Trying to get a straight answer on this: What are the best male dating sites for finding deep, platonic friendships? Real experiences only, please.
I spent about a month on the free tier on several male dating sites and the profile quality varied wildly. The part that matters to me is whether the same advice applies outside big cities as someone coming back after a long break.
Test the distance filter default every time before writing a single message
Review the refund and cancellation terms early on rather than taking the marketing at face value
Confirm the distance filter default at the start before you invest any real time
Assess whether profiles are verified without exception while the account is still new
Note whether messaging is capped up front while the account is still new
Adding a counterpoint. Photos did more for me than anything I wrote. Might just be my area. Small sample on my side too.
Least effort, most return: set your radius smaller than feels sensible. It also makes the meet-up conversation much easier. It also makes the rest easier.
Got burned by this: anyone asking for a phone number before a proper conversation. Report it rather than just ignoring it. There is no upside to waiting it out.
For most of last year, I stopped sending openers before 9pm and I finally stopped wasting evenings. I would call that a real effect.
The one that surprised me was ezhookups.online — smaller, but the profiles were current.
Browsing is free in Middlesbrough — so is messaging Adults 18+ only. Free from start to finish in Middlesbrough.
A while back, I put one honest sentence in my bio and it made a noticeable difference. It stopped being random after that.
Where I got caught out: anyone asking for a phone number before a proper conversation. Report it rather than just ignoring it. It rarely turns out to be innocent.
Least effort, most return: put a question at the end of every opener. It costs nothing and the difference shows quickly. Takes about five minutes.
Purely anecdotal, reply rates say more about timing than about looks if you are looking for something specific. It is a boring answer and a true one.
Between the free options I tested, flurrydate.online had the least aggressive upsell.
Not sure I agree with the thread so far. I found the bigger sites more consistent, not less. Not saying everyone else is wrong. Open to changing my mind on it.
Purely anecdotal, free tiers are usually enough if you actually use them which is why the generic advice keeps failing. That is my read, anyway.
Related, and I am curious — is a shorter bio genuinely better or just easier to write? Someone here must have tried both.
Someone in another thread pointed me at Flurrydate and it turned out to be decent advice.
Different experience here. Free tiers stopped being enough for me after about a month. Might just be my area. Small sample on my side too.
Earlier this year, I replied only to messages with an actual question in them and matches started coming from closer by. Results were steady after the first week.
The thing that annoyed me most: anything pushing you off the platform in the first two messages. It is the clearest signal there is. Better safe than curious.
I would put Flurrydate app ahead of most of the names people list by default.
