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I have been on Match.com twice for extended periods in the past four years. I live in a small non-metropolitan area so not exactly hundreds and hundreds of people on the site within 50 miles. Yet I have always had a positive experience. I have had several wonderful multi-month relationships and one multi-year relationship by following several tried and true techniques:
1) Take the time to reach out and actually send messages to those you interested in - not just a wink, not just a generic "I liked your profile - check out mine and let me know what you think". Find something unique in their profile that speaks to you and share a story about it.
2) Be aware of warning signs that someone is a scammer - several "too good to be true" handsome photos - and you can do a Google Image search on their profile photo to see if it pops up elsewhere. Desired age range is too high (example a 45 year old man seeking women up to 65).
3) In communications with people, try to encourage extensive communication online for several days, weeks before meeting in person. You can learn a lot about people from their interest in taking their time, their ability to communicate coherently, and their sense of humor and intelligence. You can share a generic email address (gmail, yahoo, etc. that you have created solely for dating communications).
If you enjoy chat, you may chat with them via Yahoo or ICQ.
4) Before meeting *anyone* be sure you know their full name and you have used that information to run a very basic online check to be sure they are who they say they are. Are they listed on Facebook, LinkedIn, Spokeo? (great to verify age and locations they have lived) - and all of this is for free. As things progress, you can even check out things such as their voter registration (gives you their home address / party affiliation), real estate records, etc for free just for peace of mind.
5) Encourage them to share photos via email, etc. so you have a realistic sense of their appearance - level of physical fitness, etc. In their carefully selected profile photos, some people are wearing hats, sunglasses, and most photos are dated and from a distance. You can also Google Image search their name to see if you can find more photos.
6) Schedule short first encounters... meet for coffee, a drink, a stroll, etc. Dinner is a big commitment if you discover right off the bat they are not a great match when you meet.
7) Offer to meet as *friends* first and pay your own way.... seems globally unfair that the males have to foot the bill for all first dates and I think it leads to frustration/anger if you "reject"them after they have paid for your dinner.
8) Have the attitude that you are not trying to meet the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with, but a cool individual that you are trying to get to know as a friend first... and let it flow from there. I still have about 6 guy friends who are just amazing people that I met on Match. Not a romantic connection, but we had so much in common and were so compatible that we have retained our friendship!
Good luck!
In summary, I would recommend Match.com to a friend.
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