Advertising: Truthful. Having heard of Manhunt.net in the same way I’d heard of eHarmony or Match.com, I was expecting overblown claims and flat out lies. Instead, I was treated to a well-designed, unpretentious front page that actually offered to display in six different languages.
Layout: Simple. They don’t ask too much of you when it comes to signing up; after filling out basic information and confirming your account via e-mail, you’re free to add to your profile or browse the site.
Profile Information: Comprehensive. To say that the profiles are geared toward men searching for sexual encounters with other men would be an understatement. It would be easy to assume this makes the site limited in scope, but re-examining the name of the site here is paramount; this may be the first site I’ve encountered with a clever name perfectly suited to the service offered.
Relationship Options: Satisfactory. Accepting that the site is geared toward men seeking men, the options are pretty open. At the same time, however, the site makes no attempt at assigning sexual preference. I know this must seem dense, but hear me out: the site is not just for gay men. It’s for all men seeking men. Say a man identifies as straight, but is looking for an ‘encounter’. Isn’t this something he would want to make clear? Would other users prefer to search by identifiers, such as ‘bisexual’, ‘curious’, 'straight', or ‘gay’?
Matching: Satisfactory. The search function may be as specific as I’ve ever encountered, actually allowing the user to search by county if they see fit. The only problem is in the results returned; users are not ranked in any discernable order and cannot be sorted, and if you try to search within a specific distance of a location, 500 users are returned on 25 separate pages, no matter how far they are from your location.
People: Real. Some accounts may have been vacated, which is hard to verify since it doesn’t say when they were last online, but there is no doubt in my mind that the people using the site are real.
Communication: Open. From what I can tell, communication is not restricted.
Pay For: Several Features. Users pay to view full-sized pictures, send unlimited messages, view unlimited profiles, and save searches. As mentioned above, the limit to the amount of messages a user can send is not clear. It’s $12 per month or $99 per year, and though the standard auto-renewal plan is in effect, for a few dollars more, you can purchase a plan that does not renew automatically.
Grade: A-. Given the type of service offered, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this site is the cream of the crop. Any small level of dedication to the site can easily overcome its few limitations, and if the site’s owners saw fit to make any improvements, they would be easy to implement.
E-mail Bryan at onlinedatingexaminer@gmail.com for advice, questions, opinions, and website review suggestions. Questions and advice may be posted anonymously. Follow Bryan on Twitter at ExaminerDating.
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