Online Dating Services with a Different Approach
Published on November 9, 2007
Recently I was reading a TechCrunch article about the online dating services that are taking a different approach. There were two dating sites listed in the article that I was familiar with: Engage.com and GreatBoyFriends.com.
I had read about Engage.com a few weeks ago and was interested by the idea. The service provides what might be called traditional online dating with additional twists to make the site more of a community. In particular, people can use the site for free as a “matchmaker” by making recommendations for people using the site for dating. At first I wasn’t sure this was a great idea: the last thing I wanted to do was match other people when I was dating online. I had enough trouble finding my own dates…the idea of helping my “competition” seemed undesirable. Having read more, I think I initially misunderstood the concept. Apparently, there are people out there who want nothing more than to match other people together. As strange as it sounds to me, if it works it would make finding a date a little easier. When I was dating online, I would have loved to come home to find someone suggested a match for me. That would have removed some of the work! Also, I think signing up at this site as a “matchmaker”, which is free apparently, might be a good introduction for someone hesitant about online dating. Actually seeing the process work for others is bound to encourage someone on the fence regarding online dating.
The second site, GreatBoyFriends.com, was described to me by a co-worker recently. This site tries to remove some of the risks from online dating by having your friends and family make up your profile by leaving feedback about you. This service is nice because it should remove many of the guys who shouldn’t be dating in the first place (for example, those who are married). When I was browsing the site, I was surprised to see quite a few men being recommended by ex-girlfriends…can there be a better endorsement than this? Also, it seemed that many of the recommendations were coming from other users of the site. One thing about this site is that is seems to really be driven by people other than the dater unless you’re willing to ask a friend to recommend you. Also, it seems that some people who might not be interested in dating may end up on the site!
If you found these two interesting, read more here. I think it shows that online dating is getting more interesting all the time.
Author: Brad
Brad initially struggled with online dating but over time became quite successful using it. He met his wife using online dating and has been giving advice and helping people improve their results since 2007. He has written a Free Online Dating Guide to help others find success with online dating. You can learn more about his personal experience using online dating and running this website here.
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