TheDate HornyMatches

MyCountryMatch.com is a niche online dating site. From the first time I looked at the home page, I realized, this is totally different from any site I had visited. What caught my attention first was “Nice people, fewer games”, then I read “This site is dedicated to down-to-earth singles with country values”. Clearly, the site was making a statement, that statement being “Players need not apply.”

After getting hit on by my share of married men on AmericanSingles.com, I was ready for a change. Would MyCountryMatch.com be any different? Lets find out.

I decided to click on their “Be our Guest” link and I was even more surprised to see I had to answer a few questions before I could even gain access to the site. “Why are they making it so hard to join” was my first thought. The first question, “Are You Married?” You’ve got to be joking, an online dating site that qualifies its members? I answered “No” then was asked to take a pledge to be truthful.

These qualifying questions remind me of “Gated Communities” which have become very popular here in southern California. MyCountryMatch.com actually sets a unique code of ethics for their dating site. It is clear, they’re catering to a different type of person.

As I filled out the standard profile questions, I was pleasantly surprised that they asked me to define the word “Gentleman”. I hadn’t been asked that question in years and I knew right away, men reading my profile are going to be in for some real insight if they happen accross my personal ad.

MyCountryMatch.com uses different software than I have experienced on any other site. They actually break the profiles essay questions into sections and each section is assigned a “Trust Level”. As you meet people online, you decide if you want to grant them additional trust: from none, to Basic, Mid-Level or High. The more trust, the more information they get to read.

What I found exceptionally cool is you can assign all of your photos to a Trust level, so men have to actually read a little before they get their feeding of visual stimulation. Yes baby, I want you to fall in love with my mind first, body second! MyCountryMatch.com allowed me to really crank up the volume on my essay answers, only the bravest men need reply. I really like this feature and wish more dating sites allowed you to decide who gets to view your picture.

MyCountryMatch.com gives you the chance to join for free, browse profiles and even flirt with members on the site by sending “canned” glances. If you find someone you want to actually exchange email or chat with - you need to join. As a girl, I actually prefer this versus some of the free systems I’ve tried, I tend to get a lot of crude messages from guys looking to score - since they didn’t have to take out their wallet. Free usually brings out the immature child I have found. MyCountryMatch.com was more serious - real people, looking for real connections.

As I read through Men’s profiles on MyCountryMatch.com I got to not only read about them and what they’re looking for - I also got to read each of their definitions on the word “Romance”. Yes, of all the questions to ask a guy - this one hits to the heart of the matter. I can tell you, I passed on some pretty nice looking photos because of some pretty lame written responses to that one.

MyCountryMatch.com has this really cool “Introduce Me” feature. Basically, as you’re viewing profiles if you find someone attractive you can select “YES” I’m interested. If the other person shows interest in you as well, you receive an email stating you matched. Very cool.

MyCountryMatch.com is well designed, easy to navigate. However, putting the technology aside for a minute, I want to talk about some of the guys I met.

MyCountryMatch.com has some of the nicest guys I have ever met online. I didn’t have any guys asking me if I put out on the first date. I didn’t have one guy tell me he was married or fail to volunteer where he worked or his home phone (which is always a tell tale sign they’re hiding something). Yes ladies, I ask and no, I won’t give them my home number or office information. I have to worry about security and the rules are different - any guy who doesn’t get that, doesn’t have a chance at a first date with me. I didn’t have any of the guys on MyCountryMatch.com even blink at my screening questions and most of them hadn’t even seen my photo yet. I hid it until we exchange 3 emails (using the built-in email system) or online chat. The men on MyCountryMatch.com are different and I think it is because of the screening process they use.

The site does have a country feel. They have a whole section dedicated to a “Country” theme. What type of country music you like, type of country dancing (I can two-step!), etc…

I did see a bit of a trend among some of the men I exchanged email messages with. All of them like NASCAR and all liked animals (dogs over cats).

Now - what I didn’t like about the site. First, they need to tell more people about the site. They simply didn’t have a lot of guys in my area. The site is new, but still I just wish more guys knew about it. Their chat system is a little on the slow side, it could have been my cable modem, but it seemed slow. Finally, a lot of their profiles are not filled out. I think they should require people to fill out more of their profile before they can join the site. I was turned off by the number of men who didn’t take the time to fill out their profiles.

Finally, I should disclose, I do know the owners of MyCountryMatch.com. I think if you try the site, you’ll agree with everything in this review. If you don’t, I know you’ll write and let me know.

SilverSingles.com markets itself as a dating site for single mature adults. Yes, they have one of the largest community of singles aged 55 and over, however we were pleasantly surprised to find this site has expanded it’s community to 40 to 85 years of age.

After a few minutes online, SilverSingles.com feels like your favorite warm blanket on a cold winter day. It is comfortable, cozy and feels right at home.

SilverSingles.com is free to join. You can post your personal ad, including a photo for free. You only need to become a subscriber when you decide you want to exchange email or chat with someone online. So you basically don’t have to shell out a dime until you find someone you would like to get to know better.

The site questionnaire is longer than most, five (5) screens of questions, each including an essay question covering all the normal questions, “About Me”, “What You’re Looking For” , “What I’ve Learned from Past Experiences”, etc.. The questions also do a nice job of identifying your interests, likes and dislikes. Questions range from religious beliefs, smoking and drinking, to favorite cuisines, music and activities both doing and watching. I found their questionnaire complete without going overboard like eHarmony.com. My only complaint is, the essay questions should allow people to write more than 200 characters. I think the “About Me” section should allow 800 or 1000 characters. Woman love to write and I like to read what they have to say about themselves. Still, SilverSingles.com does get the basics across and you can ask for more info when you contact with them via email.

So, free membership allows you to post a free personal ad, including a picture and then sit back and see what happens. You only need to pay to become a subscriber if you meet someone. Subscription fees cost $24.95 per month, which is about average when it comes to dating sites.

Now, the cool thing about SilverSingles.com is the fact you can send up to 30 “Teases” a day to other people for no charge. In fact, you don’t need to be a subscriber to send a “Tease”. A “Tease” is a canned one line message. SilverSingles.com does a very nice job of organizing these “Teases” into categories such as: Sincere, Romantic, Poems, Movie Lines, etc… It is a neat way to get someone’s attention. We suggest you join SilverSingles.com, browse people in your area, then send out “Teases”, up-to 30 a day!. Then sit back and see what happens. If you’ve created a good profile and have a decent photo, you should get some contact, and then you can decide if it is worth the $25.00 to join.

In the end, dating sites are about the community of singles who make up the site. SilverSingles.com is a winner when it comes to creating a site for singles 40 and over.

I knew I was in for a treat when I decided to give Yahoo! Personals a run, I did a search for guys in my age group, within 50 miles of my southern california zip code and it returned 1,000 guys! Can you believe it, 1,000 guys - oh, be still my heart, let the fun begin.

Yahoo personals is a pure dating site in the mode of Match.com however they leverage their position as one of the leading portals for the web. The real appeal of this site is the convenience of being a subscriber to the Yahoo portal as well as the ease of use and extremely well done Flash video Tour Take the Plunge to the site which combines both graphics and voice to alleviate any in trepidation one may have about the complexity and safety of On-line dating. I don’t understand why more sites don’t have tutorials like this - hey Ken, grab the camera!

The site boasts vast numbers of subscribers and allows one to create a profile, search and flirting, voice and video greetings all at no charge allowing the user to compile some interest from potential matches. Once they see or are seen then one needs to subscribe in order to IM or e-mail their potential matches.

The site offers cute greetings as pre-selected teasers and offers a Yahoo subscriber an alternate user name for the personals e-mail. Creating a profile is easy with the questions centered on age, location, interests and qualities desired in a match. The whole process takes initially about 15 minutes and can constantly be refined and updated. The profile can have up to 5 photos which can be displayed or hidden and only shown when comfortable.

As I was viewing profiles I came across this fit, blue eye, brown hair hunk of a man. I noticed a link called “View Similar Profiles” which is suppose to be like, if you like this guy, you’ll probably like these other guys too! My heart pounded as I pressed the button, I’m going to find my Brad Pitt, I just know it! WRONG! These guys were NOTHING like the hunk I found - why place features on a dating site that simply don’t work, I don’t get it?

Subscription prices are: 1-month, $19.95 to 12 months for $89.95, but I would say if you plan to pay for 12 months at one wack, you’re just a serial dater or under the age of 25. I can’t see being on any one dating site for a year!

True.com is truly is a lightweight eHarmony site with their patented TRUE Compatibility Testâ„¢, which provides members insight into their own personalities by assessing the 99 factors of personality that their relationship experts have determined to be the best predictors of compatibility. The TRUE Compatibility Index (TCI) is a scientific measure of how your own individual attitudinal, behavioral, and personality elements correlate to other members and what degree of long-term relationship satisfaction you can expect based on that correlation. That is, when you view your matches, the TCI will tell you how well the overall qualities of the other members match the correlation of compatibility between you and that person.

TRUE then goes a step further than ordinary online dating services by raising the bar for safety and security. The TRUE Security program uses screening technology, marriage certification, advanced blocking, and virtual dates to give you peace of mind as you search for your perfect partner. They have their own magazine PIVA (Print, Interactive, Video and Audio) called True.

The personality test is complete, it took me 30 minutes to fill out. However it was more like an interactive slide show. Once I completed that step, the balance of the profile only took 10 minutes for a total time investment of under 40 minutes.

It is the typical free to post a profile, pay to communicate. This is free with limitations as to types of communication that can transpire such as a wink, viewing profiles etc.

I didn’t have any luck communicating with any of the women on the site because they had not been cleared through “rapsheets”, a 3rd party background checker. Nice idea, but I should have the right to make a decision to chat with whoever I want, the rapsheet stuff should be an “informational” item only. After all the work on my profile, this site turned out to be a failure.

Lavalife.com is a combination online dating with a more promiscuous attitude. This is the perfect site for people who are interested in “hooking up”. I’m sure I’m like most of the guys, I posted a picture and profile in the dating and relationship sections, but kept checking out the women in the Intimate Encounters. What can I say

Lavalife.com offers the user the choice of three similar but unique communities of Dating, Relationships and Intimate Encounters. In fact one can post individual profiles for each or all communities varying or hiding information based upon the willingness to share in that community. The site offers a pictorial studio with degrees of visibility and safety as to who can see what and when. They also offer as part of the personal profile a hot list which allows the subscriber to save the names of their favorite potential matches.

The most interesting aspect of the Lavalife site is that it does not charge a subscriber fee per month, but acts as a transactional pay as you go model where you make a deposit and use that amount depending upon how many people you contact. Think of this site as a combination Friendfinder and Adult Freindfinder all rolled into one!

It was interesting to see the number of women who, while in chat, asked me if I had a problem in the IE room. I got the feeling the community of women on Lavalife we’re not as uptight as some of the women on other sites.

This site is all about flirting. Whispers are Instant messages, Smiles are like icebreakers or winks and they even have video chat enabled.

Lycos Matchmaker is similar to Yahoo in that the site is part of the Lycos portal and convenient to subscribers of that portal! When one enters the portal they see the matchmaking access, Tripod blogs, Wired news and access to monster.com as well as other Lycos services.

Over eight million users worldwide. Registration is free initially, and a considerable time commitment. There are 23 essays to be answered, ranging from serious (goals and aspirations) to frivolous (what superhuman power you’d chose.) Narrow your choices by such options as location, age, ethnicity, or lifestyle–from Mormons to military folk to “swingers.”

Instant messaging available; $24.95 per month to subscribe. The potential to record a voice greeting adds a personal touch. Exhaustive profiles let you sort through the less desirables before you start chatting. Recently nominated by Forbes as one of the top on-line dating sites however the site layout is rather confusing.

This is a pretty clean little site. You can add people to your “Hot List” and search several ways. They have a 1 click feature that gives you a list of people the site feels best matches your needs, but you can also use an advance search to really narrow it down.

Initially, I was fairly dubious about the effectiveness of online dating sites and had tried a few in the past, but gave up after a short while for various reasons. However, recently a friend recommended a new site, www.datinghappy.com, so I thought I would give online dating one more go.

I am so glad that I took my friend’s advice. The site was quick and easy to use and basic registration was free, enabling me to browse around before deciding whether or not to sign up for full member benefits. The support system was amazing and my queries (since I am one of those people who questions everything) were answered quickly, comprehensively and with a personal touch. Not once did I ever feel that my security was compromised and the way in which the site operates made me feel that I was the one in control.

As a result of signing up as a full member, I have broadened my social circle and, yes, have found that special someone!! Although it’s still early days, I am currently having the time of my life. In addition to finding new friends, I found the relationship features and advice a welcome addition and continue to return to the site just to read these really helpful articles.

Another bonus is that there are none of those annoying pop-up ads and the site is clean and free from tacky banner advertising.

I highly recommend this site to anyone who is looking for any sort of relationship. Free access to really interesting articles. An admirer list - you can add people to your list and they can add you to theirs. I found it really exciting logging in each day to find out whether I had any new admirers!

Ken added:

Large community of members in the U.K. I search for women 25-40 in California and it returned 150 results. If you decide to join, be prepared to pay in “Pounds”, with today’s conversion price is around $35.00 for one month, making it one of the more expensive sites around. Still, if you want to make a new friend and expand outside of the USA, this is a cool site to check out.

This is not a review so much as a story. I was having coffee at Starbucks with my girl friend Nikki a couple of weeks ago when she told me she was tired of being alone every Friday and Saturday night. I told her she should give internet dating a try. Nikki is a gorgeous 38 year old brunette who is a successful real estate broker in Southern California. She has focused the last 15 years of her life building her business and none of the men she’s met have been able to keep her attention. Nikki has outgrown the bar scene, and most of the social circles she runs have a very low bachelor count. As we visited over coffee, she told me she still was hopeful her one true love was out there, but she knew the clock was ticking.

Nikki works with the southern California elite (attorneys, doctors, CEO, top athletes, and several Hollywood stars). Nikki is their go-to girl when they want to buy and sell property because she’s as smart as she is beautiful. She is driven, focused and knows how to work a room better than anyone I’ve ever met. But she is single, never married and lonely. She wanted my advice.

Somehow MyCountryMatch.com, one of my favorite sites just didn’t seem like an option. Nikki doesn’t want her picture available for the whole world to see. She’s worried about the negative gossip that can travel in her circles. It isn’t that she can’t attract a guy, she just can’t find the right guy who shares her same views on family, children and marriage.

So, I suggested she try Great Expectations. This is a different type of dating site where each and every member is screened. You make an appointment via their website, then go into one of their local offices around the country. Service is very personalized and it’s totally confidential.

Nikki took me up on my advice. She made an appointment at the Irvine, California office of Great Expectations. She was met by one of their counselors where they had her fill out a complete questionnaire about herself and what she was looking for. They also create a 3-4 minute video profile and took updated photos.

All of this information is posted on their private, members only website. The nice thing about Great Expectations is not only do they screen every member, they also run complete background checks on each member. So Nikki didn’t have to worry about guys who lie about being married, or about where they live or the type of jobs they have. This is clearly a solution designed for people like Nikki. Personalized service, extremely safe and confidential. In talking with her today, she told me Great Expectations has helped her get her foot back into the dating scene, meeting other single, career professionals who share interests similar to hers.

It doesn’t cost anything to visit the site, fill out the form and wait for them to contact you. They have different pricing plans and I promised Nikki I wouldn’t say how much she spent. I gave them a middle of the road rating because of the cost and limited membership. I think for Nikki it is the best choice, but it isn’t for everyone.

I learned of emode’s existence when a friend sent me a IQ test hosted by emode.com - they have a jillion fun tests for checking everything from your IQ to what your fav color means to what kind of cat are you; I happened to notice they had a dating site as well, so I tried it.

For free you can search other profiles, but you must pay to actually have contact with anyone. Which these days is standard, I think. You fill out a rather lengthy profile after you take your ‘personality’ test, and are then free to surf the profiles all you want. The problem is, too much of what matches one person to another is based on answers the user is much too free to make up, and you end up being attracted to a profile which is more of how the person wants to be viewed, rather than an objective summary of the person’s personality.

I met and went out with 9 women from emode. All were high percentage matches to me, 95% or better. All but one totally misrepresented themselves. One even turned out to be a lesbian who was trying to experiment. Another was an ex-heroin addict from the streets who had been institutionalized, who ended up stalking me. I wouldn’t sit on this one side of my living room for a month for fear of a car coming crashing through from the street to kill me. In fairness, I did meet one woman that I still love to this day. Is 1 out of 9 good or bad?