Wired Latina Looking for Love Online

Today’s contributor is By Laura Gutierrez . Ms Gutierrez writes for Wired Latinos where you will be informed and up to date on everything that is going on in the Latino online community,” Technologically Speaking.”

According to Match.com 1 in 5 relationships now begin on an online dating site.  I set out to see if I could become part of that statistic using some of the top dating sites out there:  Match.com, eHarmony & PlentyofFish.com.  I decided to judge and rank the sites based on three different things:  1. Navigability and ease of use; 2.  Match accuracy based on my own personal preferences; and 3.  Number of matches found for me based on those preferences (i.e., how many e-mail I received).

eHarmony.com
eHarmony.com received the lowest rating from me.  I signed up for a 3 month subscription at $24.99 a month.  When signing up, I had to complete a questionnaire that took about 30 minutes to complete.  Too much time eH!  Based on the answers to my questions, eHarmony.com matched me with compatible men based on their 29 DIMENSIONS model.  Every day I got an e-mail telling me I have 20 new matches! Sounds great, right?  Well, in this humble wired Latina’s view . . . yes and no.  Physical attraction is just as important an element as chemistry is between two people.  The matches I received did not matched any of the details I had entered.  For example, and a crucial one at that:  DISTANCE.  The matches I received lived much further than the 50 miles radius I requested.  Now physical:  I requested matches 2 – 3 inches taller than me and I kept receiving matches that were 2-3 inches shorter than me.  When a match doesn’t match your search criteria they call these “Flex matches.”  Well, all the matches I received were “SUPER Flex Matches.”  Also, I found the web site was hard to navigate through.  I had to take the Site Tour and still could not find my way around.

But . . . Some of the features I did like are that not anyone can sign up and browse through the people that are on there so there’s a sense of privacy and they offer great dating advice and tips.  eHarmony.com also offers Hispanic dating — I did not try that for the writing of this article.
I give eHarmony.com 2 out of 3 wires.

Match.com
Match.com came in second.  A one month subscription is $34.99.  That’s a little on the pricey side.  However, I found the site easy to use and was able to browse the web site for members matching my search criteria.  They too sent me 5 daily matches and most of them fit the description of what I was looking for.  The only disadvantage on this site is that if you are a paying costumer and contact a non-paying costumer they are not able to contact you unless they subscribe.  This means that anyone can sign up, browse and see your profile and privacy is thrown out the window.  Match.com is also available en Español.
Because it was easy to navigate and the matches were close to what I requested, I give Match.com 2.5 out of 3 wires.

PlentyofFish.com.
My number one site was PlentyofFish.com.  This site is free to sign up and to contact other members but they also offer you an upgrade ranging from $5.95 to $9.80 a month depending on the number of months you’re subscribing.  This is a deal.  However, with this site, there is absolutely no privacy.  Anyone can sign up and browse and view your profile.  If you’re not too concerned with anonymity then this is the site for you.

On PlentyofFish.com you’re able to search for matches based on a number of different search criteria, height, distance, ethnicity and many others.  The site is easy to navigate through and I found that I made more connections here than I had on the other sites.  PlentyofFish.com also offers a chemistry test and will send you compatible matches based on the answers.
Of all the sites, I found that PlentyofFish.com matches were the most accurate to what my search criteria was.

Overall, I give PlentyofFish.com 2.75 wires out of 3 — there is always room for improvement, especially in the privacy department.

Looking for love is always hard.  The internet has definitely compacted our world and opened up choices, but really . . . there is nothing like meeting someone in person.  I insist, physical attraction matters.  If you’re wired and looking for love, I recommend that you check out these sites.  You may find that what did not work for me, may be the perfect match for you.

In the next week or so, I’ll write a review on the top Latino online dating sites . . . so stay tuned