http://www.tryinternetdating.comThis internet dating directory reviews free online dating services, photo personals, dating advice, matchmaking, romance, relationship free services and dating affiliate programs.en-ushttp://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/PerfectMatch.aspxSat, 26 Jan 2008 22:11:48 -0800
I'm not totally sold on PerfectMatches's system, but those of you who have read some of my other reviews know I don't put a lot of stock in any of these matching systems. For me, it boils down to age, location, chemistry and communication. However, PerfectMatch.com system isn't all that bad, it took me about 30 minutes to get through it all and complete my profile. I was a little concerned when I finished it took me to a subscription page $99 for 4 months, with no clear navigation to "skip it" for now. I finally clicked on the PerfectMatch logo and it took me to the home screen. $99 for 4 months is tough to caugh up before you look at their inventory.

I have to admit, I was very happy with the results I received. Perfectmatch has a very strong community of single women in the southern california area. I found the profiles to be completed, many had multiple pictures and the detail in their profile was better than most sites I've used.

The site has one of the strongest "ice breaker" systems I have ever used. With ice breakers you can send someone four (4) one line question with multiple choice answers. It really is a functional way to flirt!

]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/MyCountryMatch.aspxThu, 24 Jan 2008 19:44:26 -0800
After getting hit on by my share of married men on AmericanSingles.com, I was ready for a change. Would MyCountryMatch.com be any different? Lets find out.

I decided to click on their "Be our Guest" link and I was even more surprised to see I had to answer a few questions before I could even gain access to the site. "Why are they making it so hard to join" was my first thought. The first question, "Are You Married?" You've got to be joking, an online dating site that qualifies its members? I answered "No" then was asked to take a pledge to be truthful.

These qualifying questions remind me of "Gated Communities" which have become very popular here in southern California. MyCountryMatch.com actually sets a unique code of ethics for their dating site. It is clear, they're catering to a different type of person.

As I filled out the standard profile questions, I was pleasantly surprised that they asked me to define the word "Gentleman". I hadn't been asked that question in years and I knew right away, men reading my profile are going to be in for some real insight if they happen accross my personal ad.

MyCountryMatch.com uses different software than I have experienced on any other site. They actually break the profiles essay questions into sections and each section is assigned a "Trust Level". As you meet people online, you decide if you want to grant them additional trust: from none, to Basic, Mid-Level or High. The more trust, the more information they get to read.

What I found exceptionally cool is you can assign all of your photos to a Trust level, so men have to actually read a little before they get their feeding of visual stimulation. Yes baby, I want you to fall in love with my mind first, body second! MyCountryMatch.com allowed me to really crank up the volume on my essay answers, only the bravest men need reply. I really like this feature and wish more dating sites allowed you to decide who gets to view your picture.

MyCountryMatch.com gives you the chance to join for free, browse profiles and even flirt with members on the site by sending "canned" glances. If you find someone you want to actually exchange email or chat with - you need to join. As a girl, I actually prefer this versus some of the free systems I've tried, I tend to get a lot of crude messages from guys looking to score - since they didn't have to take out their wallet. Free usually brings out the immature child I have found. MyCountryMatch.com was more serious - real people, looking for real connections.

As I read through Men's profiles on MyCountryMatch.com I got to not only read about them and what they're looking for - I also got to read each of their definitions on the word "Romance". Yes, of all the questions to ask a guy - this one hits to the heart of the matter. I can tell you, I passed on some pretty nice looking photos because of some pretty lame written responses to that one.

MyCountryMatch.com has this really cool "Introduce Me" feature. Basically, as you're viewing profiles if you find someone attractive you can select "YES" I'm interested. If the other person shows interest in you as well, you receive an email stating you matched. Very cool.

MyCountryMatch.com is well designed, easy to navigate. However, putting the technology aside for a minute, I want to talk about some of the guys I met.

MyCountryMatch.com has some of the nicest guys I have ever met online. I didn't have any guys asking me if I put out on the first date. I didn't have one guy tell me he was married or fail to volunteer where he worked or his home phone (which is always a tell tale sign they're hiding something). Yes ladies, I ask and no, I won't give them my home number or office information. I have to worry about security and the rules are different - any guy who doesn't get that, doesn't have a chance at a first date with me. I didn't have any of the guys on MyCountryMatch.com even blink at my screening questions and most of them hadn't even seen my photo yet. I hid it until we exchange 3 emails (using the built-in email system) or online chat. The men on MyCountryMatch.com are different and I think it is because of the screening process they use.

The site does have a country feel. They have a whole section dedicated to a "Country" theme. What type of country music you like, type of country dancing (I can two-step!), etc...

I did see a bit of a trend among some of the men I exchanged email messages with. All of them like NASCAR and all liked animals (dogs over cats).

Now - what I didn't like about the site. First, they need to tell more people about the site. They simply didn't have a lot of guys in my area. The site is new, but still I just wish more guys knew about it. Their chat system is a little on the slow side, it could have been my cable modem, but it seemed slow. Finally, a lot of their profiles are not filled out. I think they should require people to fill out more of their profile before they can join the site. I was turned off by the number of men who didn't take the time to fill out their profiles.

Finally, I should disclose, I do know the owners of MyCountryMatch.com. I think if you try the site, you'll agree with everything in this review. If you don't, I know you'll write and let me know.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/ChristianCafe.aspxTue, 22 Jan 2008 12:19:07 -0800 Christian Cafe has become one of the more popular places for Christians to meet. Their detailed profile is pretty extensive with both multiple choice questions and 11 essay questions, which is more than most. It took be 45 minutes to complete my profile.

This is a great theme site and one I would recommend. However, there are several things I didn't care for about the site, so let me get those out of the way:

1) You can't search my zip code. Only state and regions. This is dumb. You should be able to search within 50 miles of where you live. It appears they have a lot of members outside of the United States which explains why they don't do a zip code search. But in my opinion, they should have it for those of us in the United States and Canada.

2) You can't search people with photos only. I only want to see profiles with pictures! I'm visual!

3) Search results aren't saved. I have to click all those boxes each time. It's a waste of time.

4) Their quickmatch feature is simply too limited to be useful in my honest opinion.

5) Site is slow.

6) When viewing search results, you should be able to return back to the search results page without needing to hit the back button a couple of times.

7) When viewing people online, by region, you should be able to select gender as well.

Ok, now that I got that out of my system, let’s talk about the things that really matter. I found the women on Christian Cafe to be great. More spiritual then religious if you know what I mean. I dated a couple of really great ladies who were a blast to spend time with. No, I didn't find my match, but I'm just picky. I did fall head hard for a blonde in Australia!

They don't offer online chat to trial users, but that doesn't bother me a lot. I'm not a fan of online chat. When you purchase a membership you'll gain access to the various chat rooms. You can send a wink, which is just that, a wink. Only one type of wink is offered.

They have a prayer message board which is a nice touch. It lets you know what is going on in some people's lives. Also, they keep track of profiles you viewed and remind you which is a nice feature.

If you believe in a higher power and want to meet singles who are grounded and faith believers, then you should give Christian Cafe a try. Despite the technology shortcomings of the site, the people are real!

When I tried Christian Cafe they offered a full, no nonsense, 10 day free trial. I was able to use the site; send and read email messages and meet people without paying them a penny or giving them a credit card. It was a nice way to try the site and meet some nice people. If you do decide to purchase a membership after your trial period, expect to pay $50 for 3 months which I think is fair.

Christian Cafe is a site worth the time to try out. It's free trial offer is a win-win for everyone.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/SilverSingles.aspxSat, 19 Jan 2008 10:36:11 -0800SilverSingles.com markets itself as a dating site for single mature adults. Yes, they have one of the largest community of singles aged 55 and over, however we were pleasantly surprised to find this site has expanded it’s community to 40 to 85 years of age.

After a few minutes online, SilverSingles.com feels like your favorite warm blanket on a cold winter day. It is comfortable, cozy and feels right at home.

SilverSingles.com is free to join. You can post your personal ad, including a photo for free. You only need to become a subscriber when you decide you want to exchange email or chat with someone online. So you basically don’t have to shell out a dime until you find someone you would like to get to know better.

The site questionnaire is longer than most, five (5) screens of questions, each including an essay question covering all the normal questions, “About Me”, “What You’re Looking For” , “What I’ve Learned from Past Experiences”, etc.. The questions also do a nice job of identifying your interests, likes and dislikes. Questions range from religious beliefs, smoking and drinking, to favorite cuisines, music and activities both doing and watching. I found their questionnaire complete without going overboard like eHarmony.com. My only complaint is, the essay questions should allow people to write more than 200 characters. I think the "About Me" section should allow 800 or 1000 characters. Woman love to write and I like to read what they have to say about themselves. Still, SilverSingles.com does get the basics across and you can ask for more info when you contact with them via email.

So, free membership allows you to post a free personal ad, including a picture and then sit back and see what happens. You only need to pay to become a subscriber if you meet someone. Subscription fees cost $24.95 per month, which is about average when it comes to dating sites.

Now, the cool thing about SilverSingles.com is the fact you can send up to 30 “Teases” a day to other people for no charge. In fact, you don’t need to be a subscriber to send a “Tease”. A “Tease” is a canned one line message. SilverSingles.com does a very nice job of organizing these “Teases” into categories such as: Sincere, Romantic, Poems, Movie Lines, etc... It is a neat way to get someone’s attention. We suggest you join SilverSingles.com, browse people in your area, then send out “Teases”, up-to 30 a day!. Then sit back and see what happens. If you’ve created a good profile and have a decent photo, you should get some contact, and then you can decide if it is worth the $25.00 to join.

In the end, dating sites are about the community of singles who make up the site. SilverSingles.com is a winner when it comes to creating a site for singles 40 and over.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/Date.aspxThu, 17 Jan 2008 13:31:53 -0800
The membership fee is $24.95 for a month or $50 bucks for 3 months, pretty much the norm. The site also offers a webzine called Date. Info has articles, member spotlights, romance, dating and relationship advise, horoscopes etc. The site offers no tour to experiences the features but the sign up is quick as well as creation of a profile in less than 10 minutes with rather simplistic search capabilities. The site offers no animated tour prior to sign-up other than some text in the about date.com section.

I don't know if it was just me, but I posted the exact same profile I used on Match.com, same photo, same headline, etc.... I never got 1 email, on Match.com I got 6 emails. I guess the women on Date.com are just more picky!

Date.com does have a couple of cool features I find fun to use. They show you who's birthday it is just in case you want to say "I have a BIG present waiting for you!" Just kidding!!! You can also see who's new - another good way to check out the latest babes to join the site. I especially like the women from the Ukraine! My point is, Date.com seems to get a lot of International traffic. Finding a Russian bride would be no problem on this site.

Their "Who's Online" screen sucks in the fact you have to click on a little camera to see their picture. Too much work for the visually focused male if you ask me.

It's also cool to show people's Horoscope (I'm a Virgo BTW), but I don't get the Chinese Horoscope thing - which states I'm a RABBIT. I've been called a DOG before, but never a RABBIT. What does this have to do with anything? Can someone explain it to me?

They have a flirting tool called "Show Interest" which was pretty dissapointing because no one showed any interest in me. Oh well, maybe I should NOT have said I made $25k or less a year in my profile - I didn't think money mattered ladies!

You can post up to 5 pictures but they make it hard for you to look at all of them. No Next/Prev button on the photo viewer.

They do support local events with their Date Events. From the pictures of the Caribbean Cruise last June, looks like I missed a good time. If you attended, write me and tell me how it was! The only thing about their event system is it does appear to link back to my profile. When I click on a couple of the links, it asked me to log into Date,com, which I was already logged in.

Date.com has a really cool COMMUNITIES area. They have message boards and articles on dating. I love the "Dates From Hell" section. I especailly enjoyed the Chinese take-out story - Barbie we need to add some Communities to our site, some of these stories cracked me up!

All-in-all, Date.com is a cool site. But guys, I think it will be necessary to work your mogo on this site if you expect anyone to notice.

]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/emode.aspxWed, 16 Jan 2008 17:57:41 -0800
For free you can search other profiles, but you must pay to actually have contact with anyone. Which these days is standard, I think. You fill out a rather lengthy profile after you take your 'personality' test, and are then free to surf the profiles all you want. The problem is, too much of what matches one person to another is based on answers the user is much too free to make up, and you end up being attracted to a profile which is more of how the person wants to be viewed, rather than an objective summary of the person's personality.

I met and went out with 9 women from emode. All were high percentage matches to me, 95% or better. All but one totally misrepresented themselves. One even turned out to be a lesbian who was trying to experiment. Another was an ex-heroin addict from the streets who had been institutionalized, who ended up stalking me. I wouldn't sit on this one side of my living room for a month for fear of a car coming crashing through from the street to kill me. In fairness, I did meet one woman that I still love to this day. Is 1 out of 9 good or bad?]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/Yahoo!_Personals.aspxWed, 16 Jan 2008 13:23:45 -0800
Yahoo personals is a pure dating site in the mode of Match.com however they leverage their position as one of the leading portals for the web. The real appeal of this site is the convenience of being a subscriber to the Yahoo portal as well as the ease of use and extremely well done Flash video Tour Take the Plunge to the site which combines both graphics and voice to alleviate any in trepidation one may have about the complexity and safety of On-line dating. I don't understand why more sites don't have tutorials like this - hey Ken, grab the camera!

The site boasts vast numbers of subscribers and allows one to create a profile, search and flirting, voice and video greetings all at no charge allowing the user to compile some interest from potential matches. Once they see or are seen then one needs to subscribe in order to IM or e-mail their potential matches.

The site offers cute greetings as pre-selected teasers and offers a Yahoo subscriber an alternate user name for the personals e-mail. Creating a profile is easy with the questions centered on age, location, interests and qualities desired in a match. The whole process takes initially about 15 minutes and can constantly be refined and updated. The profile can have up to 5 photos which can be displayed or hidden and only shown when comfortable.

As I was viewing profiles I came across this fit, blue eye, brown hair hunk of a man. I noticed a link called "View Similar Profiles" which is suppose to be like, if you like this guy, you'll probably like these other guys too! My heart pounded as I pressed the button, I'm going to find my Brad Pitt, I just know it! WRONG! These guys were NOTHING like the hunk I found - why place features on a dating site that simply don't work, I don't get it? Subscription prices are: 1-month, $19.95 to 12 months for $89.95, but I would say if you plan to pay for 12 months at one wack, you're just a serial dater or under the age of 25. I can't see being on any one dating site for a year!

]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/American_Singles.aspxMon, 14 Jan 2008 13:27:31 -0800
AmericanSingles.com has members from 230 countries, in fact they own several Matchnet sites in UK, AU, DE as well as a gay site Glimpse and adolescent site called College luv. so if you live outside of the us, you can still use AmericanSingles.com - which seems a little strange to me, but hey, if it works for you!

It's free to create your profile, post photos and search for members. You can create a profile, search and flirt all at no charge allowing the user to compile limited interest from potential matches.

If you want to email or chat with someone you have to pay, just like on the other sites, there is no free lunch here, not even for women. To get full access to all of the AmericanSingles.com communication tools, you can upgrade to an AmericanSingles Premium package. Creating a profile is easy with the questions centered on typical issues of age, location, interests and qualities desired in a match. The whole process takes initially about 12 minutes and can constantly be refined and updated. The profile can have up to 4 photos.

They also offer access to articles on dating and romance.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/eHarmony.aspxSat, 12 Jan 2008 11:17:52 -0800
It's the most comprehensive approach to the matching game I've seen. Initial contacts come from a pool of matches they provide you - you pick from a list of initial questions to ask to which they respond with answers and five questions of their own. Then 10 'Must-haves' and 10 'Cant stands' and so forth and so on until contact through their internal email is reached. The problem with this of course is the matching engine is so consistent you end up having the same questions and preferences exchanged with virtually every match. It becomes more of a process rather than an adventure. Which brings us to the downside.

It's the most expensive of the sites I looked at. The interface is completely inane, and was obviously never tested with large amounts of information or limited bandwidth. Once you get some data in there to manipulate, it becomes cumbersome in every sense of the word.

You can never see more than 5 new matches at any one time. If you have 10 new matches, you only see the first five. Click on one and it moves into the 'current' list, and its place is taken by your number 6 match which you didn't even know existed. So you must deal with your matches in the order they come to you. Once in your 'current' list, you can still only see five at a time and must scroll through page after page. And if you decided to delete the ones off the bottom for whatever reason, get ready for navigation hell. The list resets to the top with every operation so you will spend some time just clicking on the 'next page' button. If you're on dialup, forget about it.

Now let's suppose you or someone you've been in contact with decides to let their subscription lapse. There are no notifications sent out and if someone tries to contact you from their list, all they get is a black hole for a response. No 'this member canceled their membership' or anything, you are just left to assume you are being ignored. In other words, if you get 5 matches and all 5 cancel tomorrow, you'll never know. You'll just never get a response from your contact. I might add that of the list of reasons for closing contact with someone, none of the exhaustive list of items is "I am canceling my subscription". You must always say they aren't good enough for you in some way or another or you are just disinterested in the entire scenario.

The test you take upon signup looks a lot like an MMPI-type test. For the uninitiated, MMPI is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, pretty much the standard of inventories from a couple of decades back. It's an annoying test to take - there are probably 25 unique questions but they're phrased 5 different ways over the course of the test to weed out false responses. All fine and good, at least it's not a free-form essay written by the user; but, it does take an hour to complete. An annoying after effect of this is that EVERY match will be the same type of person. Out of 50-something matches I received over a month's period, all but one were divorced with children at home. Apparently my personality meshes well with divorcee mom's. This is an assumption since not one of the matches I received had their actual test results public.

Bottom line, you can get too technical with this stuff and I think eHarmony.com did just that. Sometimes, you just can't screen human response.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/Great-Expectations.aspxThu, 10 Jan 2008 14:41:15 -0800
Nikki works with the southern California elite (attorneys, doctors, CEO, top athletes, and several Hollywood stars). Nikki is their go-to girl when they want to buy and sell property because she's as smart as she is beautiful. She is driven, focused and knows how to work a room better than anyone I’ve ever met. But she is single, never married and lonely. She wanted my advice.

Somehow MyCountryMatch.com, one of my favorite sites just didn’t seem like an option. Nikki doesn’t want her picture available for the whole world to see. She’s worried about the negative gossip that can travel in her circles. It isn’t that she can’t attract a guy, she just can't find the right guy who shares her same views on family, children and marriage.

So, I suggested she try Great Expectations. This is a different type of dating site where each and every member is screened. You make an appointment via their website, then go into one of their local offices around the country. Service is very personalized and it’s totally confidential.

Nikki took me up on my advice. She made an appointment at the Irvine, California office of Great Expectations. She was met by one of their counselors where they had her fill out a complete questionnaire about herself and what she was looking for. They also create a 3-4 minute video profile and took updated photos.

All of this information is posted on their private, members only website. The nice thing about Great Expectations is not only do they screen every member, they also run complete background checks on each member. So Nikki didn’t have to worry about guys who lie about being married, or about where they live or the type of jobs they have. This is clearly a solution designed for people like Nikki. Personalized service, extremely safe and confidential. In talking with her today, she told me Great Expectations has helped her get her foot back into the dating scene, meeting other single, career professionals who share interests similar to hers.

It doesn't cost anything to visit the site, fill out the form and wait for them to contact you. They have different pricing plans and I promised Nikki I wouldn't say how much she spent. I gave them a middle of the road rating because of the cost and limited membership. I think for Nikki it is the best choice, but it isn't for everyone.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/IwantU.aspxThu, 10 Jan 2008 14:39:50 -0800
When you're setting up your profile you can choose if you want your profile posted on one or all of there different sites. You can choose Dating: where you can find a pen-pal, friend, date or more. Adult is for pure sex, swingers, group sex and discreet encounters. Finally there is the Alternative area where people who are into Bondage, Domination and Sado-Masochism hang out. I did find one thing odd about the profile set-up. It appears, if you join the dating site, your ad is automatically posted in the Adult and Alternative section as well. You must click on the "Hide Profile" button in the edit Adult and Alternative section if you don't want it listed.

I'm not really into the Adult or Bondage scene, so to be totally honest with you, as I was filling out my profile I felt like I was in New Orleans, walking to my favorite Jazz club and feeling a bit uncomfortable as I walked past all the strip joints. IwantU.com has something for everyone... I guess.

As you fill out the profile you can tell the system it how often you want your matches emailed to you. They call this automatic process their Aphrodite, which in Greek mythology, means Goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture.

IwantU.com has a popularity voting system, ala "Are you hot or not" where other members can vote for your profile. You can also be paged or text messaged when you have email waiting for you in their built-in email system, so you don't have to login just to see if you have email waiting. The site also supports Hot List and Ignore Lists to make it easier to organize your contacts. You have the ability to post your own photo albums, each album can hold 32 pictures each and you can have 10 albums or galleries. You can also post a voice greeting so people can hear the sound of your voice.

So, I filled out my profile and started on my journey to find a date for the weekend and to my surprise, you are not even allowed to read a person's profile if you're not a member. The site makes you purchase tokens in order to do just about anything. So, if you're too cheap to spend $24.95 on the chance you might meet someone, skip this site.

I purchased my 4,000 tokens for $24.95 and started off by browsing the dating site for thirty-something women in Southern California. Like most sites, most of the profiles do not have pictures attached, so I find it difficult to view the quality of the members.

I will tell you, this site, in my honest opinion, is really a adult playground. Look at it this way, it has three rooms: dating and romance, adult and adult alternative. So 2/3rd of the activity is about Adult Play. So if that is what you're looking for, this is the place. The site has a lot of extra features they place in their "Cafe". The Cafe has "Chat Rooms" where you can join in group discussions. The rooms with the most activity appear to be more explicit (xxx) - The Bar (Looking for a one night stand), Motel Suite (Relationships, Dating, Foreplay, Sex and Kama Sutra) and the Red Room (No moderation, pure sex talk). Yes, they have other rooms, more PG13 or R rated, but it I never see anyone in them.

They have Live Cams, where members can broadcast their web camera to anyone who wants to view it, while a group chat room is active. So you see pictures and people typing things like "take it off" and "move your hand here or there" I don't think I need to say more, do I?

They have moderated and non-moderated Message Forums, where people post all types of questions asking for advice. The non-moderated rooms appear to get about 10x the postings. To give you an idea of the types of postings you'll find, the most popular topic in the sex forum (which has the most postings) was a response to the question, "Where's the wildest place you've had sex?" I think it's always interesting to compare notes and see what other people think, especially when it comes to sex. I couldn't help but notice it appears the men post about 5 messages to every message posted by women.

From the Cafe you can send Post cards to people. All types of post cards, get well, thanks, birthday, holidays, love friendship, erotic, etc... It's a cute idea, I'm not sure I would send my girlfriend (if I had a steady) a valentine's day card from this site. I did send a Erotic card to Barbie as a joke, so it did serve a purpose for me.

Another interesting feature in the Cafe is their Party Posting message board. Here members can post invitations for people to attend a "get together" based on the location where they live. Most of the parties are on the East Coast. Most of these parties are just a couple of people trying to hook up for an orgy.

From the Cafe you can also set up your account to receive matches via email. You can also view the Top 100 IWantU.com profiles. I think this is a cool idea, I just wish they included additional information on the screen when showing the photo. It would be useful to see their age, location and what they're seeking (friend, dating, etc...) Generally speaking, they don't excel in the layout of their HTML.

They also allow you to play games from the Cafe, however none of the games were Multi-player, so I really don't get the point.

As I moved around the site, I really came to the conclusion this is an adult dating site. The dating and romance "section" has a lot of nice people, with sincere dating goals in mind, it's just at every page on the site there was a link to view adult content. For example, when browsing the top women dating profiles, I was just one click away to see the top women profiles in the Adult section. This is the perfect dating site for open minded adults.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/FriendFinder.aspxThu, 10 Jan 2008 13:21:57 -0800
FriendFinder is more of a community site that claims to have over 20 million registered users and 15 different sites which range from adult, adolescent, ethnic, sexual escapades, religion and consumer interest. They offer more than a static directory of people looking to connect with others. The sense of community offers the ability to be amongst other people with similar mindsets and desires as opposed to a broader base site.

Without the limitations of geography, members can develop relationships and enjoy all types of encounters with members from around the world both in dating, pen pal and community.

Friend Finder enhances the member experience with daily horoscopes, photo ratings, free e-greeting cards, and the interactive FriendFinder Magazine written by and for our members. The Magazine includes member-submitted articles and poetry, as well as a question and answer advice forum. FriendFinder offers extended profile questions that delve further into personalities, likes and dislikes as well as lifestyles. They also added a personalized, interactive Workshop to help members hone their skills most relevant to the relationships they're seeking. Although they have sites broken into distinct communities, the predominate traffic generation comes from the adult sites with adult friendfinder and passion. both of which target the more risqué side of the adult dating scene.

I do think it is a bit odd to see people paying $9.90 to have their profile highlighted. Reminded me of eBay, I felt like I should "bid" on some of these women!

In all fairness to the site, this isn't just a dating site, it is a friends site - though I don't think I want my single buddies reviewing these women before I do and I don't think my married buddies's wife would be too happy if I invited them to join my "friends" network. Way too much eye candy walking around.

]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/JDate.aspxWed, 09 Jan 2008 18:10:35 -0800
The ability to review the women on JDate without even joining was instrumental in my signing up with them.I made sure to be 100% truthful answering their general profile questions and sent them a very recent picture. Within one week of getting on their site I had more than twenty women contact me. Of course I looked at their picture and profile to see if there was potential.

I ended up contacting six women, and dated only two of them. Only two because two years later I am engaged to the second woman I dated. After my second date with her I stopped answering e-mails.

Jdate and probably other internet dating sites does work as long as you're 100% truthful and submit a recent picture.

Ken added:

This is truly a niche online site (don't log in unless your Jewish or want to date Jewish people) that caters to Jewish singles worldwide.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/Coolintros.aspxTue, 08 Jan 2008 16:14:39 -0800Coolintros.com is a new online dating site that features less questions and more pictures. You can literally have your complete profile up and online in less than 10 minutes, which is a 180 degree change from eHarmoney.com, Match.com and many other sites that drag you through long essay questions and 100+ questions.

Coolintros.com is a new site which is quickly gaining popularity across north America. Because the site is new, the folks are offering new members a full six month for a low $9.95. You can’t even go to the movies with a large popcorn and coke for that! Six months of unlimited email, chat, etc… for $9.95. The best online dating deal on the net!

Ok, so what makes this site even worth reviewing, since it is so new? Easy, they got my attention with the concept “Chemistry Counts”. This site believes in physical chemistry first and they make it easy to meet someone with their “Introduce Me” feature. In our dating forums, one of the biggest complaints focus around eHarmony.com system where you don’t actually see the picture of the person you’re matched up with until later in the matchmaking process. As one member put it, “I don’t think I’m shallow because I value the way someone looks, I just know there are certain guys I know I’m attracted to on a physical level”.

Coolintros.com does have a matching system, but it’s based on about 20 questions. These 20 questions cover most of the “Deal Breakers” when considering if you want to date someone. You know, do they smoke, have any kids, views on religion, etc… You still have the benefit of reading their essay answers, which I prefer anyway.

Now, just because Coolintros.com is about physical chemistry, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have total control of your photo. One cool feature on Coolintros.com is the fact you can restrict who gets to see your photo. You control it on your friends list. Pretty cool.

We really like their unique “Introduce Me” feature. Here is now it works, when you fill out your free online dating profile you’re given the option to be introduced to other people who live in your area and are in the same age bracket. If you say yes, Coolintros.com emails these new friends part of your profile as an electronic introduction. It works great, try it!

Coolintros.com has built-in email and built-in chat. You can also send pre-canned messages known as glances. This site is really designed well, is easy to navigate and is clean, not cluttered. You can’t go wrong, if you believe Chemistry Counts!]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/JewishCafe.aspxTue, 08 Jan 2008 15:02:03 -0800
You can add people whose profiles interest you to your Friends list.

You can search profiles without signing up, but if you do go to the trouble of creating a profile, you're rewarded with a free 14 day trial with full access.

This site has a lot of good tips and how-to articles and a genuine relationship counselor who will answer your questions online.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/Lavalife.aspxThu, 03 Jan 2008 13:29:58 -0800
Lavalife.com offers the user the choice of three similar but unique communities of Dating, Relationships and Intimate Encounters. In fact one can post individual profiles for each or all communities varying or hiding information based upon the willingness to share in that community. The site offers a pictorial studio with degrees of visibility and safety as to who can see what and when. They also offer as part of the personal profile a hot list which allows the subscriber to save the names of their favorite potential matches.

The most interesting aspect of the Lavalife site is that it does not charge a subscriber fee per month, but acts as a transactional pay as you go model where you make a deposit and use that amount depending upon how many people you contact. Think of this site as a combination Friendfinder and Adult Freindfinder all rolled into one!

It was interesting to see the number of women who, while in chat, asked me if I had a problem in the IE room. I got the feeling the community of women on Lavalife we're not as uptight as some of the women on other sites.

This site is all about flirting. Whispers are Instant messages, Smiles are like icebreakers or winks and they even have video chat enabled.

]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/Matchmaker.aspxWed, 02 Jan 2008 13:37:37 -0800
Over eight million users worldwide. Registration is free initially, and a considerable time commitment. There are 23 essays to be answered, ranging from serious (goals and aspirations) to frivolous (what superhuman power you'd chose.) Narrow your choices by such options as location, age, ethnicity, or lifestyle--from Mormons to military folk to "swingers."

Instant messaging available; $24.95 per month to subscribe. The potential to record a voice greeting adds a personal touch. Exhaustive profiles let you sort through the less desirables before you start chatting. Recently nominated by Forbes as one of the top on-line dating sites however the site layout is rather confusing.

This is a pretty clean little site. You can add people to your "Hot List" and search several ways. They have a 1 click feature that gives you a list of people the site feels best matches your needs, but you can also use an advance search to really narrow it down.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/DatingHappy.aspxWed, 02 Jan 2008 11:01:59 -0800
I am so glad that I took my friend's advice. The site was quick and easy to use and basic registration was free, enabling me to browse around before deciding whether or not to sign up for full member benefits. The support system was amazing and my queries (since I am one of those people who questions everything) were answered quickly, comprehensively and with a personal touch. Not once did I ever feel that my security was compromised and the way in which the site operates made me feel that I was the one in control.

As a result of signing up as a full member, I have broadened my social circle and, yes, have found that special someone!! Although it's still early days, I am currently having the time of my life. In addition to finding new friends, I found the relationship features and advice a welcome addition and continue to return to the site just to read these really helpful articles.

Another bonus is that there are none of those annoying pop-up ads and the site is clean and free from tacky banner advertising.

I highly recommend this site to anyone who is looking for any sort of relationship. Free access to really interesting articles. An admirer list - you can add people to your list and they can add you to theirs. I found it really exciting logging in each day to find out whether I had any new admirers!

Ken added:

Large community of members in the U.K. I search for women 25-40 in California and it returned 150 results. If you decide to join, be prepared to pay in "Pounds", with today's conversion price is around $35.00 for one month, making it one of the more expensive sites around. Still, if you want to make a new friend and expand outside of the USA, this is a cool site to check out.]]>http://www.tryinternetdating.com/reviews/EventMingle.aspxTue, 31 Jul 2007 11:13:26 -0700Over this past weekend I had a chance to spend the afternoon with the developers of a new social networking site called EventMingle. I was blown away so I thought I would write a review to tell you about it. I think I'm the first to write about it!

This isn’t a dating site per say, so don’t expect to find your soul mate on this site, though I guess it could happen. This is a very cool new social networking site based on one commonality, “you’re going to the same event”.

These events can be large corporate events, like company meetings to trade shows and conferences. Here is how it works. EventMingle teams up with the company putting on the event. When you, as an attendee or exhibitor sign up to attend an event, you’re sent an invitation to join a specific site on EventMingle for your event. Remember, everyone from the event is opting-in, attendees, exhibitors, speakers, editors, analysts, job recruiters, investors and other participants. You get to meet people who are planning to travel to the event, before you actually arrive! This is pretty damn neat!

I was invited to log in as an attendee on their testing event, TechDemo 2006. As an attendee I was able to meet other attendees who planned to attend the event and lived near me. It was cool to meet other people from my city who had the same interests as I did. I could easily see how valuable of a networking tool this could be! I was able to see who was planning to attend the same technical sessions and could participate in a message forum regarding these technical sessions by exchanging messages with the speakers on the panel. With a click of a mouse, I could add people to my personal contact list and request to exchange business cards. EventMingle makes it possible for me to actually look for these new online friends when I actually show up for the real session. I think this is going to improve the dynamics of these sessions a great deal!

There are so many features on EventMingle I don’t know how to cover it all. For example, you can keep up-to-date on all the exhibitor news in one section where exhibitors post their press releases. Exhibitors also post special event times, like keynote addresses, booth demos and even VIP parties. If you want to make note of any of these items you simply click the mouse and the activity is added to your daily planner which you can later have emailed to you. Speaking about exhibitors, you know how exhibitors like to give stuff away to get us to come in their booth to watch a presentation? EventMingle allows exhibitors to post their giveaway items (called Treasures) so you can plan some of your booth attendance around items you want to take home. One can never have too many of those stress balls!

EventMingle keeps your true identity, like your full name, company, phone and email address a secret until you give someone access to it. So you don’t have to worry about being contacted by a telemarketer. And there is no spam because EventMingle has it’s own Email system, so all your messages regarding the event, people and exhibitors is all maintained on the system. It ever touches your external email address.

EventMingle also has a full JOB BOARD on the site. Companies can post their job openings and individuals can post resumes. The more I played around with the Job Board the more I really understood how logical it was to have a job board around an event. I think this is going to be a big hit!

I got to peek at the Exhibitor Tools available to exhibitors; they have the ability to create a full Exhibitor guide that includes their company description, product descriptions, booth activities, giveaway (treasures) items and job openings. Pretty extensive, but the neatest thing they can do (in my opinion) is also list their booth staff so you know who is going to be in the booth and you can make appointments with them!

EventMingle.com is truly a unique experience that I think is going to change the way people network at events. Though the developers created it for trade show and conferences I told them that I think they could easily adapt it to other events. For example, Cruise Ship operators could use EventMingle to allow people to meet prior to taking the cruise. How cool would that be! Sporting Events and Concerts could be another use for this technology.

If you attend trade show or conferences you should check out the demo on EventMingle. You should tell the trade show administrator about this new technology. It is truly cutting edge and in a couple years, EventMingle.com may very well be a name many of us trade show junkies know by heart. Just remember, I wrote about it first!]]>