Canadian Personals is for people in Canada and those who want to hook up with them. There's no need to be Canadian to join; members are worldwide. I spoke with a few members who are quite loyal to the site, but mainly as a socializing venue, not as a way to find real-life partners.
Free members can create a profile with photo and browse profiles, but that’s about it. Trannys and polys/swingers: You can enter your sex only as M or F on signup, and there are no married people allowed. But yay for a “Pagan” option on religion, and yay for the write-in profession. Auto-renewal is on unless you turn it off, but there’s an easy place to do that on your settings page. The site uses the same format as BBW Personals Plus, so if you belong there, you'll be right at home here (and vice-versa).
The thing I found most noteworthy about Canadian Personals was its conservativeness. Chatrooms are monitored, and chat is even censored. If you try to type a four-letter word, it gets turned into comic-strip nonsense characters like “&#$@*”. Not only that, but I even got an emailed hand-slap for using unacceptable language in the chatroom - it was either my four-letter word experiment, or my typing "forking butthole" in a joking attempt to get around the censors. Of course any mention of explicit sexuality in your profile is a no-no, and even emails are monitored. Goddamn! Uh, I mean, goodness gracious!
I interviewed F.H., a 50-year-old hetero man in Ontario, who has been a member for about two months. He says, “I like this site because you make friends here. I joined to meet someone to get rid of the boredom and loneliness. I found a lady from B.C., but I found so much more. I found a group of people I now call friends. We meet in chat often, and we just plain have fun. I wish I could have gone to the ‘meet and greet’ in B.C. I hope they offer lifetime memberships again. I have been on several sites, like Matchup, Emode, and Christian Café. I missed the folks here, so I signed up again just for the chat.”
I asked him what his favorite thing was about the site, and he said, “Just that it is fun and you can feel relaxed and be yourself. Also knowing that any 'dirty' stuff is not tolerated. I mean sometimes it goes too far. Like right now our conversation is probably being monitored.”
Boy, talk about Big Brother breathing down your neck. *shudder*
One 23-year-old hetero woman in chat gave one useful piece of information for younger daters: “Members who post on the boards and chat are between 35-60. I don't feel left out so much, but it's harder to meet people that I might want to start a relationship with. I don't mind chatting with folks of all ages, but it limits relationship prospects.”
Then I interviewed G.B., a 50-year-old hetero woman from Burlington, Ontario, who has been a member for about three months. She says, "I joined this site with the intention of meeting a man or men to date and ultimately to start a relationship with. What I have found is a group of individuals who have the same goals and aspirations. People who want to share their lifes' experiences with others in a very positive way. The people I have chatted with are very supportive and protective of each other. We are, for all intents and purposes, friends. I have already experienced a 'meet and greet,' and at that event met 20-plus people who are now good friends. We had never met face to face, and there we were, getting along extremely well."
G.B.'s favorite thing about the site is that there are so many ways of contacting people: "emailing, instant messaging, message boards, and last but definitely not least the chat room (It's like a party/coffee shop/gab fest). And that there are no extra fees for these things is a real bonus (other sites charge extra for different things)."
She was not happy with the censorship, however. "My least favorite thing is the way management censors what is said, not only in chat and on the message boards, but also in instant messaging and in emails. We can not speak freely to one another, even when one on one, so we end up going to our MSN to chat in a more intimate and private way."
Overall, however, she enjoys Canadian Personals and says she has recommended the site to friends.
"My overall experience of this site is fabulous and very positive."
T.V., a hetero 35-year-old man from Ontario, a member for about a year, says, "I joined the site basically because I'm a very shy individual and thought that this would be an easier way to meet people. From the profiles I've read, and the people I've met in the chatroom, I'd say for the most part that the people here are friendly and genuine. A very good cross section of people." He finds the site very easy to use. "I've tried out a few of these dating sites, and this is the one I keep coming back to. The setup is very user friendly and non-intimidating."
Canadian Personals also has a color-coding matching system. T.V. found it an interesting concept. "I've found that it is fairly reliable, too, when comparing the coding to the way that a person puts their profile together. One feature that I've seen in other sites that I'd like to see added is some form of mutual matching to help narrow the field."
But T.V. has had limited success. "Although I enjoy the chatroom, I have found that meeting people online for more than friendship can be a frustrating and disheartening pursuit. I live in a rather remote area, and the few times that I've met someone with whom things started going well, it would usually end with their finding someone in the 'real' world. This would be a good place for people in larger center to meet someone in their area, but long distance will always be long distance, no matter how close the Internet makes someone seem."
