Vik Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 This article was in the Shetland times very recently and there was a few new members that joined www.shetlanddating.co.uk but our local dating site dedicated to Shetland & Orkney needs more local singles if its to continue. If it fails you have only your single selves to blame as the national & international dating sites only guarantee taking your money! Dating sites & Shetland folk seeking to leave the singles bar? Modern life seems to be creating more single folk of all ages than ever before. Be it through separation, divorce, jilted, abandoned, widowed or simply no suitable matches in your area. The reasons are many & varied but for a growing number of men & women here in Shetland, its a real problem trying to do something about it other than dream. I was one of these people and tried my luck on a UK national dating site - nothing! Then joined a couple of other dating sites which resulted in more expensive nothings. I then subscribed to more, chatted a bit, met some weird women, experienced a couple of scary situations and discovered a very interesting conundrum. Shetland has its own dedicated dating site with a few guys & fewer lasses registered, almost no photo's and very little activity when I joined. So seeking a new friend I joined a UK wide dating site which cost about £26 for a month only to discover no active matches in my area. That lapsed & I joined 2 more for £12 & £19 respectively and found 1 Shetland lass on the first site with no photo or much info & nobody in my area on the second - the story continues. Over the past 2 years I joined numerous dating sites, some expensive, others not so & some free until you find a potential match & wish to communicate – then you have to subscribe. There are some free sites but they seem to be owned by major national & international subscription dating sites, trying to tease you into their main site & do not allow communication until you join join & pay up. Some sites even send you fictitious winks or requests to chat from non existent members to get you to subscribe. However in the last 6 months I was joining sites not so much to find a new friend but to see how useful these UK wide dating sites were for a Shetland single & discovered all of them a total waste of time & money. I found some sites with no Shetland folk, a few with just 1 or 2 Shetland singles registered, many others with 2 or 3 Shetland folk, 1 free site (Plenty Of Fish - POF) had about 9 Shetland lasses & 14 Shetland guys but only 1 or 2 photo's & scant personal information. Not very encouraging & overall, an a expensive waste of time. Because here in Shetland we are such a small community and that there are so many sites out there, the chances of meeting a new friend or potential mate is real odds against you stuff. If you find someone you like but he or she is in Manchester, London, Glasgow or elsewhere doon sooth, its a costly & risky business meeting for a coffee to see how the magic works. I went to Edinburgh to meet a lass who turned out to be 7 years older than her profile, considerably larger & with children not on her profile! Another lass was about to set off from Nottingham to move to Shetland to move with her 4 children & 2 dogs after only exchanging half a dozen messages. Be warned! So why do Shetland folk go on UK dating sites with all the odds stacked against finding someone? The huge number of UK dating sites, distance involved, cost of joining, cost of meeting up and the practicality of it is daft. From my experiences there are several questions why Shetland folk use national dating sites but by far the most pertinent question has to be - why don't Shetland singles looking for a new friend, partner, soul-mate or whatever use the one site that is here to help Shetland singles? Its free, its local and it can deliver what we all want which is a place where local singles (Orkney is included as well) can join in & do what a dating site is meant to do. 18 months ago a local lass also aware of the poor service & odds against meeting someone on national dating sites and having created Shetlandlive and Orkneylive, decided to set up The Shetland Dating website in the hope that it would provide opportunities for locals to meet up. The site costs nothing to join and membership is strict, requiring people who join being "vetted" first - You can join with a profile picture of your dog, cat or budgie if that makes you more comfortable, the site has the facility to send instant live messenger and picture messages if you find and get on with someone, so no one is exposed.  Only approved members can see other site members, its interactive like Facebook and user friendly. The site is not just for dating but for friendships, plus one for social occasions and holiday buddies etc. Going back to the profile thing, I fully understand why many folk do not put their picture or certain recognisable details on their profile as they do not want folk they ken to recognise them. I was like this at first until I realised that I was on a dating site with little chance of getting any meaningful responses, so to all who are reluctant, I would offer this small piece of advise - If you are lonely, seek a social companion, potential new partner or just a new friend, you are seriously limiting your chances of any replies, if you don't mind staying single that's OK but if you want to try to change your situation you have to put yourself out there. The embarrassment is not as bad as the loneliness and it wears off. Just see how you would get on trying to sell a house with no picture & the words “House for sale, roof, some windows & a door†Its really down to all Shetland singles to come together and use the dating site designed for Shetland folk, if we all use it, it will work whereas UK mainland dating sites are almost useless unless you want someone from Manchester, Nottingham or East Kilbride. Some statistics:- There were 7,900 registered dating sites globally (2011) in an industry worth £4 billion in 2011. Here in the UK its estimated that 6 million people used dating sites in 2012 and by 2014 its expected that online dating will replace the more conventional ways of meeting people and become the number 1 way to meet that special person. So like it or not online dating is here to stay but if its going to work for Shetland, like most things “Local Is Best†Vic Thomas.Clousta.Shetland. Arfski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted June 4, 2022 Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 What a read - hope you found someone, Vik! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Bridgman-Elliot Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 --- The Shetland Dating website --- What is the website address for that ? Meanwhile, there is now a local group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1314090729067204 > Shetland Cupid’s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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