how much attention they could get from the opposite gender.
It was also very common (say around 2015) for people to write threads or make public declarations about who they were dating or talking to on the site, which was wonderful to hear (and I still love hearing when things work out for people.)
But it was also wincingly uncomfortable to witness the times when it didn't, which is what happened the majority of the time (often due to long distances.) In a few cases, there were even marriages -- and divorces -- and as a reader, you would feel terrible for the people involved because they would go from announcing, "I FOUND THE ONE GOD HAD FOR ME ON THIS SITE!!!" to "Things Didn't Work Out, And Now They're With Someone Else."
I'm not here nearly as much and am no longer "in the loop" (not that I ever was, I just talked to a lot of people here at that time,) so I have no idea what goes on now, but I would bet that it all still happens, just below the surface instead of center stage. Any time there is an opportunity for online connections, things like this are bound to happen, and I think CC has done its best to keep the riff raff to a minimum.
Like you, Tabin, I always feel called to introduce and try to bring people together. Unfortunately, it also comes with A LOT of fallout.
I always call the dating scene a shark tank, not just because it seems impossible to find someone, but because no matter where you go or what size the pool may be, someone is bound to take a whole bite, as opposed to a nibble, and so there will always be blood in the water.