November 15, 2007 Senior Online Dating: Good Idea - Terrible Name!
Senior Online Dating: Good Idea - Terrible Name!
By Alison Braidwood
Senior online dating websites are popping up all over the internet, as enterprising entrepreneurs clue in to the fact that the older population has plenty of money to spend online. And the "older" group they're targeting are singles over 40 years of age.
Yes, 40 is the age at which we become "seniors" in the online dating game. Egads, you say? It's a terrible thing, to be feeling young and funky one moment, innocently surfing the net, only to stumble across information that immediately makes you feel 1000 years old.
If reading this now is having the same effect on you, we apologise. Really.
Take solace in the knowledge that it's not entirely universal, this over 40 senior thing. Some mature dating sites only identify you as a senior dater if you're over-50. That's a relief, then.
How is it that someone from a healthy young adult demographic (and 40 is still young), can morph overnight into a "senior" anything? It's entirely possible that the culprit is some anonymous internet marketer who decided that he needed to create a new dating niche. The online romance business is intensely competitive and many people are making fortunes, but it's probably hard for newbies to break into. Maybe they needed to narrow down the field and re-brand senior dating to include the over-40s in order to compete. Who knows?
So, the name is terrible. Senior dating, indeed. But if we can get over the indignity of the label, then the idea has possibilities. If a dating site only accepts registrations from a certain age group, then it could have the beneficial effect of filtering out timewasters and increasing your chances of meeting like-minded people.
After all, the selection criteria, aside from age, is still pretty much the same. You can still search for dog-lovers, garden gnome haters, and fellow Trekkies, if that's your thing.
Now if only we could convince the government to start paying us our pensions at 40. Then we'd have loads more time to devote to online dating.
Alison Braidwood is a contributing writer for http://www.senior-dating-site-review.com, a light-hearted romance resource for singles over 40. Visit us for reviews of popular dating sites, dating profile tips, and a wry look at the search for romance after 40.
