ardour
Well known loser
Positives.
Potentially sanity saving for general loneliness. Made a few friends while visiting places I would never would have otherwise. People who turn up are generally friendly.
Negatives...
As far as potential dates... no. Most of the women at the interest based groups were over 50 or retired. It seems like young or youngish women have too many social options and most likely don't want to be in spaces flooded with lonely dudes trying to chat them up. A lot of men seem to have gotten advice to go to meetups/clubs to find a girlfriend. Some of them were obviously more intent on talking to the women around than just making friends. There's quite of bit ageism and gender segregation with the groups no doubt for that reason. At least half the social/meet and greet groups are age restricted or female only with those intended for older ages mostly inactive. There isn't one active book club right now that isn't women only.
It's depressing seeing well attended events intended for young people in their 20s to early 30s, knowing I wouldn't be welcome because of my age, which is a kick to the rib cage reminding me the best part of life is over. I wouldn't recommend speed dating groups since it's 80% male anyway, but everyone over 40 was being lumped into one age category as if we're all 'old' at that point.
The human interaction has been beneficial after years wallowing alone, but it's not a good route for guys hoping to find someone. Sorry - women have caught on guys. Otherwise I'd recommend trying it if you are in a large enough city.
Potentially sanity saving for general loneliness. Made a few friends while visiting places I would never would have otherwise. People who turn up are generally friendly.
Negatives...
As far as potential dates... no. Most of the women at the interest based groups were over 50 or retired. It seems like young or youngish women have too many social options and most likely don't want to be in spaces flooded with lonely dudes trying to chat them up. A lot of men seem to have gotten advice to go to meetups/clubs to find a girlfriend. Some of them were obviously more intent on talking to the women around than just making friends. There's quite of bit ageism and gender segregation with the groups no doubt for that reason. At least half the social/meet and greet groups are age restricted or female only with those intended for older ages mostly inactive. There isn't one active book club right now that isn't women only.
It's depressing seeing well attended events intended for young people in their 20s to early 30s, knowing I wouldn't be welcome because of my age, which is a kick to the rib cage reminding me the best part of life is over. I wouldn't recommend speed dating groups since it's 80% male anyway, but everyone over 40 was being lumped into one age category as if we're all 'old' at that point.
The human interaction has been beneficial after years wallowing alone, but it's not a good route for guys hoping to find someone. Sorry - women have caught on guys. Otherwise I'd recommend trying it if you are in a large enough city.