I don't think online dating is a thing for me. Granted I've been at this a couple of weeks, but I can tell this isn't going to work. I mean, I'm looking at profiles, answering questions and sending thoughtful-but-not-long messages, but there's so many flaws with this whole environment I don't know if I'm willing to wade through all this shit to find someone.
First there's the obvious that everyone already complains about., the whole "send tons of tailored messages to countless people and hope one of them bothers to respond", wading through tons of "omg no hookups lol" even though you and they know they're only looking for one, the typical 4-5 messages before dropping off the face of the earth stuff. None of that is what really bothers me. It's a weird song-and-dance unlike anything that remotely resembles in-person interaction, but I can see it working. What really bothers me is that on top of all of that^ I have extra shit of my own.
I'm in a conservative college town, and in 10 years I see myself moving somewhere up north with someone in or near my field of profession. That alone eliminates tons of people, because many, many women are interested in staying more or less in their area. Not to mention wading through the college clubbing girls. The size and college-town nature of my area means options are slim, I already feel I've exhausted all possibilities just within a few weeks.
I think I'm better off doing old-fashioned IRL dating/finding people, which is obviously much, much harder, but between the typical online dating annoyances and my particular restrictions I feel like I'm wasting tons of time looking for someone who simply isn't there. Honestly I think I'm better off waiting until I graduate (many, many years from now), move into whatever city I'm ready to settle in, and then look for someone in that area and profession. Maybe.