Are
you unattached?
Wishing you weren't?
Tired of the club scene?
If
so, you've got company!
Several million Internet users have turned to the World Wide
Web's matchmaking sites to find the perfect (or imperfect) mate.
Multitudes
of photos and personal profiles have attracted males looking for
females and vice versa who are anxious to couple the uncoupled.
In a way, this activity is promising.
In another, it's a bit sad.
As the Beatles' song goes, "All those lonely people, where
did they all come from"?
With
luck, maybe they'll find the right "significant other" to
partner with, or so goes the advertising from the matchmaking sites on
the Web.
The
services aren't completely free, at least not for the
"seekers" who want to contact others.
You can browse, without cost, to see who's available.
But if you want to get in touch with someone whose profile or
photo looks appealing you need to join the matchmaking service.
Most
sites allow ladies to post their profiles and pictures free.
How else would those sites attract paying members?
With those matchmaking services, it's ladies’ night around
the clock. Some sites
even let men post their profiles without charge.
For
those interested in locating the best matchmaker sites, the place to
begin is the Google directory of match
making services.
They
rate the various services in three categories:
"Very Good Singles Site. Take A Tour"!
"Excellent Dating Service: A Must See"! and
"Exceptional Site! Worth considering a membership"!
Match.com
is the
largest dating service on the Net.
Over one million singles served.
Based in California, they reach across the dating globe.
Excellent chat interface with several rooms, monthly ezine with
dating tips and a free full-meal-deal 7 day trial (no credit card
required).
An
example of their review of Match.com will give you an idea of the kind
of commentary and ratings that match-maker.org offer:
Free
personal ad search, profile placement and email for 7 days with low
monthly membership. They have the BEST chat room on the planet bar
none! A staff of match-maker.org has been a member for almost three
years and has met several very cool people in person. She's engaged
to one of them! So we know this service WORKS! Venus will send
members an email with potential matches, making Match.com a true
matchmaker.
Search by country, city, hair color, eye color, religion,
pictures...they have a very nice monthly ezine called MixnMatch
which gives Matchmonthly a run for its money!
Dating and relationship advice offered.
Design 99%, Content 100%.
A STAR.
A free trial offer with full membership capabilities except
Venus.
Sign up and Venus is yours.
We Rate This Site #1!
What more is there to say?
Match.
Com has a header that says "Millions of possibilities.
Start exploring them now."
One&Only
Internet Personals also gets a three heart rating for their "incredibly
huge database of active single men and women across the globe,
including teens and more mature persons, with over 229,000 active
personal ads online.
They email you with potential matches and offer very specific
matchmaking criteria for your surfing pleasure.
One&Only
offers a free personals ad search and personal ad placement with no
time limit.
Though they advertise “unlimited free membership” they
require a paid membership for responding to ads. For a one month
membership, they charge $24.95, and for a year it's $99.95
Some
of One&Only's member headlines are worth a tour in themselves,
like: "Warm and caring," "Do you dare"? "Melodie
d'Amour,"
"Light my fire," "Let me seduce you," and
"Do you want some Mexican spice in your life"?
There
are matchmaking sites for "Men Looking for European Women,"
"Alternative Lifestyles," "Connect at 50
Plus," and even a site for the disabled community.
VMM
is a unique matchmaking site for vegetarians only.
They’ve been around for 22 years, and though they’re based
in the UK, they have members around the world.
An
interesting Service for men is provided by the Absolute
Agency, who feature a large number of women from Russia and
Ukraine.
So,
if you don’t have anyone to share Valentine’s Day with, you might
want to look at an online matchmaking service.
Here's
a caveat from Salon.Com Magazine: "The Bot That Loved Me":
Many
people use the Internet to find love and romance, using online
personals and matchmaking sites. Now, spammers have latched onto this,
and instead of finding the love of your life, you may be giving up
your email address to those who fill your inbox with junk.
Here's
what we've heard: You may get an email from a site claiming to hook up
shy people with the subjects of their crushes. Someone likes you! Now
all you have to do is go to the Web site, enter your email address
(and in some cases, the addresses of your friends), and you'll find
out who's got that crush on you.
Well,
you've guessed it. This type of Web site seems to be a front for
spammers who are collecting email addresses for their spam
lists. A couple of people who did this with email addresses they
created just to test this 'immediately' started getting spammed as
soon as they entered the information on the so-called 'crush site'.
Many
crush sites seem to be legitimate, but some are not. Be
careful before you give your email address.
The
moral of the story? Don't let the promise of a love-smitten
admirer cause you to give up your email address. Remember,
if they're really interested in you, they'll contact you themselves!
