Free Online Dating Sites
Free online dating sites offer both advantages and disadvantages if you are looking to meet someone online. There is absolutely no reason that you cannot meet the person of your dreams or make a date or two using a matchmaking website that does not charge membership fees. There are, however, a number of drawbacks to free dating sites as well. I believe the drawbacks outweigh the potential benefits of free online dating services.
The most obvious benefit of a free dating site is cost. Prices for popular, established pay sites range from around twenty to thirty dollars per month. If that amount strikes you as expensive, then free sites are certainly an option. Free dating sites are not what I consider 100% free, however. Free sites are usually subsidized by advertising, though, which can be intrusive and annoying. A more aggressive sites may send you advertisements via email as well.
One of the drawbacks of using free sites is the lack of advanced features. Often, the software used is not as robust and searching or messaging capabilities are not as sophisticated or intuitive compared to paid membership services. The difference in quality can range from requiring slightly more work to downright frustrating when it comes to finding compatible singles.
The type of customer free dating websites attract can be a problem as well. Sometimes, free sites are the only option for people who want to use online dating sites, but are broke, cheap, married and looking to cheat, banned from a paid membership site or who are not serious about finding companionship. I do not mean to suggest that all of the people who use free sites are like this, in fact most are not, but free sites appeal to and garner more of these types of people than pay sites do which leads me to my next point.
Security and policing of free sites can be a bit spotty. All dating sites do their best to keep their customers’ data secure and protect users from harassment. Free sites, however, may simply lack the resources or the staff to keep up with new threats or respond to complaints in a timely fashion. Security and customer support is usually top notch at virtually all of the major paid membership based online dating sites.
If you are dead set against paying for an Internet dating site membership, at least visit the home pages of some of the popular ones. Paid sites often run promotions such as free trials or discounts and some offer generous satisfaction guarantees. Some sites will allow you to create a user account for free and use a limited subset of their features. For example, it may be free to search for singles in your area, but they might require a paid membership in order to view full profiles and contact someone. You can often get an idea of the quality of a pay site without paying so at least browse around their sites. If you want more information on one free dating site in particular, I recommend you check out Plenty of Fish Dating, a blog dedicated to helping you get the most out of using one of the most popular free online dating sites.
If you are serious about online dating, I strongly suggest you spring for a membership site. Features are more robust, support is almost always better and the singles are usually more committed to finding a match. It costs less per month than one night out in a bar or club trying to meet people and it’s actually much easier to find local people with common interests online than in a bar.