Finding the Right Service
How to find the right service for your needs

With so many on-line personals and personal dating services to choose from, deciding on which one to use can be daunting.

Generally I recommend not using more than 2 services at a time since it will be difficult for you to keep track of responses and worse, if someone notices you on more than one site you might come across as being desperate.

A good test if you are looking for a match is to browse around and see what type of people are using it. Many on-line personals attract certain types. Some might be more popular with a younger crowd while others may have become preferred by the more mature. This may not have been intentional either so don’t assume a site has a broad spectrum of members simply because it is a generic site.

There are essentially two types of sites out there, the huge general sites or the ones geared to certain locations or special interest groups.

The huge sites tend to have more features and definitely have a larger audience. That means more responses are likely. This can be both good and bad. While the chances of meeting just the right person are statistically higher, you might miss that person in the sea of responses.

The more focused sites either allow you to concentrate of people just in your area or within a certain special interest group. My Gothic Personals for example is specifically geared to that subculture and so helps to weed out those who may be intrigued by it all but just can’t relate to it. Most local newspapers these days have a corresponding website which often provides some sort of local personal ads. This helps ensure that the person you meet is not going to end up being a long distance relationship. This is important to keep in mind since sometimes location is forgotten on the internet since it makes the world seem so small… that is until you have to take three busses and a taxi to meet in person. It’s comforting to be able to share stories with someone about local town events and know of the same local hangouts.

	Which Service?
	Free vs. Paid
	Locating a Service
	Online Alternatives
	Links