Good question. Age is a clue to compatibility.

It is not because I am looking for a person who would not normally be in to men of my age. I believe you can be quickly dismissed by many people because of your age, particularly when you are older, but my preference would be not to give my age. Age is not that important to me when looking for a partner.

Why do people not put their photo on a dating site? Maybe it is not their best feature? Why should we be compelled to put our age on a dating site?

I would never ask a lady her age.

The owner of a site has the right to determine the rules that one must follow in order to participate on that site. If you don't like the rules, then don't participate. The owner of the site has no obligation to change the rules to please you.

I see profiles in here that say they are 108 or 1108
Age is just a number and the simple answer is to avoid sites that want to know your age...
{Not that it makes much difference}
lol

I highly doubt that this or ANY other site os going to accomodate you just because .....blah blah blah ?
Good luck with that !

Thanks for your comment. My question was "Why should giving our age be compulsory to register on a dating site?
I take your point about a reason for age requirement.
I would prefer to upload a photo than to provide my age, maybe we could be given a choice of one or the other.

Which basically is the same thing. You don't want to be dismissed by women who prefer younger men. Thing is, YOU don't get to make that decision for them.


If you aren't interested in the age of your potential partners, the correct solution would be for YOU to ignore their age, rather than to conceal YOURS.

I am not even sure what age my profile says,I have been here for so long..but I am turning 45 in a matter of days.

Nothing wrong with having your age up there..it is a deal breaker for some.

All the dating sites I have viewed have age as a mandatory requirement to register, it is a pity that we have no choice on whether we enter our age or not, a photo is much more informative in my opinion. Age is not a starting point for me. Good luck in your search.

I have to wonder: What is the problem with revealing one's age anyway?

For example, age relates to life experience. Most people want to be with a partner who shares a reasonably similar level of experience. Therefore, knowing the age of a potential partner can be one factor in determining whether there is sufficient commonality in that aspect, although it shouldn't be the sole determining factor. I'm generally willing to date outside my preferred age range if a guy is really amazing. However, I very much doubt I'd be comfortable for long with one who was young enough to be my son, or old enough to be my father.

I suppose if you're a "cougar" or a middle-aged man and prefer much younger partners (say you're 55 and you really want a partner who's under 30) you might be reluctant to reveal your age. But in that case, you'd be in kind of an outlier group, and there actually ARE sites for men and women who are seeking relationships with that kind of age difference. A bit of Googling will give you a list of them. They're probably a better fit for you than most "plain vanilla" dating sites.

Thing is, even if you don't put your age, once you begin talking to someone they sooner or later ARE going to ask you. What happens if you tell them your age and they decide the age difference is more than they find comfortable? You'll have wasted however long you spent talking with them, and you'll have wasted that much of their time, too.

I just looked at your profile, and while your photo matches up reasonably well with your stated age, it's a well-known fact that photos can be misleading. For one thing, lots of people put up photos that aren't recent (I've seen people post profile photos of themselves that are from as long as 15 years ago). And then there are people who simply don't look their age -- they might look significantly older or younger than their age.

So, when a clown has a birthday party, who is hired to entertain? A mime?

I answered a question here which I have no wish to expand on.
Thanks for your comments.

i think it's necessary for the dating site to
make that compulsory so that it
functions in a way alot of people date, within
certain age parameters. we realize that some
look older than they are, or younger, are
more mature, etc., and they fall outside of
what they consider their 'age group', but
that's just the way it is. most 50 somethings don't
hit the rave scene, just like 20 somethings
don't hit the places they know are frequented
by older generations. i'd rather know age
upfront and not having to have that conversation
leaves more time for the rest of the stuff
we find important. i honestly don't put a lot
of emphasis on age, and having it here has
never been an issue for me.

Hummm ....honestly once you get to my age you kind of want to know if your dating someone that could be one of your kids friends. A picture does not always tell the person's age... If they look like they are in their 60's. Then most likely they are at least from 40 & up.....

I see nothing wrong with revealing my age... I do have issues with those that are not honest...or want to hide something....

With some age is a big factor why not get that out of the way from the start...

Myself it use to bother me as far as guys that are younger then me. For I had always dated guys the same age or older then me. I finally ventured off and dated a guy 12 years younger... Now I see no issues with younger just 40 is my limit.

Actually if a guy is older and he catches my eye I could care less if he is 75. Older I have no issue with if we have that chemistry...

Actually Chemistry is what made me try 12 years younger... It is all in the Chemistry if there is none it will not happen for many no matter what the age....

I was in a chatroom for 8 years on the internet..
got to know everyone pretty well.
(I built and ran the Bot for it to render statistics.)

So, everyone would come in the 'room' and ask A/S/L?
(Age/sex/location.)

I made up a different age (and sometimes the other
2 also) every time.
No one knew for sure :-)
Concensus was, I was 19-22 working on a college thesis :-)
This would really crack me up.

For me, twas a playful thing, I never took it seriously.

But for here, methinks it saves a whole lotta time.
Of course, if they are much younger, for the most part
they don't want to talk with me anymore, I am always
sad at that as it seems the art of 'just friends' has
gone away somewhere.

Ah well :-)

I have to admit, the art of "just friends" does seem to be problematic for some people though fortunately it's alive and well for me and a number of other people. Thank goodness, because I have friends ranging over a 20-year span (or more) in either direction from my own age.

But I was on another site and while I gave my age openly (as I've always done) and even made it clear that I wasn't interested in dating men who were in their 20s and 30s, I kept getting messages from guys in their late 20s... most of whom were NOT looking for "just a friend".

In a way I suppose it was flattering, just as it can be on those occasions when I go out with friends and then get hit on by guys fifteen years my junior... but in reality I just can't see myself with someone that much younger than myself.

Age may not be that important to you, however it is important to many other people. For example, I am not looking for men too young or too old. It's a compatibility thing. The bigger the age gap, the less likely we'll be compatible. Hiding your age is just going to make people pass by you anyway, as you're not being upfront. It's best to be honest.

A photo is not necessarily more informative, as people don't always look their age and people don't always use recent photos.

Thanks everyone for all your comments. Should giving our age be compulsory to register on a dating site?
It seems to me that most members who responded believe it is, that it should be compulsory to give your age to register on a dating site.