I was reading through online ads with a friend once and just laughing at how ridiculously phoney most of them were.
We decided to submit totally honest personal ads, just as a novelty, listing every negative thing about ourselves right up front, and being totally honest.
I didn’t get any replies - she did, like 10 a day, with an equally ‘bad’ profile, so I assume it’s due to the fact that she has a vagina.
I met my current BF through match.com, so I guess I recommend it – but it’s a flat monthly fee which, as someone pointed out above, they renew automatically unless you stop them.
My preference is for salon.com – which is a site with multiple portals, it’s also the dating site for the Onion, I believe – where you buy credits and then can used them as you see fit. (One credit to send an email, but then you can both just keep hitting “respong” for free.) It seems to be a somewhat hipper crowd.
Agree with being honest (without being negative) – I think one of the reason I “only” get one or two responses a week (women are usually innundated, as I understand it) is that I’m honest about, e.g., educational level (Ph.D.). Ditto on being yourself in emails – if someone is threatened or otherwise put off by my sense of humor, eff him, it’s not a good match.
preview? I don’t need no stinkin’ preview.