Find Dates Online

An often asked question. Here is a listing of different methods by which dates can be found.

Yahoo Member Search

In the not so recent past, one could use Yahoo's Members Directory to "Browse" for members in thier area. However, the overabundance of porn sites posting "members" to try to get hits has made Yahoo Members search almost useless. Yahoo also has not conducted any overhaul of the system in years, and has its own paid personals site.

AOL

AOL has a search function in its software: however, the results are solely based on who bothers to complete an accurate profile; most of the people will turn out to be minors (kids surfing for whatever; don't be a pedophile please) or married elderly persons (a lot play online card games as their Internet activity). AOL also has chat rooms: usually a lot of people screaming at each other to hookup while 20 other people watch. AOL did have a free dating system until 2001, but now offers Love.com: a paid service separate from AOL.

Craigslist.org

Craigslist maintains a number of forums in cities mostly in the United States where anyone can solicit casual sex, relationships, or more traditional dates. Here's an article about the pros and cons to using Craigslist to date.

Social Networking

Social networking sites operate on the basis of friendly referral, and associating peers. These sites are mainly free, and vary in their activities and scope.

• Friendster: uses invited friends to make new friends (friends of friends).
• MySpace: friend-networking & blogging; big with the music scene.
• Hi5: friend & school-class networking emphasized.
• OkCupid: testing system used to make friends, or match people as dates.
• SearchForEveryone: 1 master search engine for many social networking services.

Traditional Dating

Traditional dating sites charge a monthly fee ($20/month average) to post messages (free to browse), and vary from being a bunch of personals ads, to "matching" with different algorithims. If you plan to use a pay service, you'd be well advised to browse the members in your area before you get paid membership.

• Yahoo Personals: rudimentary matching system based on preferences.
• Match: multi-categorial system of matching; different sets of matches per preference or testing.
• E-Harmony: comprehensive, "high-end" (usually $50/month) matching service.
• Lovefire Dating: vast dating site, contains over 150,000 members; very affordable pricing.

Partisan Dating

Some dating services are dedicated to specific groups. Pricing is similar to "traditional" sites.

• Secularity: "I deny a belief in the existence of any god(s)" checkbox; semi-free.
• Democratic Singles Network: "non-corporate, grassroots dating site built by, and for progressives"
• Adam Met Eve: "seeking soul-mates who are interested in following their hearts desire where the Lord leads them"
• [1]: gay personals (most personals sites support gay/lesbian/bi by design).
• Conservative Match: "Sweet Hearts, Not Bleeding Hearts"

Sex-Matching / "Hookups"

Some websites exist solely to get you "hooked up" for "discrete encounters."

• Adult Friend Finder: a long-lived pay site for arranging sexual encounters.
• TheHumphouse.com: free, HotOrNot-style service.

Etiquette

When you post, make sure your picture is your best one and that your personal info is both true and amusing. You may get a date by lying, but chances are you won't get any action or another date. Making fun of yourself is more likely to get you a date rather than bragging. And, please guys, don't post your penis as your main pic (if you post it at all) women don't want to see your member, no matter how impressive it is. If she wants to see it, she'll ask to see it, hopefully for you, it'll be in person when she wants to see it.

References