Oooo just how bitter
"They've realised its essentially a phising scam...?"
It's only phishing if you give personal info away, generally I just thought it was people not deleting their profile after not subscribing. I've seen two of my friends on there that haven't logged in for a year or more.
"Quelle suprise? Did booze have anything to do with that...?"
Er no, more that people in London are hostile to the point of contempt at least 90% of the time. I've lived here for 10 years, its incredibly difficult to meet people in a dating context, most of the time it's through friends of friends or house parties. Elsewhere in the country and especially abroad it is far far easier. Backing up slightly, if you don't meet them at a pub/bar and didn't arrange it through a site like GSM how would you suggest oh sagely master. Shall I try and strike up a conversation on the tube perhaps. That'll go well.
"At least half of which are solicitations from "professionals", import-a-bride.com menu card offerings or cute but unsuprisingly "not active" .."
Er no, all of them real. None of them copy and paste and referred to relevent things in your profile (here's where it differs to match). If I had a stereotypical profile, she'd be late twenties, reasonably attractive, middle class graduate, works in media, marketing or for a charity and is trying it because her friends have recommended it to her and she's either been too busy or is sick of only ever being chatted up by Hackett wearing popped collar, highlight sporting chav's that walk up and try and buy her a drink everytime she's out.
So no it's not like dial a bride, you can quite easily get 3 dates a week until you're bored or broke and I've done that three times, getting a short term girlfriend twice and cancelling the third sub because I met my current girlfriend on holiday. All that was in the space of 7 months last year, in which I had dates with ~25 girls (see if you'd have said that a lot of the people on tehre are boring, I'd have agreed wholeheartedly)
I honestly have no idea where your misconceptions have come from.3 of my friends who have found long term partners through it and many more that have had dates or short term girlfriends through it. None have ever moaned about solicitations to subscribe. Of the other sites I've tried it's painfull obvious the shills and I've honestly never seen it on GSM.
I subscribe to that aphorism about not arguing on the internet, you have your opinions/experiences and I have mine. They differ, such is life.
On the topic of the actual articile on the other hand, doesn't surprise me that a company tried this. it would definitely feel like an invasion of privacy if someone posted me up on another site, because I wouldn't know about it. That'd be a lovely conversation with the missus "My friend's just seen you on a dating site"
Biting the hand that feeds IT
