Pictures of Genital Herpes? The Psychology of Comparison

Spoiler alert: There will be no actual pictures of genital herpes in this post. Sorry to disappoint.

There's a very interesting yet completely natural thing we do as humans: We compare. So, the first thing I did after receiving my positive diagnosis with genital herpes years ago was to rush to my nearest Google search bar and type in "pictures of genital herpes." I wanted to get an idea of what my future situation was going to look like by looking at other people's situations. And what I found didn't get me too excited about my future with herpes. But come to find out... most of my worrying was pointless.

It seems that it is human nature to compare. It's definitely ego-driven, in order to see if we're adequately keeping up with the Joneses - to make sure that we're "stacking up." We compare others' experiences to our own hoping to see common ground; we compare others' opinions to our own; we compare our bodies, minds, personalities, finances, and on and on. Before we go out to see a movie, we ask other friends what they thought about it, what movie critics said about it; we look for approval in who we date: do mom and dad approve, do the friends approve, is she as hot or hotter than women other guys are dating? Constant comparison is the norm. But what we ultimately come to find out is that each of our experiences are so unique to us; comparing really doesn't help us make better decisions for ourselves.

So back to my search for genital herpes pictures... I was comparing myself and my new-found situation to other people with herpes, trying somehow to get things "in perspective." But no amount of pictures or other people's perspectives (including mine) has much to do at all to your relationship to herpes. Everyone's situation is different, both the physical and the psychological experience. Just as everyone's experience of spicy foods or jumping out of airplanes is different, everyone's experience of herpes is different as well.

So do yourself a favor and don't go out there comparing. Just keep yourself healthy and find out for yourself with time that your herpes occurrences will most likely be easier than you're assuming. The most difficult part of genital herpes seems to have very little to do with the actual physical symptoms but more to do with the psychological impact thanks to the stigma that it holds. But thankfully the psychological impact can be under your control as well. It's all in your head.

Herpes Life is a place for people with herpes who want their confidence and happiness back to live a more fulfilled and aware life. For more articles on the positive side of living and thriving with herpes, jump on over to: http://herpeslife.com

A Herpes Dating Service Comparison

Many herpes dating services have popped up online in the last several years, though only a few will be familiar to many. Positive Singles and MPwH have an obvious profile online, where sites like AfterH, DatingwithH and HMates may not ring so loud a bell.

To stand out from the crowd as a herpes dating service generally means that you are not merely creating a dating site, but a bona fide community. This is especially important with a condition like herpes, where many who have been infected take some serious time to get used to both the disease and the unfortunate stigma attached to it.

By creating a community, you increase both your popularity and activity numbers with your membership. Popularity is a necessity for a dating site, as it increases the chances of finding a compatible match for everyone. But site members must also be active, which means not merely creating a profile, looking around once or twice, and never coming back.

This article will take a brief look at the popularity and activity within the 2 most prominent herpes dating services, Positive Singles and MPwH. This will be determined by data I pulled from doing a 'test search' where I compared the two sites by searching profiles in each, using the state of Colorado, for both 'men searching women' and 'women searching men' (all ages for both).

Which Herpes Dating Service Creates the Greatest Popularity?

In my 'test search' within Colorado (chosen because of its medium-size), one of the striking things noted was how few members there were on both sites living with HSV-1. These numbers were particularly bad on MPwH, where I found that there were just 11 'men seeking women' (and same number for 'women seeking men') with HSV-1 in the entire state. On Positive Singles, these numbers were markedly better, with 177 of the former and 36 of the latter.

The numbers for those living with HSV-2 were much better, especially in Positive Singles where the amount of profiles returned were roughly two and a half times that of MPwH for both 'men seeking women' (500 vs. 190) and 'women seeking men' (500 vs. 189). Note that Positive Singles returns a maximum of 500 profiles for any search (any more would be including too many outdated ones, as they arrange their results by last login).

Which Herpes Dating Service Features the Most Active Members?

Although percentage of active members were similar for both sites, Positive Singles had more active members to choose from due to the greater popularity. For example, 230 of the men with HSV-2 had been on the site within the last month, compared to 106 on MPwH. Among women, 167 had been active on Positive Singles in the last month, versus 74 women active on MPwH.

Activity is probably the most important measure of an online dating site, as it's easy for a site built in the year 2000 to simply keep every profile ever created within their database. Make sure to check the 'last login date' category on profiles when searching (as mentioned, profiles are arranged this way on Positive Singles to make it a little easier).

This little assessment should give you an idea of what the popular dating sites are about. Good luck out there!

I'm a mid-thirties single guy who loves the online dating scene. I encourage you to continue reading detailed reviews of herpes dating sites.

A Herpes Dating Service Comparison

Many herpes dating services have popped up online in the last several years, though only a few will be familiar to many. Positive Singles and MPwH have an obvious profile online, where sites like AfterH, DatingwithH and HMates may not ring so loud a bell.

To stand out from the crowd as a herpes dating service generally means that you are not merely creating a dating site, but a bona fide community. This is especially important with a condition like herpes, where many who have been infected take some serious time to get used to both the disease and the unfortunate stigma attached to it.

By creating a community, you increase both your popularity and activity numbers with your membership. Popularity is a necessity for a dating site, as it increases the chances of finding a compatible match for everyone. But site members must also be active, which means not merely creating a profile, looking around once or twice, and never coming back.

This article will take a brief look at the popularity and activity within the 2 most prominent herpes dating services, Positive Singles and MPwH. This will be determined by data I pulled from doing a 'test search' where I compared the two sites by searching profiles in each, using the state of Colorado, for both 'men searching women' and 'women searching men' (all ages for both).

Which Herpes Dating Service Creates the Greatest Popularity?

In my 'test search' within Colorado (chosen because of its medium-size), one of the striking things noted was how few members there were on both sites living with HSV-1. These numbers were particularly bad on MPwH, where I found that there were just 11 'men seeking women' (and same number for 'women seeking men') with HSV-1 in the entire state. On Positive Singles, these numbers were markedly better, with 177 of the former and 36 of the latter.

The numbers for those living with HSV-2 were much better, especially in Positive Singles where the amount of profiles returned were roughly two and a half times that of MPwH for both 'men seeking women' (500 vs. 190) and 'women seeking men' (500 vs. 189). Note that Positive Singles returns a maximum of 500 profiles for any search (any more would be including too many outdated ones, as they arrange their results by last login).

Which Herpes Dating Service Features the Most Active Members?

Although percentage of active members were similar for both sites, Positive Singles had more active members to choose from due to the greater popularity. For example, 230 of the men with HSV-2 had been on the site within the last month, compared to 106 on MPwH. Among women, 167 had been active on Positive Singles in the last month, versus 74 women active on MPwH.

Activity is probably the most important measure of an online dating site, as it's easy for a site built in the year 2000 to simply keep every profile ever created within their database. Make sure to check the 'last login date' category on profiles when searching (as mentioned, profiles are arranged this way on Positive Singles to make it a little easier).

This little assessment should give you an idea of what the popular dating sites are about. Good luck out there!

I'm a mid-thirties single guy who loves the online dating scene. I encourage you to continue reading detailed reviews of herpes dating sites.