There are a lot of great sites out there that can help you find someone special.
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This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.
Dating can be tricky. Sometimes you want to make the first move, but you don’t want to appear too eager. But if you play it too cool, you risk getting ignored all together. The whole process can be frustrating and intimidating, especially if you don’t know how to start. If you’re lost, we recommend trying online dating.
There are a lot of great sites out there that can help you find someone special. The only really issue is that with all of the options, it can sometimes feel like there’s too much choice. Throw in busy lives and daily responsibilities, and the thought of combing through loads of profiles sounds like the last thing you want to do.
We get it, we really do.
Is online dating difficult?
One aspect of online dating dynamics poses a challenge for both men and women, but from different angles: If it’s a lady you’re pursuing, chances are she’s received more than a few unsolicited messages already. For women, maneuvering around creeps is often more work than it’s worth.
For men, the responsibility to not be one of those guys can add a heightened intimidation factor.
What do you need to know before signing up to a dating site?
The internet is plagued with tales of nasty messages and creepy opening lines from men. Avoiding the creep factor with someone you just matched with shouldn’t be hard — simply don’t be pushy about sexting, getting their number, or meeting up, and definitely don’t harass someone about not wanting to hang out. As for devising an opener that will grow into a nice conversation, the harmless intent to be funny or flattering can go south quickly. Choosing the right dating app can make all the difference for men who are a little rusty or generally shy about messaging first.
For men who need a point in the right direction when it comes to conversation starters, dating sites with user profiles more extensive than a rushed Tinder bio could make a world of difference. The ability to see someone’s hobbies, favourite movies, career goals, or even political views before even talking to them opens up a wealth of clever ice breakers.
Tinder can be the right app for some singles, but if you find yourself constantly deleting it and re-downloading Tinder every other month despite the fact that you hate the app, a different site might make better use of your time. What is it that’s not working about your current dating site of choice? Is it too entrenched in hookup culture? Is it not focused on hookups enough? Do you find yourself getting intentions mixed up with people who aren’t looking for the same thing? Each dating site serves a different purpose, and things are a lot easier when you’re mingling with people who want what you want.
What is the best dating site for men?
After going through many dating sites and apps, we have narrowed down the best options for single men looking for something casual or a long-term relationship. You can rest assured that these sites offer the best potential for finding a great match.
We looked at a number of factors that make a dating app worth using, including visibility, popularity with singles, ease of use, lifestyle, and success rate with matches to find the ones that matter to single men the most. Whether you’re looking for a casual fling or a committed relationship, we have a dating site for you and the matches you want.
These are the best dating sites for men in 2024.
If you’re a single man and you’re continuously striking out on Tinder, then maybe you should consider levelling up to the gold standard in online dating.
Since 1995, Match has been one of the leading names in online dating, with millions upon millions of users in 25 countries speaking more than eight languages. It’s designed for older men and women who are looking for serious relationships instead of something casual or random hookups. The dating site is also responsible for thousands of lifelong matches and marriages over the last 20 years or so.
Since Match was one of the first in the online dating market, it works pretty similarly to most others that came after it, like eharmony and OkCupid. You complete a pretty extensive questionnaire about your personality and what you’re looking for in an ideal match.
Afterwards, Match has a 24-hour waiting period for verification before you can start using the service. This is so the dating site isn’t bombarded with fake profiles. But once you’re in you can message, favorite, wink, and talk with other users until you match and start going on dates in the real world.
Most men on Match know what kind of relationship they want, so users are generally more serious about something long-term than users on Tinder or AdultFriendFinder.
Since it’s a premium site, there shouldn’t be any fake profiles that might discourage you from this whole online dating business. Match has to approve all new users before using the dating site. After verification, you can use it for free during a seven-day trial period. After that, you can decide to continue for a monthly or yearly fee.
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Guys, this is not the place for younger millennials: EliteSingles loves to brag that 82% of their members are university grads, and with most members also being 33-50 years old, we can say with some certainty that the main targets are mature, working professionals rather than the Tinder-using generation. Sorry students.
Rather than being thrown into an endless pool of profiles, EliteSingles lets you pick out exactly what you’re looking for. After you answer a detailed questionnaire based on the popular Five Factor Personality Test, professional-level algorithms will curate you a limited number of matches. They’ll even compare your own results to those of potential matches to see how you stack up. Like eharmony, the stuff you need to fill out is pretty lengthy – but that’s what you need to do if you’re looking for a lasting relationship, and this helps ensure that you aren’t swiping through tons of people who aren’t your type. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
EliteSingles is one of Europe’s leading online matchmaking providers, and boasts 13 million singles in over 20 countries. You can filter people based on location, religion, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation. You can even break it down by profession. Profiles are even verified manually with an upscale Fraud Detection System, as you would expect from the fancy-sounding name.
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Founded in 2000, eharmony is the direct rival of Match. Although they have similar features, eharmony is a more focused experience. In addition, this dating site is considered one of the best sites for men who are looking to get married. So if you’re a man who wants to commit to a great partner, then you should consider eharmony to find your special someone.
eharmony’s sign-up process is more in depth and time consuming to get through than the questionnaire on Match. The questions asked during sign-up are designed to weed out ‘players’ and ‘serial daters’ because eharmony is interested in matching men with compatible partners for long-term relationships.
So if you get frustrated during the sign-up process, just remember that you’re looking for a life partner and not just a random fling. But once it’s complete, the dating site has a better idea of who you are and who is your ideal match.
In addition, users on eharmony are a bit older than the ones you’d find on Tinder because it’s a premium site. In other words, if you’re paying to use a dating site, then you’re super serious about meeting your soulmate.
The dating platform uses their own scientific method called ‘29 Dimensions of Compatibility.’ Its sole purpose is to find you the best possible matches that are more suitable to you, as it tries to ‘match couples based on features of compatibility found in thousands of successful relationships.’
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GayFriendFinder is a great option if you are looking for something casual, something serious, or just the opportunity to have a conversation with other gay men. So pretty much everything is covered with GayFriendFinder.
Once you’ve made it through the sign-up process, you can browse the profiles from all around the globe. You can still create hot-lists and send ice-breakers to guys that take your fancy if you are a standard member, but you’ll need to upgrade to initiate contact via email or chat.
GayFriendFinder will encourage you to upload photos to make your profile more attractive but you are under no obligation to do so, which is nice if you aren’t completely comfortable with having your photo shared around the site.
There’s a free version which is great, but most communication as well as viewing full profiles requires a paid membership, so you can’t really progress things with anyone until you pay up, but that seems like a fair deal.
The main reason this site makes this list is the fantastic social features that help you get to know your potential connection before you opt in or out of meeting them. This site is all about the social interaction, and the chat and forum features help members to interact much more than a lot of the competition.
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Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.
Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she’s not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she’s almost definitely watching a horror movie, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” or “The Office.” You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].
Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming services, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day.
Joseph is also Executive Editor of Mashable’s sister site, AskMen.
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