It is almost embarrassing to write to someone who is of the age that maybe my son would have been if I had one, but I suggest to consider the following : older people (45-55) have less chance of finding a consort socially (in the pub,at a club) than the twenty somethings. They have already had a god bit of life, been married/lived with/divorced /or even widowed. It is very embarrassing to trot out all your intimate details in a crowded room or in front of possibly not very sympathetic relatives, who think of you as an old cow/batty old git etc. and can't imagine you "really doing it". Professionally, like me, these people might actually be in a senior position,and therefore in no way inclined to parade their desperation/vulnerability/simple desire to get laid/ before the sniggering typing pool. Online dating offers a kind of privacy, a chance to get an angle, a contact, a bit of privacy, to explore something that might be very difficult in ordinary social circles, and to find out a bit about somebody and to meet away from the usual treadmill. It is also very fashionable right now in France.