I have always been a little skeptical of online dating, mostly because I have terrible trust issues and pretty much think that every guy is a potential a-hole.
Besides said trust issues, I am a very curious person. I’m the girl who sings and dances in the car on her way to and from work, obviously not giving a damn about who’s watching.
I just relocated to Orange County and have been paying attention to advertisements that I hear on the radio — every day for the last two weeks, I’ve heard one from Match.com. After hearing it so many times, I told myself that if I hear it one more time, I would give it a try.
I got home that Wednesday night and signed up for every online dating website that I could find and created profiles for each to see what kind of response I would get.
I signed up for Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, Match, Tinder and eHarmony and my immediate influx of emails was overwhelming! Here’s my experience on each, sorted by what I think is a better selection of guys for you ladies.
Plenty of Fish:
This site is free and pretty much has no kind of filter WHATSOEVER. If you are looking for a good time, and don’t really care what the other person is all about, sign up here.
There really is a wide selection of what kinds of guys are on this platform. Not to say that all of them are uneducated, but if you don’t mind spelling and grammatical errors in a profile, then this may be the place for you. Or, if you are just looking for a quick fix, this works.
Tinder:
I had the most fun on this app, only because I felt like it was more of a game than a “dating” venture. Actually, from what I gathered, this app is all about the narcissistic tendencies and pride that most its users possess.
Tinder is pretty much a rating app that bases opinions on looks and looks alone. You have limited characters to write your “about me,” and about five-to-six slots to add your photos.
I have many problems with this app, but here’s the top three: 1. (This one mostly based on location.) Is everyone in LA and Orange County a model? I mean, seriously. Most of the photos on there are airbrushed, model-esque pictures and even in the description, there is a lot of “I am a model.” “I am in the entertainment industry.” “I am an actor.”
Damn, does that mean I will never have a chance with you? 2. Is there a tiger zoo in southern California that I don’t know about? I cannot stress enough how many times I have come across a guy who has a picture of him with a tiger, which is awesome and strange — if there really is a tiger zoo somewhere around here, I want to know where it is! 3.
Because it has become the case all too often, I am starting to think that most of the guys on Tinder are not real. Do you all just swipe right and never say hello? I thought swiping right meant that you are interested.
So why, then, after I get the “You have a match!” message and say hello do you never respond back? Are you a computerized invention of Tinder or are you just swiping right and left just for rating purposes? Probably the latter, but still, please say hello or don’t play at all, because you’re hurting my damn feelings (…not really).
OkCupid:
This one is more decent than Plenty of Fish, as there are actually really smart, successful men who use it. I don’t know why they would opt for OkCupid, but perhaps it’s because they want to avoid paying hefty prices for membership.
Match and eHarmony.
I think that the men who are more serious about finding someone are more apt to end up on these two sites. Why? Because it allows users to browse potential mates and if you feel that it could work for you, you can buy memberships for as long as you want to have access.
I used the free browsing for both sites, and if you seriously want to settle down to find something long lasting and fulfilling, eHarmony would be a great one to join.
I say this because eHarmony’s membership is more expensive, and going by the many profiles that I browsed and read, the men on there are established and very serious about wanting something real.
Look at it this way: anyone who pays more than $200 for membership is obviously looking for something long-term. By paying a high membership rate, the site weeds out fair-weather daters and leaves only those who are serious.
Top Photo Credit: Shuttersrtock
