Image from this set on Fashion Gone Rogue via Modfetish.
I was just catching up on the OkCupid blog (OkTrends) and found a surprise. Even though I missed the update (it’s from April 7), I was a bit shocked to see that the founder of OkCupid had basically punched eHarmony and Match.com right in the data equivalent of their faces in the post Why You Should Never Pay For Online Dating. Read it. It’s pretty intense, and very interesting to see how on those sites they basically bait and switch subscribers with numbers — chances are huge you’ll be messaging dead profiles. Christian does not hold back, and it’s kind of exciting in a very very nerdy way. If that wasn’t enough drama for online dating site politics, the Plenty of Fish Blog (like OkCupid, Plenty of Fish is a free dating site) just published a post stating that Match.com is now bullying them with lawyers, titled Match.com No longer top dating site, sends in the lawyers (via). It’s all about numbers — and in that post, Markus pulls the gloves off completely, even stating “This letter is beyond ironic considering match’s history of bogus claims, like this one from last week (…)” Ouch.
Update: This morning (after this post was published), GigaOm writes Match.com Picks Fight With Competitor Plenty of Fish.
I joined OKCupid back in 2008 and met three very nice women there early on, dating one for a few months, but after about 6 months I stopped getting replies to any notes I sent there and it seemed like most members simply wanted to chat on the forum or only gather as many visitors to their profile as possible.
I joined Match back in February, not knowing quite what to expect but still optimistic, and am still dating a wonderful woman I met within the first week… so at least that’s one so-far success story! :)
I haven’t had much success with Plenty of Fish, despite the fact that it’s a free site. Most people I messaged didn’t even reply. I only had gotten two meet-ups/dates IRL from PoF but those weren’t terribly great…we just ended up being friends but we don’t talk much anymore. But of course I’d never dream of paying for a dating site, I bet it’s probably much worse there anyway. I think I make better friends on MySpace or in person (at the right venues) anyway.
Before I read this, I’d never heard of OkCupid before. I think I like them already…those figures they used to expose the massive dating paysite scam made me lol!