While each of the two previously reviewed online dating
services – eHarmony
and Match
- has their own distinguished advantages and attractive features, they both
share one big disadvantage. Efficient participation in search for your perfect
match will cost you money - a substantial subscription fee. Therefore, we will
present the site, which could offset these disadvantages by offering
exclusively free services to its member, while keeping the full functionality intact.
OKCupid presents a creative mix of social networking, compatibility-testing and online dating. It is an
unusual full-featured free dating site in that it allows its members to create
the matching questions already pre-determined at sites like eHarmony
or Chemistry. Additionally, the free dating site users can contact anyone on
the system whether or not you are matched well as an Enemy, Friend or Partner.
OKCupid Main Features
- OKCupid.com is one of the very few distinguished dating sites that are totally free to join. All onsite activities are also free, while the developers’ income comes from advertising.
- There is also an advanced paid layer, but it just enhances the experience and capabilities, unlocked by free membership. Yes, paying for the site has its perks, but it is totally optional. Unpaid users see advertisements on the site, while paid users – known as the “A-List” – enjoy an ad-free experience. A-List users also receive larger message storage (up to 5000 messages), advanced search features, custom ordered search results, special identification in search results, and the ability to change usernames without creating a new account.
- You can sign-up to OKCupid fast and easy, create your own profile, and upload your pictures.
- Perform a search for other members.
- Browse other members' profiles and look at their pictures for free
- Send a “woo” to another member - this is effectively the same as winking at them. You may only woo 3 people in any 24 hour period.
- Email other members using OK Cupid's internal e-mail system.
- Access up to 30,000 personality tests, created not only by the staff at OKCupid.com, but also by other members at OKCupid! Choose from the main Dating Test, the staff-written tests, and the user-written tests. These tests are many and varied and range from serious personality tests to fun and flirty tests. Why not see how you score against your potential match?
- Add members to your favorites list.
- Block a member from appearing in your search results by clicking on the "Dead to Me" button on their profile.
- Compare your profile with another member's profile by clicking on the "Compare Profile" button on their profile page. Your profiles will then be compared against a number of criteria for you to see how well you match each other.
- Use the WTF button on any other member's profile to compare match questions with that user. This will further help in establishing how compatible you are, as you will be able to compare your answers with those of your potential match.
- Browse a hotlist of members.
- See who's online now.
- See who's viewed your profile.
- Available in English, French and Portuguese.
- Excellent technical support.
Overview
OkCupid.com creates a unique dating environment by putting
heavy emphases on member participation. Matches are identified by your profile
and your responses to a series of fun questions generated by other members.
Each match question is made up of four parts: the question, the answers you’re
willing to accept from your matches, a rating of how important the answer is to
you, and an optional explanation of your response. The more questions you
answer, the smarter OkCupid gets at recommending matches for you.
When viewing another user’s profile, click the “The Two Of
Us” tab to compare your match question answers to their answers. If your
answers match, the text appears in black. If they didn’t give an answer you
were looking for, their answer appears in pink. And if you gave an answer they
weren’t looking for, your answer appears in pink. If there’s no hope
whatsoever, the tab will say “Y’all Have Issues” instead.
OkCupid also encourages user interaction via quirky tests,
like “The Personality Defect Test,” “The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test,” and “The
Lover Style Profile Test.” Tests don’t affect your match percentages around the
site, but they’re still a distinctive and entertaining way to get to know
potential dates.
OkCupid takes privacy very seriously, offering a range of
privacy controls to members. Users can choose to make their profile viewable
only to other OkCupid members who are signed in, and to block or hide users
they don’t want to see or contact. If you don’t want to appear on someone
else’s Visitors list when you view their profile, you can choose to browse
anonymously. However, if you do select the anonymous option, you won’t be able
to see recent visitors to your profile and your Visitors list will be purged.
The measure of any good business is its ability to keep up
with new trends and changes in the industry, and OkCupid does exactly that.
Full-featured mobile apps are available for both iPhone and Android, and
OkCupid recently announced a new venture called “Events.” OkCupid Events bring
online dating into the real world, creating “an instant party where you’re
guaranteed to have high matches in the room.”
Summary
When the site has been created in 2004, developers did not
have seniors as their clientele on their minds. It was more oriented towards
young, computer-savvy, virtual world ready younger adults. However, older
adults gaining more ground in these services, thus building bigger pool of the
possibilities for a better match for you. OkCupid is a fun, interactive and highly entertaining dating site. It is filled
with features no other dating site offers, and it is considered as one of the biggest
and the best free dating sites currently available.
Website: http://www.okcupid.com/
Sources and Additional
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