Off to the dublin mountains on a first date? You're very brave Truthseeker
I've been dipping into these sites for a while now, but only going on a few dates with about 4 or 5 months. Have had some good and some not so, but no disasters at all, and am still in touch with a couple of guys even though there was no click, we compare/commiserate on progress!
The sites are getting very popular, and lots of really young people (early 20's) using them for the same reasons of pub/club not being a good way to meet people.
It's not hard to meet people on them, it's a case of weeding out the chancers and making sure that both are looking for same thing, whatever that might be, so you don't waste each other's time. A big disadvantage is the amount of guys just looking to hook up, so best to be clear on that from outset if that's not what you are looking for.
Edited to add: Another disadvantage is the amount of people on there who are not in any frame of mind to be dating - they might be jsut out of a breakup or whatever, and this is an outlet.
The photo thing I'm between two minds on - you will get a lot more attention with photo up, but have found it's not always
better attention . Sometimes the more interesting and genuine people are the ones who look beyond the photo to your profile and then get in touch based on that.
This might sound daft, but Facebook is turning out to be a great way to meet people - there are several applications on there for dating - Are You Interested is one, also Meet New People and Make New Friends - very simple and straighforward and without the cringe factor of writing a poxy description of yourself. I've had one date through that, and it went well, we are still in touch and will probably meet again.