Queen Bee Rants Politely About 5 Big Dating Sites
October 19th, 2009 by Queen Bee
Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. The truth is that I do not like blogging. I don’t like reading most blogs, nor writing blog posts, nor the word “blog” itself. Ugh! Blog! Blood! Barf! Fart!…You get the picture.
For the most part I prefer the phatic buzz of the hive, or even FlirtySomething’s Facebook page, where I post updates to regularly engaged fans, and get their thumbs-ups and comments. So we’re sharing and having a conversation.
Not like here, in the blogasphere, where content breeds spam breeds content, an unending echo chamber of voices bouncing off filters and rebounding in puzzling, annoying, and sometimes disturbing ways.
That said, I am blogging today (as promised on Facebook) on my five big gripes about five big dating sites that I have frequented. Here she blows:
- Match.com is venerated and huge, but it’s stale. It’s so ’90’s. ‘Nuff said.
- eHarmony is also venerated and huge, but there’s something rotten in the state of Dr. Warren’s 27-level of compatibility test when it can’t match me (a relatively sane and presentable woman) with even one man in its database! This actually happened. Too-high subscription rates.
- JDate is exclusionary and racist by definition. I get why people like niches, BUT if there is a more smug niche of characters than the guys I encountered on JDate, I definitely DO NOT want to meet them. Too-high subscription rates to add injury to insult.
- Zoosk.com. Anybody ever heard of it? Well it claims to be one of the world’s largest online dating sites. And maybe it is. But so far as I can tell, it built its membership as a Facebook app, by offering free profiles. So the Facebook people came, including the Queen Bee. I’m on Zoosk’s mailing list now and get flirts and such on a fairly frequent basis. But the quality of the interface and personal profiles is so uninviting, I wonder, who is really paying to play on Zoosk? Has anyone ever met anyone on Zoosk? Please let me know!
- On the other hand, Plenty of Fish is huge and free and really works for a lot of people. However, like the old saw says, “You get what you pay for.” Plenty of Fish isn’t pretty, and it’s a live billboard, so one wrong click of the mouse, and no telling where you might land. It’s like the Walmart of online dating sites. Nothing too ugly or annoying for Marcus Frind, when it comes to POF, so long as it translates into advertising revenues. The Queen Bee really respects Marcus Frind for his know-how, transparency, and success, but she prefers shopping elsewhere.
I have to throw a pitch in for OKCupid. A bit off irreverent humor present throughout the site defuses the normal intensity or seriousness inherent in online dating and the manner in which it is laid out is welcoming and easy to navigate. I have met and communicated more with people through this site than on any other, and I’ve even been approached by folk who don’t have the personality traits of a serial killer hidden beneath their thin social veneers, and that’s a pleasant switch from other sites. And it’s free!