How To Find A Good Internet Dating Site
Stu Pearson
Internet dating is so popular that I don’t know anyone who
hasn't tried joining one of these sites. It seems like
everywhere we surf on the Internet, various pop-up ads
advertising free online personals flood our screens – it's the
latest Internet gold rush. More and more people are signing up
for a minimal monthly fee. What they get for their money is a
place on the web where they can post their profile in order to
let other people contact them.
Unfortunately, as Internet dating sites increase, more and more
people are also having awful experiences, because very few
dating sites screen their members. This means that a sex
offenders, predators and scam artists are able to join dating
websites along with genuine singles looking to find their
match.
Here are some important things to consider before joining a
dating site:
1. First, consider how the website looks. If it's poorly
designed with unappealing graphics or jagged fonts and
misaligned sections, this indicates a lack of attention to
detail in the construction and layout of the site, and could
mean that the rest of the site's management is in a similar
state of chaos and disarray. Just think, if the webmaster can't
finesse the aesthetic aspects of the site, it's logical to
assume that they've done a similarly poor job with other
important aspects – like security. It's possible that the site
could be easily hacked, and your personal information,
including your photo and contact information, aren't secure.
And if you've paid for membership to the site using a credit or
debit card, your credit information could be at risk. Choose
Internet dating sites that are professionally constructed.
2. Try to look at some of the sample profiles on the site
before you sign up. Beware of sites that use photos of models
or random attractive celebrities in order to attract new
members. Also check out the user profiles – if they contain
gibberish characters or nonsensical phrases in the
descriptions, these are bogus profiles posted on the site to
artificially inflate the number of users. A little research
into the profiles on a site will also let you know whether
members are properly screened before they are allowed to sign
up.
3. Try to determine if a site has a privacy link. You can find
the privacy link at the bottom of a site’s main page. If they
have one, click on it and check to make sure they don't sell
members' information to anyone – you don't want to be bombarded
with spam e-mails and junk mail. Also look for the site's Terms
of Service page for the site's rules – check to see if they
screen their profiles to disallow racist language or overly
sexual material. If don’t state this, then it means anything
goes within this site, which is a good reason to not sign up.
4. Check if the dating site has a links page. Click on a few to
see which other sites they're affiliated with, and be careful if
they're linked to sex sites and spam sites.
5. Try to search for the copyright date, usually located at the
bottom of the first page. This will give you the age of the
site.
6. Don’t believe everything you read. Some dating sites claim
that they' been in the business for years but are actually
brand new. Look for a "who’s online" link – if you're the only
person currently online then their claims of having millions of
users is a lie. A site with millions – or even just thousands –
of members will always have a large number of people online at
any given time.
About The Author: Stu Pearson has an interest in Technology
related topics. To access more information on
http://www.hints-tips.com/category/computers/ or on
http://www.hints-tips.com/2006/05/28/internet_dating1/, please
click on the links.
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