Joined online dating for the first time n it feels like so much work. Exausting
I think I understand. When most people first think about doing something like mate-hunting online, they jump straight to the assumption that it will be like shopping online: go to the site, tap in a short list of what you want to "buy," then peruse the list of available "products" and make your choice.
But actually, it's more like you ARE one of the "products," and you are trying to advertise yourself in such a way that you can get one of the OTHER "products" to want to make a trade of sorts. And that's complicated even more, by the cheap knock-off "products" and scam "products," and the people who are taking "put your best foot forward" past the point of cheerful positivity, and going well into the realm of "promise the moon, hey, maybe they wont kill you when they find out it's just a corner dumpster."
Not to mention, that the only part of the insanity and drudgery of "regular" dating work that you get to avoid, is that the people who advertise themselves, usually are actually looking for someone. You don't have to GUESS whether or not someone is on the prowl. They may be lying about how "single" they are, but at least they are actively looking.