I Misunderstood 50Plus - Until Now

I stumbled across 50Plus at the end of May,2020. At that time, I was just signing up for all dating sites looking for I don't know what - well, let's be honest, I was looking for a relationship even though I stated "Friendship."
So I went through the first 6 months thinking and focusing on trying to find a woman who I could get a relationship with, even though I said, "Friendship." In the first 5-1/2 months, I encountered scammers upon scammers. It became a challenge for me to spot and report them.

(By the way, every Dating Site has them, so you'll encounter them where ever you go. And, I've had the pleasure of reporting a "variation of the same theme," as I was able to recognize the same scammer 3 times under different aliases.")

Along the way, I also met some nice people. Some have stayed, some have left. Though I don't maintain contact with them, I still think fondly of them wondering, "What if our differences of opinions hadn't been so far apart?"
But, as others dropped off, new one's took their places and BY ACCIDENT, I inadvertently renewed my 50Plus Premium Membership! Honest, folks, I hit the wrong button. I decided it was "destiny," or is it really, "fate," that made me do that?
In any event, just before accidentally renewing my membership, I connected with two beautiful women as "Friends." After the accident, I decided it was "Fate" that made me hit the wrong button and decided I'd just as well stay on as a Premium Member.
Since then, I've come to realize that 50Plus is more than just a "Dating Site."
Looking at all the categories of subjects that a person can get involved with made me see that I can, and hopefully will, make my thoughts known, make friends, and just have fun in 50Plus.
I now know that 50Plus is not just about "hooking up," 50 Plus is about a community of people who can share their thoughts and establish long lasting relationships based on friendship.
ClydeKen

Thank you for expressing what a lot of us think about this site but never put into words. I’m glad you accidentally hit the renewal button by mistake. Knowing that you will still here and continue to share your stories and poems makes my heart happy.
celeste

Yes, a lot of us think that way and just the part of making new friends is so nice.
Most of us are alone, went through whatever relationships or bad times and can use some good friends and some fun chats. I for one , am not a bar /club going person anymore, been there, done that and still have a few T Shirts.
And some of us have met their match and are very happy. I really like this site , it brought me good friends and a very special man.
Dutchy

Klyde, your words hit differently on my soul.
I have not accidently renewed my membership but otherwise our experience is similar.
I joined in April hoping to find friends because the lockdown had us all so isolated I was lonely and missing the outside world of friends, family and work.
On 50plus I've made some good friends that I believe we will be friends for life. When in chat we try to forget the everyday struggles loneliness and bumps on the road. We laugh, joke, share experiences and have fun. Most people that are there will join in for the distraction and laughs.

Mostly 50plus is a community who supports each other, I'm so grateful that I stumbled across this site.
Yes, we have scammers and that takes away from the positive experience of this site.
We also have some people who are not always collaborative but we shouldn't judge because we are all going through stuff in life and we don't know what each person is struggling with.
Thank you Klyde for your words of wisdom.

DutchyL and sunnyday_101:
Thank you for your kind words.

Will you accept a Friend request from me? If so, send me the Friend request and I'll acknowledge it.

ClydeKen

Sir CK,

Wow, your experience on dating sites matched mine in terms of running across scammers. In my case, it was often African guys pretending to be women. I reported them to the web admins and had their accounts deleted, but they would just steal more pics online and register under a different name. Pretty sure the site allowed it so that they could use the artificially boosted memberships as a selling point to lure in people.

Where our experiences differ is in the real members we met. When I suggested to women I met on the site that we be friends, too often I got the same reply: "I have enough friends". And that's not even counting the ones with unresolved emotional baggage. I learned the hard way that sometimes there are very good reasons why some people are alone. Lol

Then there were the foreign women who contacted me, but expected me to visit them, despite the fact that they contacted me! I was even contacted by a woman who claimed to be divorced, but who I found out was married and living with her husband! I guess cheaters are equal-opportunity offenders.

As you can imagine, I was highly skeptical and reluctant to try yet another site. But so far, this one is different and pretty nice. It's cool to be able to meet sincere people, and be able to communicate with them and share knowledge, ideas, experiences and interests. As a newbie, I'm still working on learning how to navigate the site. But it's definitely been an interesting experience.

Hi ClydeKen,

Seems like quite a few people resonated with your sentiments, AND are glad you've stayed.

It's good to know the positive experiences have outweighed the negative - hopefully I shall find that too. I'm not looking for romance, so I shall be interested to see if that keeps the scammers away.

I look forward to chatting sometime.

Agreed, Clyde, and thanks for posting.

I've been using a number of sites and have made it a bit of an indoor sport to spot the scammers. They are plentiful! Hadn't heard about African dudes posing as women, though. Egad!

One of the dead giveaways is the appealing profile written in standard English leading to correspondence with someone who couldn't use the correct tense or agree verb to subject if their life depended on it! By their diction shall ye know them! That, and requests for money -- though I haven't yet sashayed that far down the primrose path myself...

A lot of people are hooked by these folks, and agreed 100% that no site is immune. I read stories from time to time about broken hearts and emptied bank accounts, which make me feel rather battle-hardened!

I jumped at this site because of the chat & forum opportunities. What a welcome change from swiping left or right!

I'm really looking forward to getting to know a few folks and making some friends online, and perhaps even IRL, assuming the vaccines eventually drive away the COVID.

I hope 2021 brings good things to all of us!

Mealla

ClydeKen,

Thank you for eloquently conveying the thoughts that I, myself, had struggled to put into words.

I have tried the popular dating sites like eHarmony and Match only to find scammers and one-night stands.

I, for one, am grateful that I stumbled upon 50plus when I signed up in late October 2020. Though I was on hiatus due to demands from my job, I returned and have visited the site daily. I have since acquired a small list of friends and still working to add more.

Kat