The Best and Worst Dating Apps, Websites and Why.
The Three Best Dating Apps / Websites
1. Match
2. eHarmony
3. Hinge
Match
Match is one of the better platforms for people looking for a relationship. They have quality people that are using their platform. They have so many great filters that work. They have a solid user base with many profiles that are real and genuine. If you’re looking for a dating service, I highly recommend Match.com. They have good customer service, and their reps are respectful. The number of fake accounts is far less than others on this list and people seem to want to be there.
eHarmony
Overall, I think eHarmony is pretty good. They have a number of quality users that are actually interested in finding a relationship and actually fill out their accounts. They have filters that work and have a compatibility score that helps you determine if you and a match would actually work. eHarmony does have a few users that haven’t logged in and some that are fake / catfish / spammy accounts, but they allow you to report and remove these accounts with no issues. I haven’t had a need to contact their customer service because in my opinion their website works like it should. The one drawback is that eHarmony is a bit expensive. They are the most expensive dating service but do give you deals. If you’re paying for eHarmony, then you will
Hinge
I think Hinge is one of the better options out there for online dating because it’s designed differently than the others. First takes the idea of swiping and turns it on its head. It gives people to like people by pressing a heart or disliking by pressing the x button. It allows people to use prompts and filters that work better than most websites or apps. There are a number of people that stack the filters and showing up in everyone’s match que. In a world of hook ups and algorithms that don’t work, hinge comes across as unique and usable. You can quickly make an account and fill out your profile in under 10 minutes and you can add more or less information depending on what your view of living in a digital world is.
The Three Worst Dating Apps / Websites
1. Christian Mingle
2. Tinder
3. POF
Christian Mingle
I have put Christian Mingle on the worst list for several reasons. They are an evil company that has serious predatory practices that runs deep. First, their platform is mediocre at best. Like most dating apps / websites you can like a person but in order to actually talk to someone and build a relationship with someone you have to pay for their service. Paying for a dating service is not a big deal but Christian Mingle is cheaper than others but for the price of their service they lack in quality of matches and lacks a number of features that other apps and website use to their advantage.
Secondly, for a dating platform that claims to be Christian, they attract a number of people that aren’t religious, don’t attend church, don’t have a relationship with Jesus or people that don’t have a Christian community. As a Christian these are things that I look for. I want to meet someone that is active in their faith and seeking to grow.
Third, Christian Mingle is filled with fake and spammy accounts. They have so many that if you report these accounts the customer service people start creating more fake accounts that you either have to report or block. If you report too many accounts, they begin to limit your accounts features and ability to stand out. In addition, Christian Mingle boasts that they have a large user base. At 15 million people, they have a massive user base. The problem with this is that it’s a lie. They may have that amount of people that have made those accounts, but I have seen hundreds if not thousands of accounts that haven’t been logged into for 3-12 months and I have seen hundreds of if not thousands of accounts that are fake or not authentic. The not authentic accounts are accounts that are people that claim to be Christian but have no real relationship.
Fourth, they have terrible customer service. I have reached out to their customer service people on several occasions to help solve my issues with their service and they respond with generic responses. They have been unhelpful and told me to stop reporting fake accounts. If I have reported or blocked too many accounts, they kick me out and log me out of their service.
Fifth, their features and filters are terrible. They have okay filters that barely filter people out. If you live in a small town and are forced to set the distance filter to 500+ then you start seeing people that live outside of The United States. This is a problem if people don’t want to have long distance relationships with someone that doesn’t live within the states. Dating long distance can be expensive. Dating on an international level would be extremely expensive and isn’t for everyone. They don’t have verified profiles. The lack of verified profiles is a concern to many in this day and age. Is the person on the other end of the conversation real or not? How are we as regular and paid users supposed to know the person on the other end isn’t catfishing or using a fake name or even hiding important information like being married or in a relationship? I have seen many accounts that appear to be real, and users have recently signed in but if I social media stock them it turns out they are in either relationships or are married. This is not okay and causes me to raise an alarm on Christian Mingles service. Users that are in relationships and or married that use Christian or other dating apps / websites are liars, cheats and fake people that don’t care about the wellbeing of others. These individuals that have accounts are people that are untrustworthy and don’t deserve to be in a relationship. In addition, Christian Mingles photo algorithm is atrocious and compresses peoples already compressed photos. The photo algorithm allows blurry, out of focus and badly cropped photos. In online dating the photo matters. If you want to check out a person’s other photos you are unable to because you aren’t a paid member. You have no other way to tell if the person you’re interested in is a fake profile unless you pay for the service. Members are also not verified.
POF
POF which stands for Plenty of Fish is an app and website that really doesn’t add much to the culture of dating. They have plenty of fake profiles and users that are catfishing or scamming. This platform lacks quality, user friendliness and simply shouldn’t exist. Many users haven’t logged into their accounts in a number of weeks or months.
Tinder
Let’s face it. Tinder is a cesspool of individuals that want to use you for sex and pleasure. When Tinder first dropped on the app store, I decided to check it out because I was curious. There were a few nice people on there that wanted to build meaningful relationships but there was a lot more people that just wanted to hook up and not develop any real relationship. There is nothing redemptive about this app and people should steer clear of it if they want to find any meaningful relationships. Tinder has caused our entire generation / world to have an unhealthy view relationship and we need to end this way of thinking. Tinder has caused a whole generation of people to want instant gratification in their dating lives when in reality it’s better to develop and build a relationship from the ground up. It’s better to lay a foundation down and build a structurally sound building with whoever we are dating. Instant gratification within dating is causing so much harm to relationships and needs to stop.
Finally, using dating apps and websites is not for everyone. If you aren’t a fan of it that’s fine but I have met many people that have had success. Some people aren’t good at the online thing. Be sure to show some grace. If someone responds to you and you are interested respond back and actively engage with their questions. Don’t be afraid to ask the questions that you want to know. Just like it takes two to tango it also takes two to date and fall in love. Lastly, my suggestion is if you’re going to use Match, eHarmony or Hinge or any of these apps / websites then make sure to fill out your profile fully and be specific with what you’re looking for. If you won’t do long distance relationships, then state that. If you only date people that are in your city, then say that as well. If your allergic to cats or dogs or don’t drink alcohol, then be up front about that. It’s important to be genuine and authentic with online dating. Use pictures that aren’t cropped weird, blurry, or out of focus. Don’t use tik tok or Instagram filter pictures as your main picture. Its not genuine and makes your profile look fake. Respond to people that you are interested in and if you begin to date someone and become exclusive then delete your profile. If in three months you break up, then you can always sign up again. The digital world is filled with scammers, fakes, liars, cheats and catfisher’s that want to use you, hurt you and take advantage of you, but you have the power to report and block these accounts without a customer service saying that you’re using their service wrong. If you’re at all curious about online dating give it a try. You never know who you will meet or if you will find that man or woman God has for you if you don’t try.