(EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in Senior Life Elko Edition, a publication of The Papers, Inc., which also owns Ink Free News. The February edition of Senior Life Elko can be found online and in print in both Kosciusko and Elkhart County.)

SYRACUSE — “Looking for love in all the wrong places” is a familiar term. But, perhaps the brain behind those words didn’t have the foresight to see just how broad “places” could be in today’s tech-oriented world.

Syracuse resident Brent Meyer shared his experiences with online dating, something he has been doing for a little more than three years. Meyer primarily uses his phone to do the dating, not an uncommon resource for many. He has six active profiles he utilizes through the help of apps on his mobile device. Many of the popular sites — Match, eHarmony, Plenty of Fish — boast millions of users and hundreds of daily matches. Numbers are great, but Meyer said he really began online dating because he didn’t know of anywhere else to meet women.

He was married for 19 years before he became a divorced father of two, and was tired of trying to find women in bars. He explained each site has a different formula for finding matches, but finds his profiles on each are pretty similar. The dating site usually asks the user questions about certain preferences including children, smoking, body type, hobbies and sports, education, drinking and relationship status. “It’s like a pickup line,” said Meyer, “every woman wants to hear something different.”

But online dating is less anonymous than one might suppose. Each profile that views the user is available on a list. It works the same when a user views someone else’s profile. Once someone views Meyer, he can choose to email them through the site or send a virtual wink to express interest. “Most women don’t respond to winks very often,” laughed Meyer. If he knows he isn’t interested, he can block a profile so it never shows as a match again. “It moves pretty quickly,” laughed Meyer, noting it can be a harsh world.

Meyer does travel often for dates, sometimes driving an hour and a half to meet for dinner and drinks. He usually tries to travel to the women to allow them to stay in their comfort zone. Typical dates can include bars, movies or restaurants, and Meyer said he always insists on paying. Date conversation tends to steer toward past relationships, especially in the older age groups. Many of the women Meyer meets have already been married and have children. “You do end up paying the penalty for some of the baggage,” said Meyer. He said he has never progressed in an online dating relationship far enough to meet family or children of his love interest.

Although Meyer has been on some great dates, he often finds fake profiles that are looking for an easy scam, something all users need to be careful of. Profiles that come from local towns like Fort Wayne can be laden with women who email Meyer only to reveal they are actually living overseas. “It’s very much a task,” said Meyer. Match.com offers several tips for keeping the online dating world safer for everyone involved: Protect your finances, guard personal and online access information and report suspicious users.

Like many other sites, eHarmony has provided a list of good questions to ask on dates, giving users a starting point in their quest for love. Questions about goals and dreams, passions, and what makes someone laugh are common ice breakers, according to the site. Meyer has often found the best way to communicate is with an “ask me anything” policy. “It’s more difficult when you don’t know the person,” he said.

He tries to answer any question openly and honestly in order to find the best results, a practice he said he will continue until his perfect match comes along.