I’m on Match.com with the hot over-50 crowd, no joke

So, I met a guy…and now I’ve got your attention! Well, it’s actually true. Match.com, to my shock, has become quite the meeting place for 50- and 60-somethings. Could it be that older is the new younger?

This is a super-dramatic improvement from July 2010, when 54-year-old me quit online dating in disgust. The whole process felt like such a second-rate meat market. I swore to never, EVER do it again.

But since my recent return, I’ve discovered that the scene has evolved. There seems to be an explosion in online dating among gray-haired folks, with 70-ish Martha Stewart as our poster girl. On May 9, she went on the “Today Show” to meet two candidates, both in their late 60s, who contacted her via her Match.com profile. Oh, Martha, you cougar, you!

I’m certain that there’s room for both of us in the growing world of single, aging baby boomers. The gray divorce trend — the new catch-phrase to describe couples who split up once their kids are grown or in college — must be making a difference. At least, for me, it feels like there’s more dating going on in my age group. More people, more personalities, more choices.

It’s sort of fascinating to be back on Match in an era when online dating has become such a socially acceptable venue in every conceivable age group. Honestly? For me, meeting a true match will require a genuinely sustainable, electric connection, which has been tough to find over the past decade. Still, it’s been helpful to practice dating, which wasn’t something I knew how to do when I was young…

So that’s where I am — exploring ways to just relax in the moment. It’s taken me more than half a century to reach this point. Better late than never, right?

Anyways, if you know of anyone who needs to get outta the house, maybe you can share this post. It might motivate them to subscribe to a little online dating and take a chance. Risk is good.  :)

Update Oct. 14, 2013: I’m still on Match.com and it’s been pretty interesting — to the point where I’ve made a decision. This is probably my last post about online dating, at least for a very long while. Going off-line will give me a chance to figure out stuff quietly. Privately. How novel of me, an attempt at a private life, haha!