With all the online dating sites on the net now, what makes the best and worst in a dating site?

I still can't quite imagine dating
someone off a dating site.
I mean, it is the place to be if you
wish to date I guess. And from what
I have heard, Mingle is the best.
As a social networking site, with
the forums, it is top notch.

Free is always good...when I was 18 I started on dating sites just looking around...kind of a taboo the way I was raised...

Now the only one I use is Mingle2, and I am mostly here to make and keep in touch with the friends I have made. The forums are great here.

I concur.

Mingle2 is by far the best because of the forums.

If other sites had a forum, then there would be a contender. But I haven't seen any others. Surprising.

Forums are a huge plus.

At this stage of the game, as I've tried approximately 16,887 different sites, I'd have to say that I'm not going to find anyone compatible on the larger, more mainstream sites. So I'm more likely to actually look for someone on a smaller and more specialized site.

Free is good, too!

The sites I've seen that I would label "bad" all tended to be difficult to navigate, poorly constructed, and there was little to indicate that the site owners cared at all about the site or the members.

As an example, I was on one site where they suddenly decided I was using the wrong password. Well, that was impossible because I only ever used one password there. I wrote to the Admins several times, trying to get them to resolve the problem, and they never wrote back. To this day, I assume (I haven't tried, actually, but what would be the point?) I still would not be able to get into that site.

As far as the sheer quality of the people is concerned, Mingle2 is the best site I've tried. Which is why I'm still here, 4 1/2 years later....

Porn usually.

This site is good for chatting in the forums and making some friends. However, when it comes to actual dating, there aren't many locals.

Sadly, must agree.

I have only talked to one other Alaskan since I signed up...

Definitely have to agree as well, not many locals for me either, but the people are great nonetheless :)

Oh,

One other thing.

I was on two other dating sites for a total of 14 months between them.

In the 4 months I have been on Mingle, I have talked with 6 times as many women as I have on the other two combined.

It is interesting. The women that are not in the forums have the same difficulty in starting a conversation as I had on the other dating sites. but the women I talk to in the forums, we already have an idea of what the other is like. We already have something to talk about. My emails have never been ignored by a woman I met in the forums.

As for the other sites, 2 in 100 would respond...

I've been on many sites in the past and I still read forums from time to time (I just don't post) I look to see what the forums are like. If they are vile and groups gang up on others and the site doesn't seem to care....that says a lot about the people and the site IMO

I guess it really depends on how you go about starting conversations, what's in your profile, pictures and anything else along those lines.

I do use another site that has quite a few locals. I don't post in the forums and I've had no trouble starting up conversations with people there.

Well yeah, because you're a woman. Every woman I have talked to says they get dozens if not hundreds of emails.

In all the time I have been on dating sites I have had 5 women contact me first.

I always read their profile and I always make a comment on their profile about how it pertains to me, or make a witty comment.

what I am talking about is there seem to be a lot of times where I feel like I am pulling teeth trying to get them to talk to me. They ask dozens of questions and generally ignore mine. Really hard to carry on a conversation when you are doing all the talking. I don't get it.

There have been a couple women that would ask the same exact questions back to back. Don't they read what I write???

If you think it may be something in my profile, tell me what it is...

Well, I think I have gotten to picky or maybe its just too independent, I don't get many emails either and the ones I do get were from 24yrs and younger from other countries( yea, not gonna work there, lol) It can be hard to find the "right one" have to go through so many wrong ones first.

You said in your previous post that women who are not in the forums have the same problems. That's the part I was replying to.

I wasn't referring specifically to your profile. I was speaking in general about starting conversations and profiles.

I'm on a few dating sites and the first thing I look for is it's gotta be free. A site that charges you has a vested interest in you NOT finding someone. As long as you're single, you'll continue paying for the service.

Another nice thing for one to have is Android and iphone apps. This one doesn't, so someone needs to get the lash after the powers that be.

Forums are great! It's a good way to talk with people online and hone your people skills using only written text, which is very different that actually talking with someone face to face.

IMHO this is about the 2nd best free dating site. I'd tell you my top one, but I'm sure the site owners wouldn't like it. However, it has an outstanding blog as well as a number of features that help you create a better profile and choose that best photos to post.

I bet this is the same one I use.

Yup, get a bunch of those. Those are called scammers.

If you want to find out they are real or not. Start a conversation. After you get to know them a bit tell them you are out of work and not sure if you can make it work much longer. You will see how quickly they disappear!

Oh, and they usually ask for your email address, phone number or IM very early on in the conversation. They don't like talking on the host site.

What I mean is, they don't really know anything about me and I don't know anything about them. Trying to find a topic of mutual interest or humor is difficult then... Those conversations always start out asking where your from and what you are doing.

I've never contacted someone first by asking them where they were from or what they were doing. I always read profiles. If there's nothing there, very little there, no or unclear pictures, I just pass them by. If I'm going to contact them first, there needs to be something in their profile for me to be able to comment on.

Your profile doesn't tell much about you. You say you're happy with who you are, yet you don't really tell much at all about who you are. Write more about yourself, what you like and enjoy and what you're looking for. Give the people who are looking at your profile a reason to contact you.