Free Online Internet Dating Sites and Services

Perhaps you've given up on the bar/club scene, finding it to be a "meat market" with people full of alcohol unable to show their true selves.  Or maybe you prefer browsing for dates from the comfort of your own home.  You've likely heard of the paid dating services online such as Match.com and eHarmony.  You may have decided that paying to find matches or dates or even friends is not the way to go.  While many dating gurus will suggest you pay, there's no need to.  You aren't necessarily paying when you go out to bars or clubs to talk to people, it's part of the deal of being there.

On this page you'll learn about some of the free online dating services that exist and allow members to join, participate and meet other members free of charge.  But first, a few quick disclaimers, this page is in no way an affiliate for or sales pitch for any of the dating sites or options discussed.  Always use online meeting or dating services at your own risk, consider meeting anyone in a very public place or with friends present, just in case!

When it comes to free online dating, the Plenty of Fish dating site POF is one of the most popular and widely used on a daily basis. It's completely free to join, create your profile, browse members and message them. While it doesn't employ much in the way of customer service, this free dating site has a new paid member component where "Serious members" display a special gold star on their profiles.

At Plenty of Fish you can write an about me paragraph (or several paragraphs), list your interests, describe your ideal date and even embed a music player on your profile from imeem.com!  There's a psych/compatibility type test you take after joining which will help find you other members who seem like good matches.   You're also able to browse members by zip code, ethnicity, religion and other criteria, sort of like Myspace has.  From there you can message other members for free and try to meet some new friends or possible love interests!

A few tips with Plenty of Fish: As always there will be fake profiles and people using profiles to promote or lure members into other dating services or even adult sites. Use caution while browsing and contacting other members. Some things to watch for are profiles of people which claim the person is in a legal secretary position, but then makes a lot of grammatical and spelling mistakes on their own profile. Also, the number of pictures may be a clue. While not always true, sometimes profiles which have just one picture displayed may be fake. This is of course food for thought, but overall POF is one of the best free dating services online!

Read on for some other alternatives to plenty of fish free dating site...

OkCupid.com may be the runner-up in terms of free online dating services. While Plenty of Fish seems user friendly for most age groups, OkCupid seems to be a younger crowd. OkCupid has a much more complex system when it comes to joining and finding matches, which some may find useful and others may find cumbersome. At their site you are able to answer various test questions such as "Would you consider dating an atheist?" and other ethical/relationship-based questions. You answer the question first, then choose how your ideal partner would answer and how important that question is to you. After 25 or more of these questions you'll begin to get closer to 100% for your matches. The more questions you can answer, the more accurate your matches will be.

OkCupid has a lot of space for About Me, Interests, Goals and what you're doing in your life right now. The more of this you provide the more chance you'll have for other members finding your profile, and finding it interesting. There's also member forums, instant message capabilities and games, making it a potential time drainer while also providing entertainment.

OkCupid is a fun alternative and seems alot like Social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Definitely worth a try, but remember it doesn't have quite the amount of members or traffic as Plenty of Fish gets.

OnlineBootyCall.com is the new player on the block when it comes to online dating services. They've been airing recent local commercials for their dating site, which may not have the best of connotations, but nonetheless it's free. The site is a lesser known dating site when compared to Plenty of Fish or OkCupid, but don't discount it. Recently, commercials have been airing a lot for the site, and it's been a hot search on Google during several days.

Please note that OnlineBootyCall is not free like OkCupid and Plenty of Fish are.  OnlineBootyCall is currently free on a trial basis if you invite friends.  Otherwise member plans start at $19.99 and go up from there.  Still it may be an interesting dating site alternative for you.

One of the interesting components of OnlineBootyCall is their cash giveaways on a monthly basis. These contests are based on referring friends and new members to the booty call site. 1 winner gets $1000 each month while 10 others receive $500. Not a bad deal while looking for some online booty!

OnlineBootyCall may be the most bold and flirtacious of the free dating services, so realize what you're getting yourself into. Just to give you an idea of this site's theme and style, you have a menu drop down option called "Find Booty". Under that is Quick Search, Find Friends, Invite Booty, Rate Booty and Top Ten. The site's much like other free dating sites where you can upload pictures of yourself, message other members and customize your profile. There's also member forums where you can head to possibly meet someone interesting or answer a burning question you have about the site.

The YouTube video below is from the Mike and Juliet morning show where they talk to OnlineBootyCall's CEO, Mo Brown. The site's been up and running for several years now and several members love using it to create an online black book to meet attractive singles in their area.

You may need to expand your realm of possibilities when it comes to online dating.  These days online dating and meeting new people is not as taboo as it once used to be.  You can potentially meet some interesting new friends through several social media or networking sites, and maybe, just maybe find that love interest!

Think Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.  These sites offer millions of users, but it may take more creativity or conversation then your typical dating site to meet someone.  Keep in mind these were not built as dating sites, but don't rule out the possibilities of meeting someone with them!

Of course, Myspace is the veteran of the three sites, with Facebook and Twitter gaining tremendous amounts of new members by the day.  It's easiest to message other members on Myspace, while on Facebook and Twitter you'll need to be mutual friends.  Still, these are free sites you can possibly meet someone through.  With Twitter you're limited to just 140 characters, so it will take some creativity.  On the other hand, getting adept at using Twitter and creating short, catchy messages may be a great skill to have when it comes to the other dating sites!

Also keep in mind, its easier to specify the type of people you're searching for on Myspace or Facebook, while Twitter doesn't necessarily have this feature.  You can go to http://search.twitter.com and see if maybe someone has mentioned your town or area landmark, bar, hangout spot, etc.  From there you can send them a reply to their remark and see if a connection happens...For more info, consult the Twitter.com site on how to use the site.