OK, this is the official blog for Yenta911, and Yenta911 is an online Jewish dating service, so if you made the decision that online dating is for you, especially if you are Jewish, or interested in a Jewish match, we will be very happy if you give us a chance.
However, if for whatever reason, you decided not to take our word for how good and superior we are to the other online dating services out there, this article is for you.
Here are the 5 things we suggest you consider before choosing an online dating service:
#1 – Niche dating Service vs. Generic dating Service
First, you need to consider what is really important to you in a relationship. Is it race? religion? sexual orientation? in this case, you would probably be better off with a niche service. The generic service may have a larger database, but how many of those who join everyday are really a match for you? If you are looking for something that is not considered main stream, choosing a niche service is even more important, often you cannot even search that database based on the more, let’s say, “exotic criteria”. Searching a database where most of the members are already qualified in some respect creates a more efficient and less frustrating experience. Today more than ever niche online dating services are widely available. Amongst the most popular niches today are: gay dating, Jewish online dating (like Yenta911), online christian dating, local online dating, online asian dating etc.
I have noticed that the large ‘generic’ dating services, are now creating ‘niches’ in their websites. In other words, they take advantage of the large, often diversified database they have, and display it in a manner that is appealing to a specific niche. If you have a profile with a generic service and you identify yourself as Jewish, there is a good chance that you will show up in their “Jewish dating” niche.
In My opinion there is a big difference between a person who goes to a generic service and a person who goes to a website specifically made for that niche. If you deeply care about the issue, of a religion or a certain lifestyle, you should definitely go to a website that caters, and was created specifically for that need.
#2 – Local online dating vs. National or International online dating
It only makes sense to choose a service that caters to your local geographical location. You are going to filter all other people in your search anyway, aren’t you? Maybe. If you are not the type that is cut out for a long distance relationship, by all means go for the local service. However, If you are like me, a hopeless romantic, who simply refuses to limit something as significant as love and relationship to a geographical area, or maybe, just curious to see if singles look different based on their geographical location (I think they are!), then sign up for the national or even international online dating service, for the extra benefit, probably for a very similar price.
One thing I have just recently noticed about local online dating services, is that a lot of them use advertisements, and plenty of them. It’s only natural since it is much profitable to advertise locally and local services are usually small business rather than big corporations, so they may use that extra income coming from advertisements.
#3 - Online paid dating Vs. online free dating
If you can get the service for free, why would you want to pay any money, right? Not necessarily. Is it the same service with the same quality? I don’t believe so. However you need to be aware of the pitfalls associated with free dating services. I don’t want to resort to clichés like “you get what you pay for”, but it seems to be true for online dating. There is something about a person who pays his hard earned money to find a match that makes me feel he is more serious than the one who chooses a free service. Also, the fact that a person gave his credit card number indicates he is more serious, reducing the chance of a fake profile messing with your heart. Few people will pay to be a fake.
Free dating services are notorious as places for lurking predators, spammers and prostitution services. And since they are free, the web masters will likely have less staff available to insure quality. So if you can find a match there, it could be after the effort of reducing all the noise, and filtering all the fake/promotional messages, greatly reducing the pleasure you derived from the experience. In addition, it is hard enough to put yourself (your profile) out there. You certainly don’t want to be the subject of laughter or abuse from a group of bored teenagers, who had their afternoon off and didn’t know what to do with their time.
Some free services can be good, but finding a good one will be a challenge, since all will tend to be subject to these pitfalls, just by virtue of what they cost. Often people choose to overlook these disadvantages because the service can sound so good, and very often these same people have bad experiences and decide to switch to a pay service anyway.
#4 – Features
You should choose an online dating service that is on top of the latest technological advancements. Today’s top features include video chat and video downloading. These latest technologies allow you to both see and hear your potential date, before you actually meet them in person. And the more you learn about them before you actually give out your personal information, the less awkward it will be, and the less risky it will be. And when it comes to security, spammers and predators are known to work best where they can hide who they really are. The more visibility you get, the more exposed they will be. These latest technologies make it hard for them to hide, and give you better visibility and more security.
Choosing the service with the best features is a tough one. As I mentioned before, many dating services will not let you to use their best features before you actually pay. It varies from service to service. You can compare online on their web pages or contact their customer service. Also, features are not necessarily related directly to price. Some services charge a higher fee simply because they are established and have a large database, for that reason, they are not pressured to upgrade their software. You may get better features with the newer, less established services.
# 5 - Maintenance
One of the major problems with dating services is that they keep inactive, stale profiles for months, even years. It is my belief that this is ethically wrong. It can cause frustration for the singles who use the services regularly and who might send messages but get no response. This can be a hard hit on their morale as well. Dating services leave those stale profiles in order to create an impression of much greater selection. Having said that, there are some dating services that actually clean their database every few months, removing members who have been inactive for a certain period of time. If you want to save yourself some frustration, stick to those who do!
Finding the right dating service can pose a challenge, but it is worth the time, as it greatly improves the quality of your experience and your chances of success in online dating. If I had to summarized my advice in one sentence, I would say: Pick a niche dating service that caters to your special needs, Choose a local dating service if you are not cut out for a long distance relationship or willing to move, Stay clear of free online dating services, unless they are highly reputable, Make sure the company has the latest features and technological advancements, Choose a dating service which does regular maintenance to keep their database fresh and current and last but not least, don’t forget to have fun!
