It never ceases to amaze me how many jobs, professions and cottage industries have developed around dating. Matchmakers, wingmen, dating coaches, people who write online profiles for daters, companies that run speed dating events and the many many sites and apps with increasingly specialized niches that still pop up and try to grow.
Wow. Then yesterday I found another. Sites that rank online dating sites and apps. In particular, a fellow named Jason Lee (not the Jason Lee of “Mallrats”, “My Name is Earl” or “Almost Famous” fame) is in charge of DatingWebsiteReview.net, which he aims to be the king of reviewing these technological vehicles for singles to meet and mingle.
Lee also posted his year in review about online dating and where it’s gone this year not to mention the standout sites in various categories, as dictated by his users.
The big winner seems to be Match.com, which was crowded best overall. Lee calls Match “the best of the best, with constant new features.”
Tops in terms of niche sites was. Wait for it. ChristianFilipina.com. I definitely did not know that there were sites with that kind of differentiation—religion and nationality. ChristianFilipina, according to their homepage, has been around since 2009 as a conservative, inexpensive option. Power to them.
For best cougar site and best sugar daddy online destination, the awards go to SugarDaddyforMe.com and CougarLife.com. So if you are dead set on a younger mate, they could become your go-to.
The one single people focused app to which I am most acquainted is HowAboutWe.com. The concept is rather solid. Instead of a massively long profile, daters post specific ideas for activities in which they’d like to partake with someone. Then it’s a simple messaging for two people to be off doing said activity.
Lee praises the notion and notes that a trend begun in 2013—and will continue in 2014—of sites bringing together offline events to complement the online activity. To me, this is a major plus. There’s nothing worse than being stuck messaging someone on a site as opposed to just getting out and meeting them. Hallelujah!
The annual synopsis also takes the position that more needs to be done to authenticate dating site participants’ identities. Lee suggests requiring a state-issued ID. This seems, to me, a simple enough solution. Actually, not to stroke Lee’s ego too much, this problem is probably the second biggest issue I have with online dating. To various levels there is trickery. In some cases this means an entirely artificial person. Other times an exaggerated persona so that suddenly the guy is funnier and smarter and just better. And, in my experience, paranoid guys sometimes assume that girls are lying about their identities, which is probably a whole other problem. One tried to coerce me into sending him added photos to, you know, ensure that I was me.
If any of the dating professionals can prevent this from happening, I salute you.
-Dena