This is another one of those big fricking sites. But it works like a whole mess of smaller regional ones. When you join, you automatically get placed in the virtual "community" that's local to you. This is good, but they should give you a choice to search for others nationally based on interests; as it is, you have to search one locality at a time.
Except for that criticism, their search mechanisms are excellent – you can create a narrow to wide search and everything in between. Though, some of the criteria are a little silly. Is there anyone who is only interested in meeting people based on a particular eye color?
I found the site quite easy to use. I liked their essay questions; they were different and likely to elicit interesting responses. I was happy to find categories for both my profession and religion, both of which are unusual. But I didn’t find an option for "my child lives with me part-time," nor an option for "I live with a child and a roommate," both of which are true for me.
Other good features include keyword searching, voice greetings (record one for free), the option to save searches with specific criteria, and to create a hotlist of favorite profiles. Other features include email tracking, room for 14 essays and 10 pictures.
I interviewed R.J.E., a hetero man in his mid-30s, in PA.
"One thing I have found about the personality of this site is that it encourages basic friendliness. No one seems to have his or her nose in the air. I get more contacts here, get more responses to emails, and I think the extensive profiles are a big plus. I like that the chat works, even on my 'unsupported' platform. (The chat never worked on match.com and when the system isn't too bogged down it's really cool.)"
R.J.E. gave them a low score for ease of use. "I'm on a dial-up modem using an 'unsupported' browser. I give them a 1, especially because I wrote to them about it and they don't seem to care. Microsoft won't make a new Internet Explorer for the Mac, and these services are marching on, leaving Mac users in the dust." I, the Dame, found it quite easy to use, but I'm using a cable modem and a PC.
