One of the important distinctions to make when shopping for an online dating service is what exactly are you looking for? If you’re looking for a fun date for the weekend, then a relationship site, such as eHarmony, is probably not the right site for you. So what’s the difference?
A dating site is fairly self-explanatory. It’s a meat market, with you searching through thousands of personals and refining your search by such criteria as eye color and education level. You’ll surely meet more singles through it, but compatibility will be almost entirely up to your own intuition.
Relationship sites, on the other hand, are much more about compatibility. You’ll often have to take tests and fill out questionnaires before you even begin meeting others. Once you do, you may not even initially see a photo but be taken through a series of steps to get to know the person first.
So, which is best? As noted, it depends what you are looking for from a site. If you’re looking to enjoy the single life a bit and unsure of exactly what you’re looking for long-term, than a dating site is probably the best fish in the sea for you. However, if you’re ready to settle down and meet others also ready to commit, than a dating site is likely more worth your time. The truth, however, is that you will find both types of people on both sites, just in varying degrees. For those of you wanting to play the odds, relationship sites generally feature a much higher percentage of women members than do dating sites.