This article was written by Anna. She has been working at a Kherson office of Unona for about 2 years.
Your friends, friends of the friends and co-workers have been telling you stories on how they met the Love of their lives. These stories range from high school sweethearts, blind dates, to even arranged marriages. Time is ticking and now you're thinking that it's time for you start looking for your special someone, but you're just not sure where to look.
Today the popularity of dating sites is constantly growing as the dating agencies really work – perhaps not for everyone, but for many people – and the great amount of happy couples united as a result of the Internet acquaintance is the best proof of this. More than 1,5 million people spend about 4 hours daily on these services. According to the statistics, in 2010 the traffic of dating resources has grown for 12% compared to the previous year.
According to the statistics 45% of people who want to get acquainted with interesting people and their potential beloved prefer the Internet dating to any other way of acquaintance.
So, what to choose: free or paid dating service. Joining a free dating service is easy and does not require commitment. You find a good picture of yourself, fill in a profile and voila – you can communicate with millions of ladies from every corner of the world. With almost no effort, one can talk about the best parts of one’s life, activities, traveling, of dreams and hopes and what you do to achieve all these, you may think up everything you wish and no one can check if it is true or not… but aren’t you concerned with the fact that a princess on the picture does the same and may be not a real lady with the serious intentions?
Nowadays going to a dating agency has become a common thing in Ukraine and Russia. Ladies are not ashamed to ask professionals to help them to change their lives and to open this door in search for destiny. It is unlikely that decent and serious ladies use free online dating resources to find their second half, but you may ask WHY?
To answer this question we have held an opinion poll among clients of Unona Dating Agency who decided to overcome the barriers of distance and time to find the man of their dreams.
Most of ladies confessed that at least once they tried to post the profile on one or two free online dating services, but were disappointed since:
- There are thousands of ladies’ profiles that a man can pursue and quickly say “next, next, next”. It’s catalog shopping at its worst.
- It has been estimated that 1/5th of online daters are married men. You never know who you are really talking to - even what gender or “sexual orientation” they are - until you meet them and see them for who they really are. And by that time, it may be too late.
- There is a higher concentration of players, men who are looking for a cheap sex vacation in Ukraine, or people who just have no business actually dating, all in one place.
- Free online dating sites do not have privacy policy, a lady’s profile can appear anywhere in the Internet as an advertisement, inviting people to join the site.
- Communication with a person at a free online dating service most likely will never lead to a real date and an actual meeting is more an exception than the rule.
- There is no feeling of safety as free dating service registers members on “as it is” basis and there is nobody to check identification, criminal records etc.
Having been burnt even once, a lady is most likely to cancel her membership and never to use a free dating service again.
Here are some key things we always recommend to our ladies and gentlemen-members when using the Internet for romance:
- Use an agency which facilitates live video chats to be sure at all times that you are communicating with real people.
- Use an agency which is legitimately represented in North America or Western Europe, and thus complies with International laws.
- Make sure that the online agency includes their full business address and a phone number.
- Use a dating services agency that has a secure payment processing, based out of North America or Western Europe, and which offers preferably several payment methods.
- When your relationship gets serious, make sure to be honest about IMBRA questionnaire in the profile. It is always the best policy to be honest and to present truth yourself, than to make a lady find it herself. It could be a deal breaker.
- For ladies: Never go to a meeting alone with a man you met on a free dating website, never ever go to his country without having confirmed his identification.
- Use a website that specializes in the Internet dating, not a dating service that is a part of a non-dating focused website
- Research your potential dating agency or website on the Internet message boards or via friends -- find out what others' experiences have been like with the service
- For gentleman: when a lady invites you to switch from a paid dating agency to a free mail service, watch for requests for financial support. Paid dating service protects you from any kind of scam, free service does not.
- Use an agency or site that allows free profile registration for all members, but which does charge money for additional valuable services. Even a small financial investment means that members are serious and committed.
- Do find an online agency that offers email and messaging that are onsite. Don't use agencies that insist on sending emails to your own real-world inbox.
- If you are communicating with a person who speaks foreign language, do not compromise quality of communication by using broken English. Better have 1 video chat with a translator than 2 chats without assistance. It is crucial at least at the first stages of communication with an understanding that with time you will be communicating without 3d party assistance.
- The best Internet dating specialists offer you great customer service. Look for online agencies that provide detailed dating articles and advice
- Use an agency or site that is appealing, trustworthy and suits your style.
Dear gentlemen, we wish you a pleasant, successful and safe dating! We would really appreciate your feedback on this topic, your personal experience would be very important for both ladies and gentlemen members.