Unconventional und Uber?
Lots of people know what today is. Some love it, some can't stand that day, while others wish they could celebrate it but just aren't having any luck. Fully aware of many of my friends' single status, I decided to see if I could leverage the power the of the internet to find love—or if not love, at least an interesting romantic partner. I picked six major and not so major dating websites, as well as checked out a few local companies who specialize in helping you find the One. Or at least, someone worth your time.
You might recall that in an earlier column Greg commented that he had a very bad experience with Match.com because of deceptive information presentation that ended up costing him more money than he wanted to spend. Today being Valentine's day I'd like to focus on a site that has in my experience treated me fairly and honestly, and gave me greater freedom as a Free member than any other sites mention so far. It might not be to your liking though, because it tends to focus on a niche culture:
Soulgeek.com, a less known dating site is for the comic book reader, the Star Trek fan, the guy at work with the shirt that says “There are 10 types of people in the world...” the computer nerd, and just the average gal who likes being into video games. You know, the people who actually built the internet. (I kid.) But you'll also find a lot of non-geeks on the site as well, despite its less than sleek interface.
You can sign up as a free member for life, or pay about $10.00 a month for “Uber” status with all the bells and whistles, though the free membership has quite a few perks on its own. (And Greg, I tested the $10 a month thing, no hidden fees, there.) One of the neat free perks is that unlike other websites where you can only respond to others with “Winks” or “nudges” Soulgeek allows you to send real emails to a paying member if they've emailed you first. So while you can only use a “hail” (simply a message like “Hey, I think you're interesting”) to initiate contact as a free member, if you write a thorough and honest enough profile to capture the attention of a paying member you can correspond back and forth,
DK, a friend of mine who I met through the site sums up my feelings about the site the best:
“There were a ton of interesting people on the site. Finding a profile I was interested in was QUITE rare on normal dating sites for me, but I found quite a few interesting people on Soulgeek. Having geek oriented profiles was a really nice feature, and the ability to share artwork was cool. Plus it was quite cheap compared to normal sites”
My friend touches on a couple of points that I'd like to expand on. Where else can you upload artwork you've created, or read exclusive webcomics? Soulgeek is more than just a dating site. Yes it has an awkward interface and occasional bug errors. But despite that, or maybe because of it, Soulgeek tends to create a sense of community, with news about the gaming, anime and sci-fi industries that make it feel less like a commercial endeavor and more like a fan driven website. There are even options to sign up as a non dating member just to hang out and chill. You can do same sex searches or just platonic matches as well. So if you're feeling adventurous, give it a try.
There will be at least one more article in this series. Stay tuned!
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