Online Dating Services Review
A look at the best, popular dating services, and some small ones.
From the large, most popular dating service sites, to niche websites promising compatibility, online dating services purport to help singles find romance, sex, or both.
Online dating services purport to have been helping adult singles find dates, practically since the internet became commercialized. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of free and paid dating services on the web. These range from large, popular sites like Match.com, to small, more personal, niche websites like sciconnect.com (for singles interested in science). At least one large online dating service really straddles the line between dating and pornography; the true.com ads on social networking sites show sexy, nearly naked women with sexy come-hither tags. The best dating sites do a little of everything.
No matter which online dating service single men and women try, a photo is key. Scientific American cites a survey indicating that profiles without photos (preferably, sexy photos) get only one fourth to one sixth the responses than the responses gotten by men's and women's profiles with photos. Of course, it's well known that the hot photos of nearly naked women - some of whom look like barely legal post-adolescent girls - may not be the photo of the girl or woman trying to find a date. Sex sells, after all. Similarly, men lie online about their income and height, and more than ten percent of men on dating service sites are married. With all this online deception, it's no wonder that many mature singles are growing dissatisfied with the chances of finding a long-term relationship online. Sex, yes. But marriage? Not so much.
Keeping these provisions in mind, SOME men and women must be getting desirable results. After all, there are altogether millions of people signed up for one or more online dating service. The most popular dating service websites have millions of members, the niche online dating services have significantly less - but, perhaps, a higher chance of a real match.
Largest online dating services:
- Match - Match.com claims 15 million members, but reviews indicate that many of these opt for the free membership. The free membership in this online dating service doesn't allow singles to get emails from other members: this makes it impossible to actually meet someone online. The men and women who pay the monthly fee are the only people who can be approached - via email - by prospective dates. Match.com is the best, largest online dating service overall, with the widest range of singles. It may well be, that some of those hot photos of sexy young men and women are the real deal...But who knows?
- Yahoo! Personals - Singles need a Yahoo email account to join Yahoo! Personals. There have been some complaints in reviews of Yahoo! Personals regarding spam to these email addresses. This online dating service has personality tests (presumably for compatibility), instant messaging and free "icebreaker" messages. New to the website are tips regarding how to make a winning (read: sexy for girls, successful for guys) profile, and how to "flirt online." Yahoo prides itself on having created a safe dating environment, but the many complaints about long-term results raise questions about its efficacy.
- True - The management at Match and Yahoo! Personals are annoyed by True.com's sexy imagery in ads, which feature hot women and sexy young men striking provocative poses. But in a sense, True is no more or less honest than other mainstream, large online dating services: Sex sells, and they know it. True.com distinguishes itself from other dating websites by running criminal background checks on its members. No other popular dating site does this. True.com also screens for people who are actually married. If it's effective, the criminal background check is a great idea. True.com goes so far as to threaten prosecution for married people and criminals who try to find romantic relationships through the website.
Some smaller or niche dating websites:
- eHarmony - This paid dating website has a high monthly fee - around 50 dollars - and can't be used for free to meet like-minded singles. It purports to be more intended to make romantic matches for long-term relationships, and less intended for men and women just looking for no-strings sex or hooking up. The questionnaire is of questionable validity, though, since there is simply so much lying online. The monthly fee may act as a deterrent for people who would rather use free dating services for casual sex. The long-term results of eHarmony's users' satisfaction are not significantly different than the satisfaction of other dating websites' users.
- Sex Search - At least it's honest. SexSeach.com doesn't pretend to be about anything other than a matching service for men and women looking for sex.
- Plenty of Fish - PlentyOfFish.com is a free online dating service that is growing exponentially. Less than 5 years old, with little to no ads, this dating website offers most of the same services as other, more popular websites - and it bears repeating: It's free.
- Catholic Mingle - For singles looking for a committed relationship with a like-minded Catholic man or woman; this niche dating service doesn't allow comments about sex, or any sexually oriented material online. Catholicmingle.com has the best level of member satisfaction that I've seen in online dating service reviews.
- Deaf Singles Connection - Deafsinglesconnection.com is the best online dating service for deaf and hearing-impaired men and women. The free trial membership allows for free deaf matching, a free deaf personal profile and photo. Paid membership at this site is 20 dollars includes detailed 2-way personal matching, access to the chat room, and access to the message boards.
- Jdate - Jdate.com is the best, largest online dating service for Jewish singles. Members who join for free are able to partake of many options only available with paid memberships in other dating websites, although members who pay the monthly fee get even more options.
- Science Connection - The Sciconnect.com dating site has the best sense of humor about helping scientists - or singles interested in science - find romantic relationships. This funny approach to dating among scientists includes a Joke of the Month on the websites' main page, and funny descriptors as well. Paid membership is pretty cheap; at around 30 dollars for 3 months, the paid dating site costs about a third or the price of more general, larger online dating services.
Social networking sites:
The larger, most popular social networking sites can also be involved in helping singles find dates, be it for romance, marriage or sex. These social networking site do much more, however, as they are not specifically online dating services. The best social networking sites are Myspace.com, Friendster.com, and Facebook.com. A relatively new social networking site for adults is Gather.com. Intended for mature, adult discourse, it is a refreshing alternative to all the OMGs, O RLYs and ROTFLs of Myspace and Facebook.
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