Will luck await you at the next click?
With this question, the BILD newspaper raised the topic of online dating and dating sites on the Internet again in its Sunday edition last week. There were all sorts of good reasons for this choice of topic.
There are currently 7.5 million singles in Germany looking for new love on the Internet. As part of this, BamS researched the 50 best online addresses for love, flirting and adventure. What it costs, what it brings and what traps lurk.
Long-term aloneness makes you twice as sad. 12 million Germans are without a partner, and most of them are unhappy about it. In Germany's singles capital Berlin, one in four people is looking for someone with whom they can share their life.
Not always easy, because single parents or working people in particular rarely have the time or energy to go out in the evening or on the weekend to get to know someone.
It's easier via the Internet: Sit down comfortably at home, log in and get started. There are now more than 200 online dating sites that want to help you find your dream woman or man.
We will try to gradually introduce and critically evaluate these dating sites here in our dating comparison blog. We also hope to receive testimonials from users and ex-members, which can provide new interested parties with lots of clues when choosing an online dating service.
But how reputable are these services? Are the providers really free just because they advertise “register for free”? And are users interested in a serious relationship or just quick sex?
BILD am SONNTAG did the test. Four colleagues flirted their way through the portals and, together with a team of experts, put together the 50 best singles and dating sites on the Internet. Erotic adventure sites were not included.
Here are the answers to the most important questions about love on the internet.
How important is online dating sites?
Of the 12 million singles in Germany, around 7.5 million are looking for true love on the Internet, according to a current study by the Hamburg analysis institute Nielsen. Another three million Germans are looking for a quick erotic adventure without commitment.
Which people use the web of love?
Quite simply: everyone!
According to the Nielsen study, academics and entrepreneurs are looking just as much as butchers, clerks, university teachers and saleswomen. more on the subject
How to formulate your profile correctly
That's what you should do. . .
- Always correct information when taking a self-portrait
- put the nicest, most natural photo
- Describe your dream partner in as much detail as possible
- use positive sentences
- address key expectations
- always choose a neutral user nickname
How does finding a partner online work?
Enter your personal details and you're done! Anyone can register, depending on the age limit. However, some portals have specialized in certain groups of people and limit the user group (e.g. only for academics, generation 50 plus, etc.).
How much does it cost to find a partner online?
The range extends from free to 49 euros per month. For most providers, the so-called basic membership is free.
You can use it to present yourself in detail, possibly upload a photo and then hope for offers. If you want to become active yourself and write to other singles, you usually have to pay.
Are there hidden traps in the costs?
“Yes,” warns consumer advocate Julia Rehberg . “With many providers, the contracts are not concluded for a specific period of time – for example three or six months – but rather the contract continues forever if it is not revoked.”
She advises: “It’s best to cancel by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.”
Can you become addicted to online dating?
Self-confident people are less likely to be at risk. For them, singles exchanges are just an alternative to their other contact options. However, anyone who doesn't dare to approach others in “real life” and spends a lot of time on the Internet is at risk.
If you want to check whether you are addicted to online, you can find a free test at www.palverlag.de/Internetsucht .
When registering, you must provide your name and a private email address. How secure is this data?
“As with all online portals, the data is not 100 percent protected against misuse,” says Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar . Consumer advocate Julia Rehberg also sees it this way:
Therefore, avoid revealing too many details. E.g. about financial circumstances, your employer or your earnings.”
Many portals offer a personality test – why?
“In order to optimize the search for a partner,” says psychologist Dr. Doris Wolf .
The searchers' answers are compared. The more answers are the same or similar, the better the partners may be compatible with each other.”
How were the pages checked?
The BILD am SONNTAG editors have logged in to all portals like normal users. To do this, they filled out all the questionnaires and took the required personality tests. Depending on the provider, registrations took up to two hours.
How many partner suggestions did the editors receive?
The testers received up to 70 serious emails from interested parties per day.
What did the BILD am SONNTAG psychologist assess?
Dr. Doris Wolf assessed, among other things, the visual impression of the portal: Is the site attractively designed? Or do you want to turn off the computer straight away? Are the colors, photos, and fonts on the page emotionally appealing or off-putting?
What was important to consumer advocates?
Julia Rehberg, lawyer at the Hamburg consumer advice center, and Markus Hamer, managing director of the German Institute for Service Quality, clicked through the General Terms and Conditions (GTC).
What was the dating expert’s job?
The actress Ina Rudolph has had years of experience with singles dating sites. She registered herself on various portals years ago and found her husband there. She describes how effective the sites are from her perspective.
The conclusion: Which pages did the team of experts like best?
The best portals are those that specialize in specific groups of people. These include offers such as www.moms-dads-kids.de (for single parents), www.rubensfan.de (corpulent people), www.lebensfreude50.de (generation from 50 years) or www.bingross.de (longer than average) .
The experts not only liked the design of the pages, they also praised the fact that there are no hidden costs.
You can read the original BamS report here .
By the way, I think it's great that there are singles portals for special age groups such as 50+ etc. You can search much more specifically and don't have to register on 100 different dating platforms until you discover suitable profiles. Thanks for the post – I’ll take a look at the portals mentioned 😉