Niche dating sites: a big fish in a small, small pond

Big fish, little pond?  Or just little sad pond?

There are tons of niche dating sites out there - are they worth it?  There are niche dating sites for geeks, Ivy League grads, millionaires (supposedly), men with 7 inches or better (supposedly), sites for just Christians, just Jews, just Asians, just Big Beautiful Women and Big Handsome Men.  And that's just the ones I can remember off the top of my head before my daily caffeine IV gets flowing.

What are the benefits of using a niche dating site?

• Very focused members:  If you like Asian men, you obviously aren't going to sign up on an African-American dating site.
• Getting more attention (maybe):  If you're lucky, a niche dating site can mean you're the most sought-after fish in the pond.
• LDR:  They're good for finding a great match, if you don't care about distance.  You want a millionaire who graduated from Harvard, but you may have to move to NYC to woo him properly.

What are the down sides of niche dating sites?

• Very focused members:  Are you SURE your perfect match isn't African-American?
• Getting more attention:  Ladies, ever been stalked by 25 men simultaneously even though you'd describe yourself as "cute, but nothing special"?  Good for a self-esteem pick-me-up, annoying for the long term.
• Low member numbers:  The pond is small.  Even on match.com, the list of locals starts to look familiar after a few months.

I recommend niche sites as a supplement to the general online dating sites.  The only exception to this rule are religious dating sites that have gone mainstream, such as JDate for Jewish singles and Christian Cafe for Christian singles.   These places have been around for years and have high membership numbers.