Meetic or the art of connecting people!

# Singleness: For some, it is a chosen lifestyle; for others, it is suffered. The Internet is there to provide a solution for the latter. Dating sites, true social phenomena, are becoming increasingly important. Meetic, the French number one, listed on the stock exchange, launched in a strategy of expansion on a European scale, remains nonetheless fairly opaque for novices like us. Nice Première’s immersion into the heart of the Meetic planet, from profile creation to Saturday evening’s Mystery event.

Meetic.fr declares an impressive figure of over 14 million registered profiles since its creation in 2001. There’s plenty to work with… Especially since in our region, nearly 700,000 people are registered on this site, of which 183,000 for the Alpes-Maritimes! The male/female ratio is around 60-40 with the majority of the population aged over 30 years.

The first step in the world of “meetic boys” is the creation of the sacred profile. Everything is included, from height to weight, passing through musical tastes, hobbies, and even “what we find most seductive about ourselves” (!), the goal being to indicate as much as possible in order to attract as many people as possible. And once the bait is on the line, you just have to wait for them to bite…

And bite they did. I remained registered on this site for exactly 4 weeks (a period too short to get a really reliable idea but still…). I received nearly 1,000 visits, about 10% of “flashes,” this tool which allows you to alert the other that they have caught your attention, dozens of emails and hundreds of “chat” proposals. You will understand, therefore, that you need considerable organization and a certain willingness to manage to respond to all the solicitations. Managing so many “relationships” at once is an exploit almost as great as getting into Star Academy…

## No typical profile for the “Meetic Girl”

If you cannot draw a typical portrait of the girls present on this site, there are nonetheless two major categories that emerge among the “meetic girls”: First, the girls who are there because someone in their circle met someone on this kind of site and they think “why not me?” Secondly, those (and this is the majority) who are coming out of a long-term relationship and who need to see “new faces.” Everyone has felt this need at least once in their life. And we’re lucky, nowadays, that the Internet allows us better than anyone to cross paths with people all as different from each other as possible, and especially people we would never have met without this new means of communication. And also, more surprisingly, a category that must not be forgotten, those who are there to have fun and only for that. And yes ladies, they exist too. Certainly they are a minority but there are some nevertheless and it had to be pointed out…

So once the first step is taken, that is to say having established contact, you must move to the second step which is to establish a connection. And that’s where the shoe pinches. If registration is free, everything else is paid. EVERYTHING else is paid (and for men only; women have access to 90% of the site’s features without spending a single euro).

Different formulas are proposed, of course. If you opt for “unlimited,” it will cost you 29.45 euros for a month to 119.40 euros for a year. If you prefer pay-as-you-go, it is possible to acquire “credit packs” (valid for one month!) which you can use to pay for each action performed (viewing a profile, reading or sending an email, instant messaging, etc). The first pack includes 1,500 Credits for 9.90 euros and the largest 12,000 credits for 80 euros. Finally, a per-minute formula is possible, billed at 1.349 € per call then 34 cents € / min.

These dating sites therefore require a significant investment of your time and also money. You quickly become addicted to this site because it is flattering for everyone to arouse the envy of women. And then, the curiosity of seeing if you have success, of seeing who is interested in you, drives us to log in regularly.

## Mystery Evening at Quai Sud in Antibes.

After virtual contact, on to “real life,” with the Mystery evening. The highly anticipated Meetic evening for all the many single people in the region took place in a friendly atmosphere last Saturday at Quai Sud in Antibes. Various activities were organized to allow the “Meetic People” to meet.

From the entrance, hostesses handed each participant a piece of a puzzle, the stated aim being to go meet other people who hold the other elements of it and try to solve it. It was a success since the puzzle was quickly found and the winners rewarded with a nice little gift.

Another pleasant workshop, the BLIND DATING corner, masked men and women seated at a table asking each other questions. For some couples this lasted a few minutes, for others several quarters of an hour. An original way to meet without worrying about the physical appearance of the person sitting across from us.

And of course, as at each Meetic evening, the usual cupids of love were there. True messengers of love, the charming hostesses played matchmakers between the shyest to allow for a gentle rapprochement.

To the sound of DJ Willow, the audience of single people (and not only…) aged 30-55 had a great time. Dancing, salsa, rock and disco, there was something for everyone. Not forgetting, of course, the inevitable series of slow dances that ended the evening to allow one final rapprochement before departure.

An original experience if ever there was one, far from unpleasant for those eager to meet people. As Lydie, 40 years old, says: “I’m here to see people. I’m not registered on the site, I don’t even have internet at home (laughs). It’s a particular atmosphere. It reminds me of the parties of my adolescence. But well, it’s still nice. In this area there aren’t many places for us old folks (sic) where we can go have fun, so it gives us the opportunity to meet people our ages. Meetings? Some people came to talk to me, we chatted a bit but nothing more.”

So, like Lydie, don’t hesitate to tempt fate. Dating sites, new forms of matrimonial agencies, give the possibility of crossing paths with people we would never have had the chance to meet in everyday life. Try your luck and who knows, you might just find your better half. And, like Yann and Annabelle, originally from Nice, you may just add yourselves to the many “happy endings” this site knows…