Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Gay dating - the dangers of free online gay dating

Let's say you enroll with a free gay dating site. You search a little and find someone who interests you. You start by e-mailing each other for a few weeks. Then you move on to phone conversations with this person. Ultimately, you're having a great virtual relationship. But then comes the time to meet face-to-face. But here's where it gets sticky. There was no fee to use this dating site. So this person might not be whom he or she says, or may not even be gay!!. His or her images might be fakes and personal information could be phony. And this person could have done it all just to convince you to meet in person. Unfortunately, this is a story that constantly repeats itself. The malicious party does not always plan to harm or otherwise hurt the person being deceived, but sometimes that is exactly what his or her intentions are. It is hard enough getting the nerve to post a profile on a dating site, and then this kind of thing happens to you.

Assume the worst happens: You meet up with someone from a free gay dating site, and you're robbed or somehow assaulted; what are you going to tell the police? How will they find this person? There's no credit card on file. Nor is there any other official payment information on file.

None of the problems mentioned in this article exist on a paid dating site. While you will certainly pay a fee to use the site, the trade off is a much more pleasant experience. And it's an experience that won't include paid ads or junk e-mail.

With the paid dating sites, you'll be able to perform elaborate searches within the member database. There will also be several types of communication outside of e-mail, such as instant messaging and even webcam chatting.

The paid dating sites offer yet another perk, one that is very subtle. If you eventually found someone you liked, and you set a date to meet, his or her real personal information is definitely on record with the site.


Over the last few years, online dating has opened new doors to new relationships. If you are looking for love, and open to the Internet, you're in luck. All you need is a computer and an Internet hook up. A few clicks of the mouse and boom! You have instant access to millions of potential love connections.

There are two primary types of dating sites: sites that require a yearly or monthly fee, and sites that are free. There's a major advantage to the "no fee" sites. And that is, of course, they're free. But that's also why these sites have many drawbacks. On the other hand, the paid sites offer some advantages of their own: your fee grants access to a site that's optimized for a better user experience. And you can also expect certain general security measures to be in place.

Whichever you choose to join, keep one thing in mind: not all dating sites are equal. You will only get what you do - or don't - pay for. There can be danger with a free site. You could be opening yourself up to unknown risks.

Dating sites, like any other business, need to turn a profit. If that is true, how can they offer their services for free? For starters, the "bells and whistles" of a free site simply don't exist. You won't find free webcam chatting or video hosting capabilities on free sites. More importantly, you will not find a responsive customer service team ready to answer your questions. In fact, the free dating sites don't usually even offer a phone number for customer support.

Outside of having less features and virtually no customer service, banner advertisement pop-ups and pop-unders. You'll get so many you will need to duck! Fun stuff, right? At least once a week, you can also expect to get e-mail advertising. Still need more? Your personal information may end up sold to large advertising networks.

Are you still considering free gay dating sites as a viable choice? Or would you like to meet quality gay partners looking for a date.

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