We’ve all gone through periods where we’ve felt like all the attractive men must have gone into hiding. Rather than spend another night talking to another balding banker, or worse – suffer through a complete dry spell – why not make them come to you? No matter which side of the dating spectrum you’re on, there is definitely an online dating service that’s right for you. Like shopping online, you can view images, compare features, and order up men who want to come to your neighborhood to buy you dinner. Gotta love technology!
Here’s a down-and-dirty roundup of the most famous dating sites:
OkCupid is our favorite, but is definitely better for younger women. With all the information they give you about members, their great iPhone/Android app (which is much better than other sites apps) and all the interesting questions, OkCupid can become quite addictive! While most dating sites try to mainly focus on finding longer-lasting relationships, OkCupid goes all over the playing field by letting you specify what you are looking for on your profile, whether it be long-term dating, short-term dating, casual sex, activity partners or all of the above. Thus, if you find a certain someone that seems promising, there is still a chance that what they’re looking for does not match your commitment desires. Nonetheless, OkCupid features a lot of potential matches! And if the site deems you particularly “attractive”, they will start showing you others who they found worthy of the compliment as well. While they are certainly the best at show you guys based on your age and location criteria, they also have a very advaned matching system, based on how you answer questions (which you can later re-answer if you change your mind). The site will tell you your percentage match in three categories: Romantic, Enemy and Friendship. You can then review their answers for questions that range anywhere from the simple “do you often have sex on the first date?” to “do you see yourself married in three years?” to “what’s more important, passion or dedication?” One downfall is that most of the men on the site are young and in a lower income bracket than other sites. Expect to see many ‘starving’ artistic types…but that’s to be expected since the site is free. Another fun part of OkCupid is their “nearby” section. If you’re in the mood to meet someone within the next half hour in your neighborhood, you can easily find someone looking to hang out near you, or send a blast to nearby members, using the website or their app.
Chemistry.com, is a great option for city women in their mid 20s – 30s who are searching for committed relationships, and is one of the more accurate sites when it comes to matching you up. It is not the best for those who want to browse as many potential matches as possible since you can only see profiles suggested by Chemistry.com’s matching system, but it’s well suited for women who know that patience is part of the love-searching process. Yes, their personality quiz is a little strange, asking questions about the length of your fingers, what kind of doodles you draw, and which random person you would buy a used car from (yes they actually show you pictures of real people), but this is all designed to find you the particular science fiction or 80s music nerd you’ve been dreaming of – and they do a great job! Their matching is ultra analytical so that you can Duran Duran into the sunset with your new true love.
Chemistry.com’s sister site, Match.com, has a more wide approach to the search process. They hook you up with hundreds of potential matches, letting you narrow it down by particular criteria. This site is for women who want to play the field a little more than the Chemistry.com ladies. Their matching system is extremely basic and pretty much leaves you judging for youself. Their short quiz is straightfo
rward, leaving out questions about your index to ring finger ratio and instead just focusing on questions about desire for children, weekend activities, and movies. Chemistry’s site asked these questions as well, but their quiz was meant to be a little more analytical. However, after narrowing down your preferences, you can get quite a few matches that are great for you. Geared towards women in their mid 20’s-early 30s who are more urban, this service deserves it’s name.
If none of these options seem appealing to you and you’re simply looking for a nice man to join you in escorting your mother to church on Sundays, then eHarmony may be just what you are looking for. This online dating service is better for older, more conservative women, especially those of you who are more on the religious side – the long quiz asks a great deal of questions about spirituality. eHarmony claims to be much more selective than the other dating sites, claiming to reject some people based on their quiz answers. One downfall is that once you’ve taken their test, if you don’t agree with their personality analysis, there’s no way to go back and modify it. Another downfall is that it’s not possible to filter your matches by any physical attribute (like height, race or location.) One could describe this site as having more “clean-cut” guys as well – men who put things like church as their favorite activity. If these things strike a chord with you and the word “casual” has no place in your dating vocabulary, eHarmony may be a perfect option for you.
So, let’s recap:
Better for long, committed relationships, Chemistry.com analyzes more thoroughly than when you’re trying to decipher an ex boyfriend’s text message. This will probably lead to a great match – but you gotta be patient!
More urban women in their mid 20s – early 30s should take a look at Match.com, which showers you with hundreds, even thousands of cute guys. It’s raining men, hallelujah.
OkCupid is also good for younger women, as well as those of you who aren’t exactly sure what you want out of a relationship. Whether it is a long-term let’s-watch-a-movie-and-cuddle-on-the-couch thing or the casual let’s-get-a-drink-and-see-where-this-night-goes thing, you’re sure to find a large variety here. Definitely worth being on, OkCupid is the most advanced site we found – and to top it off, it’s free!
If you’re a conservative woman who wants to get married RIGHT NOW, eHarmony is our bet for finding a man who shares your dreams of the perfect white picket fence.
A few important tips:
Whichever site you choose, make sure that you get as much as you can out of it in under three days (the federal government forces dating sites to give a refund within three days of purchase), because if you don’t think it’s worth your money, these sites have a strict “no refund” policy once they’ve gotten their hands on your money, and usually won’t budge.
Keep your real name and address private until you know that the guy’s not stalker-material. Correspond by email (you can always get his number, but be careful about giving out yours) and meet in public. He can pick you up on the third date.
Oh, and lest you show up to the restaurant and the man you ordered was clearly falsely advertised (hello, beer gut??), remember that drinks are always a better first date option. If all else fails, you can always excuse yourself and sneak out the back door… after all, online dating is anonymous…
