By The Daily Orange feature staff OKcupid.com Where to go? OKCupid.com is your standard online dating service, but the minute that ‘needy_flash’ was suggested as an alternative screen name to just ‘SUflash,’ something about the OKCupid site didn’t seem quite right.

What to do? While cyber dating automatically means signing away a portion of self-respect, a question of this nature gave me a feeling that this Web site might not be for the most confident or successful individuals out there. Nonetheless, exuding confidence is the utmost priority when venturing off into the world of online dating. When ‘blackeychan420’ is debating whether or not to stay on your profile page for more than five seconds, first impressions are key to being a cyber-stud. OKCupid offers the immense challenge of asking users to condense their entire livelihood, personality and soul in to three simple words for those who want to get to know the real ‘SUflash.’ Charming, witty and understanding may not have been the most accurate adjectives for this particular user, but, as stated before, self-respect is not an issue here. For users with a more intimate and personal attitude towards online dating, OKCupid does offer a series of ‘match-questions’ that reveal things I didn’t even know about myself. Then, it asks users how they’d want their ideal match to answer the same questions. And yes, I’d be cool with people looking at my profile even if my status said, ‘married.’

Who’s On? From there, potential suitors are suggested based on the percentage of compatibility drawn from the questions. If they like what see, they send a message expressing an interest in you. Most messages are usually prefaced with ‘Haha, I usually would never do this, but…’ Yeah, me neither.

What’s the deal? Despite answering a majority of the match questions, showing an interest in women from ages 18-95 and bearing a profile picture that looked suspiciously like Lou Ferigno, love still seemed to avoid me like the bubonic plague. Well, there was ‘parkhyerin13’ who asked how my weekend was. I think I’ve got a shot. Match.com Where to go? Match.com aims to do exactly what its name markets, but it does so by bombarding you with e-mails notifying you of the site’s daily top matches, even if they’re located in Texas or the United Kingdom.

What to do? While the site’s basic services – which include letting you set up a profile, search for people by age and ZIP code, and receive e-mail notifications when you’re virtually ‘winked’ at (am I supposed to ‘wink’ back?) – are free, perks like reading personal e-mails from suitors are only available when you pay for a membership.

Who’s on? There are plenty of options in Syracuse, though. My search for 19- to 25-year-old males within a 5-mile radius of Syracuse yielded 219 results, and I’d actually consider dating a few of them. What’s the deal? If you’re serious about finding someone, the membership fee – $16.99 per month for six months with an additional six months free if you don’t find someone after that – might be worth it.

Metrodate.com Where to go? When I got online to try Metrodate.com, a free dating service specialized for multiple cities, I didn’t know exactly what would happen. I wasn’t expecting to find my true love, but I thought I would maybe meet some cool (and possibly creepy) people on the site.

What to do? I filled out my profile, NeedyAmity, put up a cute picture and waited. Nothing happened. This being my first time on a dating site, I didn’t know where to start to reach out to people so I continued to wait. Still nothing.

Who’s on? I joined a couple of chat groups, and unsuccessfully tried to understand the convoluted conversations taking place between about 15 people at once. I looked through the 47 matches that Metrodate had selected for me and whittled that number down to 18. My mailbox still said it ‘currently had no messages.’ I was starting to feel lonely, like no one wanted me. Then I decided to try the chat rooms again, the only place I had found any human contact, and started to interject myself into various random conversations. Many of them didn’t make sense, but after a while I began to understand that they were generally about cheese, the busses downtown or where to go out on Tuesday night. Completely random.

What’s the deal? I didn’t find my soul mate, I didn’t find anyone actually, but I was amused for some time. Maybe cyber-dating isn’t for everyone. SpeedDate.com Where to go? SpeedDate.com may seem like a creepy decision for some. You have no control over who you’re going to meet and the site bombards you with people. You have to be ready for whatever randomness may come.

What to do? The sign-up is relatively easy. All you have to do is sign up, there are no unnecessary questions to fill out and brood over. It is useful to add a picture though.

Who’s on? On SpeedDate, the user talks to other random users online that the computer generates for two minutes. At the end of the two minutes, the user can vote on whether or not they felt they had a connection with the person and decide if they want to disclose additional information to the person they were just talking with. This extra aspect of privacy lets the user talk to a bunch of people with no strings attached.

What’s the deal? Yes, trying to find love on the Web is just as creepy as many think. Random people pop in, ask semi-personal questions and there is no guarantee that they are who they say they are. But, weird as it sounds, there’s no real difference between getting to someone online and doing it in person.

If someone is at a party and is approached by a guy that randomly asks, ‘Do you like d***?’, that would be just as weird as when someone asked me that while I was in the midst of an online speed-date session. Actually, doing it in person might even make it a million times odder. In turn, if a random person online wants to know ‘What’s your favorite movie?’, that can become a great conversation starter just like it would be in real life.

Published on September 28, 2009 at 12:00 pm