Online Dating Faceoff: Putting 2 Sites to the Test
Post Date: September 1st, 2010
Are you an online dating newbie, shopping around for which site to try? Or have you dabbled in web matchmaking but are still unconvinced?
There are thousands of dating sites out there, which can make it difficult to decide which one is best for you. We all go online in search of that special someone – to date, to marry, or just for fun, but it’s all about making a connection.
We decided to put two of the big dating sites to the test. Two strapping young lads (volunteers!) conducted a three month study here in San Diego, HerWay’s home, each joining one of the top 5 largest dating sites. And so our experiment began:
Research Question:
If two males joined two different big dating sites, which site would lead to more successful connections if their outreach was similar, if not the same?
HerWay Hypothesis:
It won’t matter which of these big dating sites you join. The success rate will be greater when the woman approaches the guy first. Since she makes the initial connection online, it will lead to more in-person meetings.
Experimental Design & Procedure:
- Males based in same city, San Diego
- Male 1 joined site A
- Male 2 joined site B
- Both had 100% complete profiles with several photos
- A successful connection defined by face-to-face meeting
- Initial messages sent from both male volunteers were all exact carbon copy messages
- Conducted over a three month period
Results:
Face-to-face meetings were 18 times more likely when the women initiated the connection. The chart below illustrates the disparity between the two approaches.
On Site A, the male-initiated contact was successful 3.23% of the time, while the female initiated contact succeeded in a face-to-face 50% of the time. Site B, on the other hand, had even more glaring differences. While the female initiated contact resulted in a face-to-face 16.67% of the time, not one of the 26 male initiated messages received a reply and therefore had no chance of a face-to-face encounter.
Conclusion:
Although it may be considered an unconventional approach to dating, the numbers don’t lie. On any dating site, when a woman initiates contact, it is much more likely that an in-person connection will occur! Since HerWay enforces female-led dating by restricting men from searching and viewing profiles, it’s safe to conclude that it provides the most efficient and successful approach to online dating.
So, whether you’re new to online dating or an experienced veteran with disappointing results, take a chance with HerWay and conduct your own experiment. We’re confident that you’ll be happy with the outcome 
6 Responses to "Online Dating Faceoff: Putting 2 Sites to the Test"
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So are there any stats on how many users there are currently on this website? Would be good to know. I imagine it’s fairly new and it will take some time for a pool of users to accumulate.
I really like the concept here. Having unsuccessfully dated way more than I’d like to admit on a handful of other sites, I think it’s great to restrict the random ‘cut & paste’ method of casting a wide net that most guys employ. My question, however, is what method of getting the word out there are you employing? I saw your ad on POF.com by the way. I’m in Milwaukee and would like to see profiles from people other than the same guys on match.com & pof.com…you know, guys sincerely interested in meeting someone and not playing games.
I’ve “joined” several of these sites. So far they are all the same, no communication until after one pays the $$. I actually paid and joined “senior people meet”, my profile got messed up, they refused to do anything.
So I am unconvinced that these dating sites do anything more than create frustration for those who just want to meet other singles.
From my experiences your success rate of regular dating sites is far better than I’ve ever gotten, let alone what you claim for your HerWay site. My POF stats are 190 contacts initiated by me, resulting in only 1 face to face meeting. A woman initiated contact with me only about 4 or 5 times which resulted in ZERO face to face meetings. This occurred over a 2+ year period. If I had actually paid money to be on that site for 2 years, I would have been a complete fool. Firstly, my POF experience was worthless, though I did not pay anything for it (thank god). Secondly, I actually did better initiating contact, because it did ultimately result in ONE face to face meeting. If I had only been able to receive contacts instead of initiating them, I would have NEVER had a face to face meeting at all. I equate online dating to panning for gold, so many people attempting to do it and gaining absolutely nothing from it. It is only worth while for the people that create, run and make money from the dating sites, not the “user base” or “members”.
