Given the online dating scene (fakes or egotists) how do you go about meeting new people? This applies to both men and women.

My friends are married with kids, so that line is out.

I'd really like to find more opportunites to socialize...

Well if you are using online as the primary vehicle, message and chat with people close to you, and after a while of talking maybe set up a meeting for coffee somewhere.

If you are talking outside of online, go do something you enjoy doing, and try inducing conversation with people at the location of wherever it is you are. I've chatted with many a person in book stores this way.

Calling the online people 'fakes or egotists' probably
won't help you meet anyone online.

One can assume you do the same stereutyping offline too.
I see a nunnery in your future.

A nunnery? How quaint. And completely unhelpful.

Kartigane...I guess that's part of the problem. Its been 15 years since I was "actively dating". At that time, I did meet most of those people out and about, or through friends. In the last year and a half though, I have not had more than a quick casual conversation during one of my "things I like to do outings".

I know there are nice, normal people out there...are they all taken?

Hi Your question speaks volumes for your perspective toward meeting new people. You might try taking an assertiveness class and learn how to be more personable and practice self introductions as you need to meet a few hundred men if you are actually expecting to find someone special. Your attitude is too cynical and sounds very passive and these are not likely to draw people toward you but have a different effect Best of luck

How remarkably unhelpful. I'm sorry I bothered all of you perfect people.

No. They are probably all asking the same questions you are. Sure the side and get in some conversations. Who knows what you will find?

First, stop making assumptions that all normal people are taken and that everyone is fake.

Second, find groups in your area that do things you enjoy, such as volunteering or hiking for example. That will allow you to meet people who have the same interests.

Go somewhere that interests me and strike up a conversation with a lovely young lady about said interest.

Unfortunately it is notoriously difficult to find anything that even resembles sane at a serial killer convention.

I hear that some people go out to parties and bars but these days I mostly just talk to the fake people on the internet.

Sites like meetup are a good, no pressure way to meet people in your area. There are all kinds of groups to join and you can just show up to events that are planned.

try the grocery store

you might wiggle a dinner invite out of it


and just between friends, postpone mentioning the convention....

I hear people talking about meeting at grocery stores but I don't know a single person who has actually dated someone they met at a grocery store.

Are some of the people on dating sites fake or egotistical (or even both)? Sure. But not all of them, and there are fake/egotistical people running around in the regular world, too. I do think I get where you're coming from, though, because dating after the end of a long relationship can be very frustrating. It's easy to get jaded and cynical, but the best way to meet people is just to figure out what you enjoy doing and then find a group of people in your local area who do those things. Join up with them and you just might meet someone who's right for you.

Doesn't mean you can't find someone online, but as with anyplace else, it's largely a "luck of the draw" thing.

Oh, and in case no one else has said this, welcome to the forum. Feel free to join us in the "Games" section. That's where all the fun is.

Like life, online dating is a mixed bag. I met a few great women online, while I also met two scary ones. The grocery store is a nice place to chat and I have not yet asked a woman I met there on a date. The advice I get most is do what you like; be in your element for both confidence and surety that the lover you choose has shared interests.
This discussion makes a great example of online difficulties. The initiator expressed some opinions about stereotypes and got a reaction from a few. The initiator then reacted negatively to those responses and appears to have felt invalidated. There is a lot of judgement here and I felt like a couple of responders might have been mending their own cracks with their darkened words. In a survey pool, the greater the distribution of responders, the more sharp edges are shown.
My view is don' be judgin': be helpful and loving, or be silent.

Social gatherings are a great place to start. I have met some fine and wonderful people at yard sales and thrift shops.