A quick and easy way to sort out most of the fake ads
I've been browsing the w4m ads in the w4m and CE sections for the past week to see what my competition is, and I have to say, I'm not impressed. In fact, I'm kind of amazed that any of you guys are still trying. Kudos to you! Also, are you crazy? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad there are still hundreds of you out there responding to my every post, no matter how vapid (I'm kidding, of course. I never post vapid ads.) But, seriously, are you nuts?
Well, let's assume you are, and that you have a mailbox dedicated to responding to CL ads that you don't mind dumping and replacing every few months when it is overtaken by spam. I noticed a feature of many of the (few) w4m ads that struck me as real:
Real women are picky.
That is, most of the realistic sounding ads listed not only qualities that they were looking for, but characteristics that disqualified some groups of men, in some cases, large groups of men. Most of the super unrealistic ads say things like, "No matter who you are, I'll fuck you!" Is anyone dumb enough to believe that? Come on. But even the vaguely unrealistic ones tended to leave that open. But, by my count (though I'll admit I didn't respond to more than a handful), almost any ad that attempts to narrow the field by specifying age, marital status, experience level, or what have you, is much, much more likely to have a real person behind it.
Comments
" I'm kind of amazed that any of you guys are still trying."
Most of us aren't :) Well, not on craigslist CE - a couple of times a year I'll try it out for a few days, get no useful responses, and go back to other places that work better.
Posted by: Cos | January 10, 2007 11:37 PM
You may not be, but I'm still getting hundreds of responses to most of my ads, so plenty of guys are!
Posted by: ClueChick | January 10, 2007 11:50 PM
There's also the Ctrl+A trick, some spammers put in a bunch of invisible or nearly invisible crap text in their post, thinking that there's some sort of spam filter being used. And there's the ads that just don't add up, like one I saw posted this morning at 9AM, saying they want some late night fun right now. Umm... late night in which time zone?
Posted by: ets | January 11, 2007 1:37 AM
I don't want to discourage you, CC, but maybe you should start looking at other venues if the situation is that bad on your local Craigslist. Sure, there are some great guys who haven't given up on it, but I'd bet that a lot of them have. The question is: where might they have gone to?
I'm not actively seeking any hookups anymore (being happily engaged), but I used to use Adult Friend Finder. Personally, I was put off by the number of fake-sounding female profiles, and didn't bother to approach many of them; I focused on men instead. (Also, the software and network that runs the site is positively evil, and I'm surprised it hasn't collapsed under its own weight yet.)
To all: where do you meet people online for "casual encounters"?
Posted by: Zachary Gray | January 11, 2007 11:26 AM
I use a mixed bag of CL and yahoo groups. I have had some success with OKCupid and CollarMe (My own particular kink). They are free. I actually found CC through there.
I try to be the fisher with the net rather then the fish after the hook. I place ads and be open about what I seek. I have more success letting people self select me, than vice versa.
Also, and interesting HOWTO showed up on CL today:
My guide for being successful on Casual Encounters - 26
I did not write it but found it interesting.
Posted by: Onemaster | January 12, 2007 1:03 PM
AFF is pretty freaking evil, considering they want $20 / mo and up for essentially what OKC and plentyoffish give away for free. The main problem with OKC seems to be that the age is skewed really young - when you're in your 30's, you become a "dirty old man". PoF seems to attract more of the serious relationship types, so it hasn't been very fruitful for hookups.
Posted by: ETS | January 12, 2007 5:11 PM
I get a lot of my hookups through (ashamed look) MySpace. Sure, I get a ton of idiots emailing me daily, but I get a handful of cool people who have actually read my profile and those turn out to be great encounters. Not completely casual, as we end up staying friends after the hookup, but that's more my style, anyway.
Posted by: Miss Knees | January 12, 2007 5:37 PM
I like that style Miss Knees. I like to gain friends as part of the process. Expand the social horizons.
Posted by: Onemaster | January 16, 2007 10:45 AM
You know what I find funny is when a woman puts an ad in the W4W section and these men go in and email all the women in there.... they just have no clue or don't care
Posted by: Heather B | January 28, 2007 8:56 PM
I think part of the reason guys sometimes reply to ads in the W4W section is because they lose nothing by doing it - usually, they'll simply get no reply, and if they're really, really, really lucky, they might run into the one woman on W4W who decides that maybe she would like to meet a man after all. Well, plus you seem ot get a higher percentage of posters posting real pics up on there.
(Disclaimer: I don't reply to ads on W4W. Then again, I gave up on CL in general, but even when I was trying, I did not reply to ads on W4W.)
Posted by: Anonymous | February 3, 2007 8:00 PM
Want to avoid a lot of this
"I wonder if this is real or works crap?"
If you're at least decent looking and have the capability of at least temporarily turning on some charm, get a part time,temporary job at a location where women perceive you as a "safety"
figure, or as an "authority"
figure,like cab driver,doorman,bartender,whatever.
It sounds silly, but as a really good looking cab driver, I can use just a little charm, and get 4-7
phone numbers a night.
(My problem however, is that
I'm EXTREMELY picky).
Good luck CLers.
Posted by: tim | February 12, 2007 12:55 AM