Free Online Dating

OKCupid

OKCupid was founded by a couple of smart kids from Harvard. They say they'll never sell your email address to spammers and that they intend to keep the site free.

According to the site's FAQ's, OKCupid uses a mathematical formula to match potential soulmates. It's based largely on users' answers to questions about their values, their opinions, and how they conduct relationships. There are hundreds of these questions, contributed both by the site's founders and by members. Each question requires two responses: how you would answer, and how you would want your perfect match to answer. OKCupid also has a networking section. You can connect to other members as "friends" and then search both your own and your friends' networks for people you might get along with.

After you join OKCupid, you'll be directed to the question bank. Questions come up on the screen one at a time, and you can choose to answer or to pass. The site says that the more questions you answer, the better your matches will be. If you want to clarify your response to a question, you can do so on a personal blog that potential matches can read.

Plenty of Fish

Plenty of Fish is a plain-looking free online dating site that lists personals from people across the U.S. and Canada. You can search by location, age, interests, smoking and drinking status, body type, ethnicity, and other basic criteria. Plenty of Fish also has a "rating" feature which lets you rate other users' pictures and ads.

The site is owned by a Canadian company, and may be heavier on Canadian members.

Friendster, MySpace and Tribe

Some web sites can work for free online dating even though they're not actually dating sites. Friendster, MySpace, and Tribe are all variations on networking sites. The idea is that people tend to get along with their friends' friends, and that meeting people through people you already know is a great shortcut. Networking can help you find a tennis partner, a hobby group, even a new job. None of these sites were created specificially for dating, but people do meet through them—and sometimes romance follows!

Networking sites let you create a personalized profile, with information that goes beyond the dating sites' "about me" and "what I'm looking for." You can include details about your interests, your work, your pets, and so on. Some sites let you create multiple web pages, blogs, etc.; others just let you customize your profile page. Usually you can indicate whether you're married, single, looking for a date, etc.

Once you have a profile, you can start linking to friends. If your friend is already a member, the site will send them a message making sure it's ok to include a link to their info on your page. Otherwise, it will send your friend an email inviting them to join. Pretty soon, you'll have access not just to your friends' profiles, but to their friends' friends, and so on. It's easy to build a network of several thousand people by starting with just a few. You can then contact any of those people and say, "Hi, I'm connected to you through…"

Just remember that many site members are there for other reasons, not for dating. Treat them the way you would if you met them at a social event, and don't just assume they want to be asked out.

CompletelyFreeDating.com

CompletelyFreeDating.com is a free online dating site for people living in the UK. It was launched in September 2006 and is a fast growing service offering a wide range of services to it members. You can search for people by age, sex and in your area using the basic search and using the advanced search you can find people with a particular features such as eye and hair colour. The site lets you search and browse it members without registering. CompletelyFreeDating.com also have some interesting dating related articles. Their dating advice section includes articles such as Flirting tips, First date conversation, What to wear on a first date, Chatting someone up and many more.

Other Free Online Dating Sites

Free online dating sites come and go. Many seem to be primarily a vehicle for advertising, which often trends toward the sexually explicit. If you've come across a new one and are wondering whether to join, here are a few things to consider:

• What is the privacy policy? Make sure they won't sell your e-mail or other personal information to spammers.
• How many members are there? Look for a site with lots of members, and with new people joining regularly.
• What is the tone of the site? It's probably not worth it to look for a long-term relationship on a site that advertises "hot, sexy singles want to meet you tonight"!
• Do the members have anything in common? Some free online dating sites cater to members of one religion or people with certain interests.