I get a bit of requests and mail..some (most) I reply to with a 'Good Luck in your search' line. 'I am not looking for a relationship at this time'...
Other times I've engaged in mail exchanges
Is it their wording? the picture? curiosity? hormones?

well for me to keep a chat going with out the maybe we can start a relationship, it's way more about engaging the brain whether for joking around or serious discussions

so i would say it's more about finding a friend instead of trying on a possible partner

curiosity...

ooooo uuuuh hmmmmm...

twice this has occured

once with our northern california swedish friend
once with the bird brain who shall remain nameless


I shall ponder as to why I actually answered and took the time to send a few back and forth messages..


it is because I considered them both equals
on par if ya will
with a meeting of the minds

and both were capable of giving back what I dish out
and also able to hold an intelligent conversation

I like talking to smart and witty people. I'm always hoping to learn something and make a new friend. Friends are good, right?

A sense of humour
more than 2 brain cells
able to hold a conversation

That's for starters. If then there's a click, i.e. a mutual interest, and indeed the bit that Tmommy said about being on a par with each other bit ...

What ends it for me quickly, is when they had to travel to Nigeria for (fill in the blank) and can't return home, can't eat, don't have a place to sleep unless I send them some money.

^^^ That. The brain cells have to be able to rub together in a meaningful way; can't just have tapioca up there.

Some of the great minds on the forum (even the slightly warped ones) are what keep me on the site.

Someone pleasant, polite and sane helps.

Someone who likes a bit of banter with a sense of humour.

Things that put me off are attention seekers and anyone who talks about anyone else on here, the second they speak badly of anyone else I get out of Dodge.

If she says she's just laying in bed naked well talking to me..

Ummm... I'm definitely sticking around for that conversation..

Just about anything from anybody, except folks who ask me to go over to yahoo, or g mail, "so we can chat better", on their their first contact.

If she sends me her naked pics I'll usually respond.

Hmmmm . . .

The question seems to me to be reversed. I wrote my first conversation over electronic media that would eventually become the internet back in 1978. During any given day, i am normally participating in anywhere between ten and a hundred various online conversations with people on various topics, in public and in private, whether they are one-on-one or groups. Dating sites are new to me, but i can tell you this with certainty: For a population of people that are supposedly online to become acquainted with other people, they act with nearly the contrary courtesy and fashion to achieve that result. They are either the most shy, picky, pretentious, selective, guarded, and/or paranoid population on the planet, or they are simply the most inexperienced group to ever use a keyboard to communicate. But on the other hand, maybe that's why they ended up posting a public profile as an invitation to write to them? Maybe that's why they need a dating site in the first place? Beats me. To date, i've met more real friends and had more relationships due to being friends with other people online and networking than i have because of dating sites. As a matter of fact, i have yet to meet even one single person in the flesh via a dating site. So one has to wonder with such obvious contrast between a focused group of people versus any other ad hoc population why dating sites post only a few "success stories" in their advertising while simultaneously boasting literally hundreds of thousands of "people online" in their stats.

So like i said at the top, the question appears reversed to me. It should be "Why IS it that you think a conversation is like a game of chess? cat and mouse? Sears catalog?"

Other than the reasons that livingsingle15 gave above, which are obvious, it's hard for me to imagine any good reason to end an internet conversation even if that conversation is intermittent and/or changes topic-centrality.

But to each his own. :)

I guess for me, it's that it actually IS a conversation, and not just some statement that doesn't suggest that a response is in order.

Do people with a brain actually come on here ?
I came here looking for a like minded person.
My profile told me so.
I wasn't expecting to find someone with a brain.

Any sign of recent brain activity.

just any sign?

Good conversation, keeps me wanting more.

On the other side of the coin...
If someone just bores the piss outta me, I return the favor... eventually they get the message and go away.

Does banging your head against the wall stimulate brain activity ?

Sometimes, but only if a brain bleed is considered activity.