Dating Sites Reviews Forums

OKCupid is a free-ish dating website. I say this because there are some premium (paid) features that one can opt for. Over the last few years these have changed some, but for the most part you can do just about everything you need to to find someone, talk with them, and ultimately meet. Unlike other scam sites (my term for sites like Zoosk), you can actually message people indefinitely. No need to pay.

The first thing someone might notice about OKC is that their site looks sophisticated. It resembles sites that are usually "pay to play" as I call it (meaning you really can't message back and forth unless one or both pays). It looks professional. It has lots of features. It boasts that it has a sophisticated method of matchmaking. And it very well might be telling the truth with that.

OKC might be a bit too complicated for some people to fully take advantage of the features (even the free ones), but you can still find someone, read their profile, and send messages back and forth without limits. You can also see who's viewed your profile (and when they did so, a nice bonus), and even if someone is online or not. The more complicated elements are in the extra features of the profile.

The profile features allow you different sections to tell about yourself or thoughts on things, and there is also a rather extensive Q&A area. The Q&A is as many as you choose. Some users may have just a handful of questions answered, and others may have hundreds or even a couple thousand of questions answered. Some may have none. Why does this matter? Well, the "match" feature on OKC relies heavily on these questions and answers to assess what sort of person you are, and then compares those results to other people's results in order to determine a match. Matching in this manner is done in three areas: Match%, Friend%, and Enemy%. Before you laugh at the "enemy" criteria, read on to understand a bit more about how the Q&A system handles things.

I used to not trust the system until I looked into how it actually works. It's based on how you answer questions, and approaches things from a multitude of angles.The system takes into account questions as such:

- How important the question is to you
- What you think
- Which you answers are acceptable
- Which answers aren't acceptable

It then categorizes questions in terms of areas of interest. Actually the more they've refined it, the more it seems to be pretty fair. Not always, sure. There are some questions that someone might mark as "mandatory" giving it a high point value, and then misunderstand the question. I see people answer it one way and then add in an explanation that literally contradicts what their answer is. So it's not infallible. The real weak link here is PEOPLE... do they honestly answer, or do they bother to think about what subjects aren't very important and what are. Or do they just mark everything as "mandatory", even when it's something even they feel is trivial?

Really, this would work better as an in-person interview/survey. But consider that most of the more intelligent people on here will get a good portion of it fairly accurate, so it's up to you to look at the differing answers and decide if they're debatable or not. That's the human element, too: when someone bothers to write someone even though there are some differing views.

The system is great as a way to get opinions, but it's up to you to go further. Now... consider this. If all my questions were WAY 180 from someone (or even most), and therefore I was ranked with a rather low percentage set... wouldn't that be enough to avoid writing or responding? It certainly would for me. The answers people choose give you an idea of what they think, and while some questions are so-so, there are many, many questions that are spot-on.

So yeah, it has its uses. Like a finely tuned machine, it still needs an operator. That's us

The premium features have the usual bonuses... see when someone reads a message, see something called the "A-list" that gives you more matchmaking insights... go "invisible". And so on. You don't really need to pay to use the features that both make the site work and give you use of the matching Q&A stuff.

The mobile app is perhaps a bit confusing, and judging from both iPhone and Android platforms, the use of hardware buttons is seriously flawed. Also, the recent change to incorporate the menu icon has left the app a bit confusing. What is more, there seems to be a redesign of the site and the app on the way, and it's rumored to be a massive update. This means that things may change drastically.

Still... OKC has some neat features. For those who really want to see what people think, and want a free site with good features and the ability to message people indefinitely, it's a good bet. It still has a rather large user base worldwide.

OKCupid has a regular presence on Reddit, getting feedback and fully explaining why they change things and what changes they make, as well as advice on how to use features. To me, this is encouraging because it means they place their development and administration on a PEER level with users. This is in contrast to Plenty of Fish's recent totalitarian and mysterious policy writing.

OKCupid has some areas it could improve, mostly to do with the mobile app design and with its confusing search methods, but the Q&A section and matching feature works surprisingly well, the image quality is high, and the overall look and feel of the site is professional and up to par with paid sites (both on the desktop and on the mobile app).

OKCupid gets a fat 4 out of 5 stars. ****-

To me a site that charges for anything isn't a free site and over the years they end up finding more things to charge you for and at a greater cost. Greed sets in after the initial pay wall goes up and they will start to loose customers. I have seen this over and over and not just with dating sites.

I didn't know Okcupud talked about themselves on Reddit... I have heard of Reddit but can't remember what it really is. I will have to take a look.

Reddit is a massive forum website, where discussions take place on a wide variety of subjects. It's encouraging to see that OKC participates in the discussions there.

POF and OKC are what I referred to as "free-ish", but really they should be called "free*". You can do everything you NEED to do for free. More advanced features cost. There are no 100% free sites anymore. The distinguishing feature is if you can do everything you need to search for, message, and then continue a conversation with someone as long as you want. The ones who lure with promises of this and then fail to deliver are what I refer to as "scam date sites" because you can either see messages sent to you but not reply, or can send ONE message or one sentence. Some like Zoosk are even worse. I have some free time today so the reviews I planned for last night I will write in a few minutes.