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Our Favorite Dating Sites |
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Top Dating Categories |
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PlanetOut: Full Review |
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Pro Rating :
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User Ratings :
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Avg. Rating :
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About PlanetOut |
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URL
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Location
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United States of America
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Languages
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English
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Short Description
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The original dating website that has the backing of Partners, Inc., a multinational corporation that has lent its considerable marketing savvy and financial resources to the huge websites. The personals area is actually a sub-division of rather than a completely stand-alone site. has over half a million homosexual and bisexual members, making it considerably smaller than its sister site, www.Gay.com, but still popular and well-established.
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Number of Members
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500,000
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Overall Rating
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is a very good site for gays and lesbians seeking romance or a relationship. The additional content by virtue of being a part of means you get exceptional content, up to the minute news on real issues and very good service. The relative size of is a small drawback, since it's about one-third the size of , but it still offers a good cross-section of members. They could jazz up the look a bit, though. Navy blue? Boring.
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PlanetOut Categories & Features |
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Lifestyles
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Bi-Sexual
Gay/Lesbian
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Relationships
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All
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Religions
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All
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Ethnicities
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All
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Finding Your Match
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Automated Matching
Online indicator
Search (Advanced)
Search by location
Search (Quick)
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Contacting Members
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E-mail
Instant messaging
Private messaging
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PlanetOut Dating Service Review |
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The Company
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is a powerful, successful company and they've invested considerable resources in their website's Personals section. has consistently provided funding for improvements and seem to listen to their members and respond.
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Site Navigation
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All pages work and are crisp and neat, but the lack of an actual, independent site makes navigation confusing at times - are you still in Personals or have you moved to another area of completely?
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Site Response Speed
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Average
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Sign-Up Process
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has an easy sign-up, with a simple questionnaire for profiles and a secure site if you choose the paying membership. Limited range of credit cards to use and the inability to use such services as PayPal made it more prohibitive than some.
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Breadth of Services
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Typical but very reliable service for members as far as Personals (the matching is very good, the email system and IM's work well) goes. The other services, including articles, columns and advice on dating, and health issues are outstanding. It depends on what you're looking for, really. For strictly Personals, is a 3 or 4. For range of extras like newsletters and events, is a definite 5+.
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User Base
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members by and large are professionals, with a good mix of twenty-somethings through people in their thirties and early forties. Most are looking for a real relationship, although you will encounter the occasional "on the prowl" member looking to hook up with someone different each weekend. monitors should remove the obviously fake photos, though. On the whole, these are people you would look forward to meeting - articulate, politically and socially active and interesting.
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User Experience
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With the exception of the small photos, there were no real problems with . Chat and IM's were fairly easy to use, but the response time was surprisingly slow.
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Customer Service
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's customer service gave detailed responses that indicated they actually have real people working most of the time to keep up with requests and questions.
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Customer Service Hours
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24/7 Telephone contact: 877-269-2775
Email contact: billing@planetout.com
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Registration Options
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Registration Procedure
FREE to register
Quick registration
Online help
Tips and examples
Send photos by mail or email
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Additional Services
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Automatic renewal
Hide profile option
Online shopping
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Long Description
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Personals
Personals cater to the more conservative faction of gay dating (i.e. those looking for long-term relationships and with a mainstream lifestyle), and seems to have a large number of people who are comfortably out and mainstreamed into family lives, either with children of their own or hoping for children in the future. The site overall is graphically pleasing and rich with links to all kinds of topics. To evaluate this site you really have to look at as a whole, since the Personals area and the rest of the site (People, Hot Topics, News, Entertainment) are so seamlessly joined that sometimes you don't realize that you've left one and ventured into another.
Post personals for free
The free membership includes a complete profile and posting of one photo. The information is detailed and interesting in the profiles and includes an opportunity for you to write an essay about what you're looking for in a partner. profiles cover everything from HIV status to how out you are and whether you've had a long-term relationship in the past, so there's less chance for social gaffes when and if you do meet. treats homosexual and bisexual dating no differently than hetero sites with the exception of the prominent medical questions. The assumption here seems to be it's all about the relationship, less about the sex. If you're looking for something serious, try instead of . If you aren't sure what you're looking for, will give you more variety. The photos with the profiles, however, are thumbnails unless you are a paying member and even then they aren't as large as on most sites. Part of this is because of the site lay-out - since the Personals are a part of , the top and one side navigation bars are for , with the Personals in the center with the other side for its navigation bar. Essentially, one-third of the page isn't for the Personals themselves. Oddly, the Personals section is primarily white with navy blue and gray tabs and sidebar information, giving it a rather corporate feel (ala IBM or Microsoft). The photos that are uploaded should be reviewed more carefully, as there were several members who uploaded pics of their dogs (Lord, I hope that was a Pug...) or even cartoon pics or childhood photos rather than accurate photos. This manages to get their profiles listed in any searches that say "with photos only," without having to actually put their picture out there.
Be wary when giving out personal info in your ad
's personals have a few aspects you should be aware of in terms of caution and email safety. will ask for your street address during the registration process, but be aware of the section that notes they may release your address to "selected companies," so you could start getting lots of unsolicited mail. The same goes for your email address - be aware that may share your address, so make it a point to check-mark the spot that forbids them releasing the information to other companies in order to avoid being spammed. The message boards, though, are terrific. There are literally dozens of them, from "Ask Betty" to discussions on the success of past events and Gay Activism. You can even create a Message Board if you have a particular interest you'd like to start a message string on.
is not JUST an online dating site
The extras at are exceptional if you enjoy newsletters. When you register as a Personals Member, whether paying or non-paying, you can sign up for up to five weekly newsletters (This Weekend, Travel, News, Member Specials and Entertainment), all with a Gay/Homosexual focus. The Specials are actually often quite good, including travel deals and discounts. You can also customize your Personals homepage by focus, whether yours is Lipstick Lesbian, Gay Male or Bi. You'll also find Horoscopes, Career Tips, and Pets. There are a variety of Events that sponsors, including a very popular series called "Hurry Date with A Twist." These speed-dating sessions are scheduled in various cities across the U.S., including L.A., N.Y., Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Orlando. Hurry dating matches each attendee with several others, with just three minutes for each "meeting" before you move on to talk with the next person. There are several success stories from these posted at the site that attests to their popularity. The "Savage 2.0" column, written by Dan Savage, is well-written, acerbic and written with a genuinely honest consideration of all sides of the Gay/Lesbian scene and its many potential problems. High points go to him for sternly warning a 16 year old gay boy to stay as far away from a 49 year old gay man who was intent on charming him as is humanly possible. His column addressed the predatory nature of the relationship, the boy's need to come to terms with his own sexuality before pursuing a relationship and the young man's parents and the pain he would cause them if he ran off with an older man.
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PlanetOut Pros & Cons |
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Pros
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Good profiles with simple set-up.
High-quality members, nearly all looking for a real relationship.
The wide range of extra features such as newsletters, horoscopes and events are all appealing.
The cost of is better than many other sites and the customer service is good.
Customized homepage is a nice feature if you visit frequently and like the extras that are available.
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Cons
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has a smaller membership than , with less variety in terms of sexual proclivities and interests.
The proportionately small size of the page because it is set within the larger site can make it difficult to read and navigate. You may find yourself wishing you could expand the page or get rid of the frame.
Sometimes you leave the Personals completely before you realize you're in another section of entirely.
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PlanetOut Plans Offered |
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Pricing
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3 day trial for $4.95
1 month for $12.95
3 months for $29.95
1 year for $69.95
Full access - you can email anyone and begin IM sessions yourself. By initiating contact you increase your chances of beginning a correspondence with those who interest you.
Premium placement of your profile in searches
Blocking features
Mail forwarding
Profile Player - a slideshow of complete profiles and photos to increase ease of browsing
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Site Freebies
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Free membership includes a profile, photo and the ability to do searches. You can also read all of the articles and advice columns and subscribe to any and all newsletters.
You can respond to others who contact you, although you can't initiate contact.
Links to Horoscopes, etc. are all fully functional.
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