The “Duet” Total Compatibility System, which was created by leading relationship expert Dr. Pepper Schwartz, is a fun and practical personality test. It only takes around 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and is well worth the time. Creating an accurate profile of yourself and recognizing your personality type is an important step in the matchmaking process. After completing the test, clicking the results link will show you a detailed view of your personality characteristics on several different levels, including core values, love style and outlook. It’s even possible to send feedback on your test to PerfectMatch to tell them if you think your results are accurate or not. You can re-do the test at any time if appropriate.

Once you complete the Duet test, simply click on the “Perfect Matches” link and you’ll be shown people who match your personality type. By clicking on any of the member links, you can view their profile and their personality traits. Checking the “compare us” tab is fun and gives and instant side-by-side comparison of their profile with your own. You can refine your perfect matches even further by entering deal breakers. For instance, you can state that your matches should be within certain locations, you can also set age limits, and if you wish you can exclude people with certain personality traits. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to restrict on physical qualities, such as height or appearance.

If you prefer, you can bypass the guided matching system altogether and browse profiles yourself. To browse profiles or to openly communicate with other members, you will need to join as a premium member. Subscribing members will receive matches by email, the ability to communicate anonymously with others, have access to articles to read on the site as well as many other perks.

While this fee is a little more expensive than other sites, they guarantee the matches you receive will be quality members who are similar to you. Their resident relationship expert, Dr. Pepper Schwartz , is there to give support and advice to all of its members.

PerfectMatch.com is one of the most well known matchmaking web sites around, appearing in numerous T.V. shows as well as being featured in several movies such as “Must Love Dogs (2005)”, “The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)”, and “Perfect Romance (2004)”. It’s not surprising that people who are serious about finding their “perfect match” are flocking to this site, making it one of the most popular.

Related posts

• July 5, 2011 -- Science and romance come together at eHarmony
• June 23, 2011 -- The Internet Can Help Us to Find True Compatibility
• October 10, 2010 -- Are They “The One”?
• May 15, 2010 -- A New Approach To Facebook Matchmaking
• December 18, 2009 -- Most Important Compatibility Factors
• November 29, 2008 -- When Do You Talk Politics on a Date
• October 14, 2008 -- Creating a Long Distance Relationship That Works

Just provide your email and password on the first page, followed by your location on the next. After completing this step, you’ll be asked to provide some personal details and a Zoosk username. Some of this information is visible to other members on what’s called your “Date Card”. You can add as much detail as you like to your Date Card, including your likes and dislikes, your favorite music and films and who you would like to meet. You can also pick from a list of pre-set “ice breakers”, which are questions that will appear on your Date Card. Simply click any number of these, and anyone contacting you can give you their answers. You’ll also need to upload a photograph. Your profile will be active without a photo however you won’t be able to email other members without one.

If you choose, you can also invite your friends to write testimonials about you. By doing this, your contacts from your Hotmail, Live or Gmail email accounts will be sent a message asking them to write a testimonial for you. To complete this step, you’ll need to provide the password to your email account.

There are two levels of membership on Zoosk, free and premium. Premium members pay a monthly subscription fee, and can access all features on the site and communicate with others without any restrictions. Free members have some basic privileges, can send winks and flirts, and browse profiles. Free members can earn (or purchase) Zoosk Coins. These allow the purchase of certain things on the site, such as gifts, or they can be used to grant chat and email privileges (unlocking e-mail messages for example).

Coins can either be purchased directly with a credit card, or they can be earned, for example, by getting your friends to join to the site. Premium members will only need Coins for special purchases such as gifts, or special delivery emails.

Related posts

• July 18, 2011 -- Badoo Continues to Grow
• May 22, 2010 -- Speed Dating For Venture Capitalists
• February 23, 2010 -- The Next Generation Of Online Dating
• July 13, 2009 -- Breaking Up Facebook Style
• June 15, 2009 -- Social Networking Meets Online Dating
• October 19, 2008 -- Social Networking and Online Dating – A Match Made in Heaven?
• August 3, 2011 -- Trouble Heating Up a Romance? – Try Cooling the Cyber-Chat

Badoo is free to users but members can pay “micropayments” to boost their profiles in rankings and for other little niceties. So far it has worked quite well, as their membership levels are reported to be over 140 million right now and they are planning to IPO for about $2 billion.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Badoo’s application for Facebook was Facebook’s fastest growing, with more than 3 million daily users.

If you haven’t tried Badoo, now might be the time to get on board. The design is somewhat like a chat room, making it easy to meet people. And, with the record number of people joining Badoo each week, you’re sure to find someone to talk to. Badoo seems to have promise to be one of the most widely used sites for making friends and finding dates over the next few months. So, if you’re looking for a new dating site, hop on over to Badoo.

Related posts

• July 20, 2011 -- Facebook dating with Zoosk.com
• February 23, 2010 -- The Next Generation Of Online Dating
• July 13, 2009 -- Breaking Up Facebook Style
• June 15, 2009 -- Social Networking Meets Online Dating
• October 19, 2008 -- Social Networking and Online Dating – A Match Made in Heaven?
• August 3, 2011 -- Trouble Heating Up a Romance? – Try Cooling the Cyber-Chat
• July 12, 2011 -- Will Google Plus be the New Dating Site?

One can use the guided communication process to break the ice or bypass it all using the site’s Fast Track system. Founded by Dr. Neil Warren, a dating and relationship expert, eHarmony.com is recognized for its ability to create long lasting compatible matches. This is because of the lengthy questionnaires that must be filled out which is designed to match couples on a deeper level that appearances alone. The site has strong Christian principles, and has received complaints in the past for not catering for same sex couples. It’s not clear whether this policy will change.

The extensive compatibility questionnaire must be completed before gaining access to the site, so unlike many other match sites, at eHarmony one cannot simply register in a few moments and start browsing profiles. The test answers can be saved at any time however so that you can come back at a later point to finish the test.

Once you complete the test and access the site, you can easily modify your profile and customize your settings. Choosing between the fast track or guided communications options can be done here, as well as specifying whether you’d like to receive matches by email or not. It’s also possible to restrict matches to people living within a certain distance, to those with certain religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds, and of a certain height.

eHarmony has one of the most comprehensive matchmaking services available both on and off the internet. It’s well suited to those seeking a compatible partner for a serious, lasting relationship. Those uncomfortable or unwilling to examine themselves at length are not likely to find themselves suited to eHarmony.com.

Read more about eHarmony

Related posts

• June 23, 2011 -- The Internet Can Help Us to Find True Compatibility
• October 7, 2009 -- The Science Of Matchmaking
• August 3, 2011 -- Perfect Matches with the Duet Test?
• March 30, 2011 -- How successful is online dating?
• October 10, 2010 -- Are They “The One”?
• May 16, 2010 -- Matrimonial Matchmaking Goes Online
• May 15, 2010 -- A New Approach To Facebook Matchmaking

There’s a new site in Europe that’s aimed at those who just want to have fun. “Flirt Naughty” isn’t a site for those who are looking for a marriage partner, but rather for those looking for a no strings attached hookup and casual dating. “Flirt Naughty’s” director of marketing, Paul Fitzpatrick said the company felt that there were lots of traditional dating sites aimed at those who are looking for long term relationships, but fewer for those who just want to have some casual fun. Flirt Naughty is owned by Global Personals, which owns several other dating sites. Flirt Naughty offers the features you’d expect from online dating sites. You can send emails, text messages, have video dates and create video dating diaries, too.

So, if you’re looking for a new casual dating site, you can still be one of the earliest members at Flirt Naughty. But, hurry; they appear to be growing pretty fast.

Related posts

• January 26, 2012 -- How To Get the Boys Falling At Your Feet
• November 10, 2011 -- Getting Dates Via Instant Messaging (IM)
• November 10, 2011 -- Three Easy and Inexpensive Ways to Get a Man to Notice You
• October 13, 2011 -- Title: 10 Signs that She is Attracted to You
• October 13, 2011 -- Is She Playing Hard to Get? Decode Mixed Signals
• March 8, 2011 -- Does “Instant Attraction” Break New Ground?
• November 3, 2010 -- Open Communication

Meyer originally launched “Date My School” at Columbia, but has also launched the site for New York University, Fashion Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, too. In April the site will go live at Harvard and MIT.

The premise of “Date My School” is slightly different than many other niche dating websites. Meyer’s take on college dating at such competitive schools was that students simply couldn’t find time for love because they were enrolled in competitive programs, focused on good grades and a good career and had little time on their hands. With “Date My School”, they can meet up with students at their own university, which makes it easier for them to spend time together. It also allows them to date people who will be more likely to understand their busy schedule.

“Date My School” doesn’t provide matching algorithms like many popular traditional dating sites, but it does allow students to be very particular about who sees their profile and who they want to date. Many students, for example, prefer not to match with others in their same program of study.

Jean Meyer, along with Balazs Alexa, has successfully pulled of another great niche dating site, meeting the needs of a very specific dating community. Meyer is French; maybe it’s true that the French know a bit more about love than the rest of us. You can read the full article on Jean Meyer and “Date My School” at the New York Times.

Related posts

• August 3, 2011 -- Trouble Heating Up a Romance? – Try Cooling the Cyber-Chat
• July 20, 2011 -- Facebook dating with Zoosk.com
• July 18, 2011 -- Badoo Continues to Grow
• May 22, 2010 -- Speed Dating For Venture Capitalists
• May 15, 2010 -- A New Approach To Facebook Matchmaking
• February 23, 2010 -- The Next Generation Of Online Dating
• July 13, 2009 -- Breaking Up Facebook Style

Some are pretty benign. For example, there are now lots of dating websites for single parents. It makes perfect sense that single parents would want to take a lot of the guesswork out of finding a match. They don’t have a lot of free time, and they need to find someone who’s cool with kids.

There are also dating websites designed for people who are of a particular faith, ethnicity, or sexual preference. There are even dating websites for people who prefer their mates to be large, tall or even short. And, there are sites designed for people who are already in a committed relationship, but looking for love “on the side”.

And, of course, there are plenty of dating websites that are designed to help people find a match that will be sexually compatible, such as sites that appeal to people with a particular sexual fetish.

And, then there are the ones that are not exactly what you’d call “mainstream” niche dating site. I’m talking about those sites that are designed to help people meet someone in prison for dating and those that are designed for people with sexually transmitted diseases to meet each other.

Niche dating websites are no different than any other niche product on the market. They fill the desires of a very specific type of dater. Just further proving the theory that “there’s somebody for everybody”.

Related posts

• April 19, 2010 -- Online Dating Gate Crashers
• January 14, 2010 -- Things To Do In A Snowstorm
• September 29, 2009 -- The Business Of Online Dating
• November 22, 2007 -- I’d Be More Thankful If This Were for Real
• November 12, 2007 -- 100% Free, But Will It Work?
• October 26, 2007 -- Another Vote for Online Dating?
• October 20, 2007 -- Is Online Dating More Romantic Than Traditional Dating?

Let’s look at two of the most popular – Facebook and MySpace.

Both of these sites have ways that you can proclaim your single-ness to the rest of the world, allowing you to have a free way to meet dates online. But is it really as effective as it might seem? Or are traditional dating sites the way to go?

Here are the pros of networking sites:

• They offer you a look into the personality of your date
• They can give you a sense of who they hang out with
• You can look at their profile before talking to them
• They’re free to use!

But here are the cons of using networking sites as dating sites:

• They can lead to long term issues with people bugging you for dates
• They can lure less than truthful people to your profile
• The security risk is higher

Just as with any website for dating, there are positives and negatives, so you need to weigh the risks before heading into the dating pool of these sites. But the good news? You don’t have to accept anyone as a friend until you’re completely sure you want them to be a friend.

Choose your friends wisely, and you might find your dating life spicing up.

Related posts

• May 30, 2007 -- MySpace as an Online Dating Tool
• June 15, 2009 -- Social Networking Meets Online Dating
• July 20, 2011 -- Facebook dating with Zoosk.com
• July 18, 2011 -- Badoo Continues to Grow
• April 1, 2010 -- Online Is Now Mainstream
• February 23, 2010 -- The Next Generation Of Online Dating
• July 13, 2009 -- Breaking Up Facebook Style

In truth, many of the dating sites right now are simply sterile and do you want to actually meet the people who enjoy that kind of impersonal attitude? Absolutely not. And to make things even better, SinglesPlease.com is completely free, so you’re not shelling out money to meet people…until you want to take them out.

To make things even easier, the singles on this site can look through hundreds of profiles all at once by simply putting a check on the pictures they like and them reading through only those profiles. When the site member signs in again, they’ll see who has been looking at their photos and the dating fun can begin.

Sure, dating is a business for those who run the dating sites, but when you’re looking for a deeper connection with someone – or maybe just a fun night out – you want to go to a site that treats you like a friend, not like a customer.

Related posts

• June 27, 2009 -- Dating In A Terrible Economy
• April 15, 2009 -- Volunteering for Love?
• March 9, 2009 -- The Recession Increases Your Chances of Finding Love… Really
• April 11, 2008 -- Why Being Single is Not Your Fault
• March 21, 2008 -- A Dose of Dating Reality
• January 31, 2008 -- Dealing with a Bad Online Dating Service
• October 3, 2007 -- Because the Internet Isn’t Fast Enough for Some Singles

Before you even plunk down your credit card, you need to be aware of one thing – dating sites want to make money. But at the same time, there are a number of dating sites who simply exist to take money from people without giving them anything in return.

At least, that seems to be what US and World Report claim.

Here are some ways to make sure you are not only protecting yourself, but also getting your money back if you should be dissatisfied with the service:

• Investigate the site before you sign up – Don’t just sign up on the first site you find. Read reviews. Find out what your friends are using. Take some time to figure out whether this site seems like it’s set up to help you.
• Read the contracts – Find out how much money you need to pay and whether you will be signed up for a monthly charge from the start.
• Try to pay by check – If you can, try to pay by paper check. This way, if you’re done with the service, they can’t automatically charge you on your credit card. True, this is a rare feature in dating sites, but if possible, it’s the best deal.
• Find out who to contact with complaints before you have a complaint – This way, you can give them a call and see how helpful they are before you sign up, letting you know how helpful they will be when you are a member.
• Keep records of your charges.

Related posts

• January 25, 2008 -- Can You Trust a Dating Site Review Site?
• March 16, 2010 -- Re-Billing Gets Rejected… An End to Auto-Renewals?
• June 23, 2008 -- Liar, Liar, Date on Fire?
• March 28, 2008 -- Please Save Me from Being Single!
• December 21, 2011 -- 5 Warning Signs You Need to Know to Avoid Dating Scammers
• August 4, 2011 -- Honey, I Cheated on Your Checkbook: Is Your Relationship at Risk from Financial Infidelity?
• March 24, 2011 -- Are You Trapped in a Possessive Relationship?