Internet dating sites a pain in the ass

Image representing Zoosk as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase

Seriously. I’m frustrated. I have been single for a while now and are trying to navigate the internet dating landscape to «shop around» for a possible real life date.

So far my experience with dating via internet has been dreadful to put it mildly. I have tested out a few dating services like be2.com and Zoosk currently. All I see is either that the site itself tries to rip everyone off – of the members tries the same.

Be2 dating service

Be2.com – positive points

This site looks nice enough at the first glance, and  I have been a member there for a full 6 months subscription. Actually I did meet a very nice girl from Norway that came and visited me when I lived in Marbella still. So I can’t say that this service is a total rip-off.

Be2.com – negative points

There are two big problems at be2.com

You can’t sort the listing of people based on where they live. Basically this means that you will get replies from people all over the world. For some people I guess that is fine, but in my experience it’s better to get to know people locally where you are.

The site is absolutelly horrible when it comes to fraudsters. They are everywhere! So 90% of the people contacting you are not looking for a partner in life. They are looking to become a «partner» with your money. Most of the ones trying to commit fraud this way at be2.com are from Nigeria.

The fraud problem become so bad for me that I chosed to simply shut down the accout eventually. I did try to get in touch with the staff at be2.com, but they simply replied with a general message about how big problem this is for everyone and we do everything we can to prevent it.

Actually there are one obvious thing be2.com can do to fight the fraud: They can check all uploaded images against www.tineye.com that is a reverse image search engine. I found a lot of profile pictures though that service – and they do offer an API access to use in automation.

Zoosk dating

I found Zoosk through Facebook. I am currently a member at that site. What I have found so far is that the site has so many ways to ask for money that I guess it prevents a lot of members to actually reply to requests.

Just about anything you want to do there demands that you pay – in one form or another. So if you as a guy wants to talk with a girl there she has to pay to even reply. Obviously that is a showstopper for many people there being poor or not wanting to spend money talking to a guy they don’t know at all.

At least replying to a message from a paying member should be free!

Other than that Zoosk looks nice and sleek. I like the design of the site a lot, but I can’t stand the greed.

What is your favourite dating site, and why do you like it?

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  • M. Y. Pow

    At least you do have experience meeting a person. I found that the site send out false messages. I got two messages from two persons but the content in the message were the same even with same typing mistake.

    I had used it for three weeks and had received 10 messages but which one is true, you can’t tell. I was very disappointed and I am thinking a way to boardcast this message. If you have any good idea, please let me know.

    I am asking for cancellation of the membership and I don’t know when I can successfully do it.

    • http://www.devenia.com/ Bjorn Solstad

      The thing is: The dating industry is a huge one. There is to much money to be made from it. I wish Google’s Orkut would be more like a dating site, and not just a Facebook kind of place like it is now. If Google had come up with a real dating site, I’m sure they would have done it in a way that would benefit the users more than the current players in the market.