What's The Most Popular Dating Site

  
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The Badoo dating site connects singles in 47 languages and across 190 countries. Badoo has the largest singles database in the world, and these aren’t all inactive profiles. The dating platform has over 60 million monthly active users, and it sees over 12 billion swipes per day. To identify the most popular dating app, we utilized Google Trends data and isolated apps and sites that had statistically significant popularity in each state. Christian Mingle. Faith-Based Profile Matching.

South African Model – Megan Coleman (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Here is the quick list of my top five dating sites (and apps) in South Africa. I’ll go into more detail in my reviews later in this article.

Due to its history, South Africa is known as a “Rainbow Nation.” Having lived in South Africa as an expat, I can tell you that you’ll find beautiful black people, white people, Indian people, and coloured people. For best results, I recommend you go to the big cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria where the hotties tend to hang out.

You can always check out the normal places to meet people (bars, clubs, church, mutual friends, supermarket, organizations, etc.). You can also grab your smartphone and download Tinder. However, the best and most efficient way to meet new single people for long term relationships is to do traditional dating sites.

The benefit of doing a traditional dating site is that you’ll find large numbers of available single men and women who are serious and ready to date and find love. You can also check out their interests and profile before making a connection.

Without further ado, here are my detailed reviews of the top five dating sites in South Africa.

When you are a foreigner in a new country, it can be really tough to meet members of the opposite sex. A buddy of mine told me about a website called AfroIntroductions, so I signed up for a subscription and used it with a lot of success during the year that I lived in Johannesburg. I also used their popular Brazilian-based site, Brazilcupid.com, when I was in Brazil.

Launched in 2002, AfroIntroductions is a rare gem for meeting singles whether you are in South Africa, the United States, the UK or other African countries. Dating online can be sketchy sometimes, and you can run into people who are not so genuine. But, for the most part, AfroIntroductions has plenty of eager singles ready to meet up.

Sign up Process

The sign-up process is like most other dating sites. You are required to fill out your information such as your age, gender, who you are looking for, etc.

Next, you will need to talk about you. Fill in some information such as your favorite color and places you might want to visit in the future. Don’t forget to mention the type of person you are looking for, whether you want them tall or short, athletic or a gamer. This helps to narrow down your searches later on.

Every so often, if your profile is not 100% complete, AfroIntroductions will request more information about you, but the questions are easy to answer and will only help narrow down your dating preferences.

How to Locate Potential Matches

On AfroIntroductions, there is the option of searching for a potential date by their motto or blurb. Some people like this because it gives them an idea of their personality whether they are funny, serious, or a little in between. You also have the option of scanning through profile photos (I prefer this one).

AfroIntroductions has an advanced search feature that enables you to filter by a number of characteristics, including body type (e.g. muscular, average build, etc.), smoker vs. non-smoker, wants children vs. doesn’t want children, and even zodiac sign.

How to Communicate with Other Members

AfroIntroductions has a simple but effective messaging system. As a premium member (Gold or Platinum), you can use audio and video chat. Similar to Skype, this feature enables you to “meet” someone without having to go out. In my experience, those first few moments will tell you right away if you have a keeper or not.

Unique Site Features

AfroIntroductions is straightforward. It is easy to navigate and browse profiles. There is a counter at the top that lets you know how many people are available at any given time.

A unique feature of this site that makes it different than other dating sites are Reverse Matches and Mutual Matches. These searches provide you with profiles of people like you based on your criteria, which makes it easier than ever to find someone you are going to like.

What is Included for Each Membership Level

  • Standard: Search for matches based on your preferences, send interest to any member, read messages from paying members
  • Gold: Communicate with all members, audio/video chat, Instant Messaging, ad-free browsing, anonymous browsing
  • Platinum: Higher ranking in searches, more profile space, extensive search features, message translating, VIP profile highlighting

South African Cupid

SouthAfricanCupid.com is under the same Cupid Media family as Afrointroductions.com I described above. SouthAfricanCupid doesn’t have near the user base that Afrointroductions has, but it is still worth setting up a profile if you’ve got time.

What

SouthAfricanCupid is an online veteran, bringing compatible matches together since 1999. As a branch of the Cupid Media Network tree, this site does benefit from Cupid Media’s established website design, premium member options, and overall quality in terms of genuine profiles. This is a great website, however be advised going in: SouthAfricanCupid’s members seemed more seriously focused on long-term relationships than other sites I’ve been a member of.

Sign up Process

This site’s sign-up process is quick and easy, requiring you only to enter your name, gender, email and a password to start. After that, briefly describe yourself (traits, lifestyle, hobbies, etc.) and the kind of partner you’re looking for, and you’re finished.

Now, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to take the time to finish your profile or continue on to use the site and start the search for your perfect match. If you do end up going straight to browsing with an incomplete profile, every once in a while you’ll have to answer a couple more questions to continue with what you were doing.

How to Locate Potential Matches

When browsing matches, you have four display options for the profiles: photos only, photos with basic information, photos with basic information and a short blurb about them, full profile. For a more targeted search, you have a number of criteria you can specify: age, location, and education, body type, ethnicity, lifestyle choices (smoking, drinking, etc.), marital status, whether they have kids, religious views, even their star sign.

How to Communicate with Other Members

SouthAfricanCupid’s basic messaging system is easy to use, with a number of different options for communicating. You can click a heart icon on any profile to “show interest”, or add them to your favorites. SouthAfricanCupid will tell you when other members are online, and when they are you can start Instant Messaging chats.

Audio and video chat is also available, which can be extremely useful tools to ensure you are compatible with another member before you decide to actually meet them in person. As a Standard member, communication with premium members is unlimited. To send messages to or read messages from fellow Standard members, you’ll have to upgrade to Gold or Platinum.

Unique Site Features

A unique feature of SouthAfricanCupid is the option verify your profile. To do this, you upload a copy of an official ID, like your passport or driver’s license. Once uploaded, SouthAfricanCupid will compare your identification to the information you provided when filling out your profile and verify your name, age, gender and other details. While this is not mandatory, verifying yourself in this way will set you head and shoulders above the competition as a genuine, trustworthy profile.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Standard – Craft customized searches, browse recommended matches, send interest, communicate with premium members
  • Gold – All of the above, plus: Communicate with all members, audio/video chat, Instant Messaging, ad-free browsing, anonymous browsing
  • Platinum – All of the above, plus: Higher ranking in searches, more profile space, extensive search features, message translating, VIP profile highlighting

OkCupid is popular in South Africa, as well as around the globe. The site takes online dating to a whole new level with complex algorithms to find the perfect match. With so many members, the chances of finding at least a date are fairly high.

Of course, there are a number of bad apples in the bunch, but what do you expect from a free online dating site? With this site, you can find anything from a serious relationship to a fun one-time date and everything else. Although this is a dating site, it is a great place to find new people to hang out with, grab a bite, or hit up a movie without ever getting serious.

Sign up Process

There are several ways to sign-up, from using your Facebook account to entering everything in manually. You will be requested to come up with a password as well as a username or nickname for the site.

Next, you will need to answer a few questions about yourself and like three profiles to set the boundaries for the system to get you set up with potential matches. Once all the basic information is set up, you are ready to go and start browsing through the profiles.

The entire sign-up process could take you 5 to 30 minutes depending on how much information you want to give to OkCupid. You can upload photos, enter all your basic stuff like height, age, occupation, etc. You could fiddle with the question and answers aspect of the system and basically write your autobiography if you wanted. Or, you can come back later to fill all that stuff in and just start your hunt to find your better half.

How to Locate Potential Matches

OkCupid is set up to help you find your best possible matches quickly with several different filters to choose from. When you first begin browsing, you will see the person’s image and username along with where in the world they are.

You will also notice a percentage that Cupid has come up with telling you whether or not you are compatible, and by what margin. You will notice right away whether that profile is completely wrong for you by the Enemy percentage. To make things easy, OkCupid has a QuickMatch that allows members to like or dislike a profile and notifies both members if there is potential.

How to Communicate with Other Members

This site allows for two ways to communicate. You can “like” someone, or you can send them a message. Both ways of communication are free which makes this site so popular. However, you can’t see who has liked your profile unless you sign-up for a premium membership.

There is, of course, an option for those who are shy and that is by visiting someone’s profile. OkCupid will send a message each and every time your profile is viewed, as well as every time you view someone else’s.

Unique Site Features

The best thing about this site, besides that fact, that it is a free online dating site, is the question matching system. There are a ton of questions that narrow down your personality and match it to others who are like-minded.

The questions range from whether you are a morning person, or if you have a particular fetish. The questions are fun to answer and help bring you closer to someone who may end up being “THE ONE.”

The more questions you answer, the more profiles you will see that are catered to your preferences. Every time you answer a question, OkCupid creates a broader profile for you telling others more about your personality and whether you are adventurous and outdoorsy, or kinky and spontaneous.

Membership Fees and What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Free – Create a profile, browse, Like, and message other users
  • A-List – Advanced search options, invisible browsing, message filtering, extra message storage, ad-free browsing, username changes, see who has liked you, and see when someone has read your message
  • Incognito Mode – Lets you Like and visit profiles invisibly, hides your profile from searches.
  • Profile Boosts – Appear more often in searches and at the top of the list in Quickmatch.

Dating Buzz

DatingBuzz.co.za is a South African focused dating site. It was launched in 1997 and was rebranded and went international in 2002. These days there are DatingBuzz websites for most of Europe, the U.S., India, Singapore and a few countries in Africa, and you have access to all of these members on DatingBuzz.co.za.

DatingBuzz has an understated, classy visual design that pleases the eye and doesn’t overwhelm. The layout of the site is not my favorite, and I would have liked to see some stronger communication features, especially audio/video. But all-in-all, using DatingBuzz was an easy, pleasant experience for me.

Sign up Process

To sign up, either link your Facebook profile or manually enter your gender and the preferred gender and age range of your ideal match. Continue with your birthday and a username, password and email. Click the link in a verification email and continue with more basic information.

To view matches or make any searches, you’ll have to complete at least the ‘About Me’, ‘My Ideal Match’ and ‘In My Own Words’ sections of your profile. Beyond that, there is a lot more to fill out if/when you choose.

How to Locate Potential Matches

For a Basic Search, you can filter by gender, match gender, age range and location. Advanced search ups the filter possibilities to include photo status and any of the criteria you selected when filling out your own profile. You can also search by keyword and username, browse members who are new, currently online, and popular, and those who have birthdays or have recently modified their profile.

Head to the Connections section of the site, and you can browse 100 of your two-way matches (1000 as a premium subscriber), where each of you fit the other’s specified ideal match criteria. You can also see members who you have rated or added to your favorites in this section, as well as those who have viewed your profile or favorited you.

For every profile you view, DatingBuzz will give you a match compatibility percentage, the average of how much you are a match for him/her and vice-versa. Scroll down and you can see exactly which criteria from the Ideal Match section each of you fits or doesn’t fit.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Click on a profile you like and you can reach out in a couple ways. Start easy by sending them a virtual gift, or adding them to your favorites. You can also invite them to view your private photos, and send a basic message. Messages are text-only, and only available for premium subscribers. Free members can send “quick, snappy” One-Liners however, but only if you have fully completed your profile and it’s been approved by DatingBuzz.

Unique Site Features

DatingBuzz makes it easy for you to help out your lonely, single friends with the aptly named Tell a Friend feature, easily accessible on every profile you visit. Click this button, enter your friend’s name and email, and DatingBuzz will send them an email with a short summary of the profile in question, including a short personalized message by you if you choose.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Free – Create a profile, upload photos, reply to messages
  • Subscribe – Read and send unlimited messages, send virtual gifts, view up to 1000 matches, view private photos, see who has viewed your profile, sort your search results, search messages by keyword

I’ve used Matchmaker in the past, but, frankly, I had to spend a lot of time messaging a lot of women to get any response. I had a couple of dates through there, but it was only after A LOT of effort.

Sign up for this one only if you have lots of time.

Sign up Process

In order to register, select a username (screen name or alias) and set up a profile describing yourself and the type of person and relationship you are looking for. You can search the site without setting up a profile. However, to view full member profiles you need to become a member and set up a profile.

Once you upload a photo, you are good to go. Note that it could take up to 24 hours for your photo to be approved by the site’s admin team.

How to Locate Potential Matches

You can do a basic quick search or an advanced search. You can filter based on age, hair color, smoker vs. non-smoker, location, etc.

If you do the advanced search and find that it doesn’t turn up any search results, select less search criteria.

How to Communicate with Other Members

In order to communicate with another member, click their ‘Contact Him (or Her)’ link, enter what you want to say into the message box, and then click send. If you are a premium subscriber, the person you sent the message to will be able to reply to you.

Unique Site Features

I like the notes feature. With each profile, you can include a note and star rating that will enable you to keep track of everyone you come across on the site.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Free – Create a profile, view two-way matches, see who has viewed you, read unlimited messages
  • Standard – Send unlimited messages, view private invitation-only photos, sort search results, search messages by keyword
  • Premium – Everyone can reply to you

If you plan to go to South Africa, be sure to check out my South Africa Travel Guide for in-depth information on traveling to the country.

Further Reading

  • Worldwide Online Dating Site Reviews: Be sure to check out my country-by-country reviews of the best online dating sites in the world.

  • Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.

  • Worldwide Jobs Guide: If you are interested in working in this country, be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in this country and other countries around the world.

  • Worldwide Apartments Guide: If you are interested in renting an apartment in another country, take a look at my articles on how to find an apartment in various countries around the world.

Visahunter.com accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the accuracy of the information contained on this site. Please read the Visitor Agreement and Disclaimer. If you think there is an error in the information, please bring it to our attention so that we can correct it. Also, some of the links above could be affiliate links, which means that I will earn a commission (at no additional cost to you) should you decide to click on the links and make a purchase. I recommend sites from time to time, not because I get a tiny commission if you click on the links and make a purchase, but because, I want you to focus on the places that will deliver you the most value and the best results. Good luck!

Here is the quick list of my top five dating sites in Colombia. I’ll go into more detail in my reviews later in this article.

Colombia is one of my most favorite countries in the world. And, best of all, you’ll be happy to know that it has a really vibrant dating scene with a massive pool of available singles all over the country.

Since my first trip to Colombia way back in 2008, I’ve traveled all over the country…from the beaches of Cartagena (the first ever city in Colombia I went to) to the Andean highlands of Bogotá (the capital city). No matter where you go, you will find a large number of singles ready to mingle.

While countries such as Argentina witnessed a slow growth in the number and popularity of online dating sites during the early 2000s, Colombia’s online dating industry exploded. That explosion continued through the entire 2010s with the introduction of the popular dating app known as Tinder.

You should know that, as far as dating apps go, Tinder is by far the most popular dating app. Why didn’t it make my list then?

Because, in my experience down in Colombia, Tinder is efficient if you’re looking for a short term relationship. But if you are interested in finding your soul mate on Tinder, forget about it. Tinder falls short. My theory behind this is that the whole swipe-right/swipe-left way of meeting people is too superficial. The minimal effort required to sign up and indicate your interest in someone might attract a huge number of members, but you have to sift through so many timewasters that it really isn’t worth your time unless you’ve run out of options.

If you’re looking for a Colombia girlfriend (or boyfriend), start with the dating sites below and make these the focus of your search efforts. Then, if you have spare time, download Tinder and see what happens.

The dating scene in Colombia is very much like the dating scene in Brazil. You can’t go wrong on any dating site/app in any city or town in the country.

Sure, the majority of Colombians still meet their romantic partners through the usual methods, such as through mutual friends or organizations, or at school, work, or church, etc; however, this scene has been changing quickly, and dating via the Internet and the smartphone is now mainstream.

Colombians (like Venezuelans and Brazilians) have a pure, raw, and unadulterated beauty. They are a stunningly attractive bunch.

The women of Medellin, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, Cartagena, and Cali are legendary. Throw a racially diverse population, a warm, friendly overall demeanor, and salsa dancing to the mix, and you will come to Colombia and never want to leave.

Ok, without further ado, let’s take a look at each of my five favorite dating sites in Colombia.

Colombian women are beautiful

This is definitely the best site for finding Colombians to date. Colombian Cupid is part of the Cupid Media family that owns sites such as Brazil Cupid and Afrointroductions (two sites that I’ve used in the past while living in Brazil and South Africa, respectively, with a lot of success).

There is a special place in my heart for ColombianCupid because I met my wife on the sister site, BrazilCupid. When browsing profiles and chatting with members on this site, the fiery energy of Colombia comes clearly shining through.

With upwards of 250,000 members, you have a lot of singles to choose from. ColombianCupid has the same solid interface and great features of its sister sites in the Cupid Media Network, with the audio/video chat really taking the cake for me as far as killer communication options. Unfortunately, you’ll have to pay for a premium membership to really get the most out of this site.

Sign up Process

ColombianCupid values ease and efficiency, and it shows from the start. To sign up, start with your name, gender, email and a password. Next, fill out a short About Me section, tell the site what you’re looking for in an ideal partner, and you’re done.

At this point, your profile is technically not yet finished, but you are free to browse and search for matches if you wish. If you elect to leave your profile as-is, be prepared for random pop-up boxes that will force you to answer more questions to move forward.

How to Locate Potential Matches

After stipulating what your ideal match looks like, ColombianCupid will display compatible matches for you, which you can browse in Photo View (photos only), Basic View (photos and basic information), Detail View (with photos, basic info and a short tagline) and Profile (full profiles).

You can also personalize your search based on basic information like age or ethnicity, or look through Popular Searches, like those who have recently joined ColombianCupid or uploaded new photos.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Messaging between Standard members on ColombianCupid is limited. You can flirt with “Sending Interest”, profile visits, favorites, and messages (which can only be read after upgrading to premium).

These are all great options for turning heads and prompting visits to your profile, but if you want to move on from hoping someone will like your profile enough to upgrade so they can talk to you, I recommend taking the leap and upgrading yourself. Once you do, you can truly communicate with other members, via text, audio, video, and IM chats.

Unique Site Features

One of the best features of ColombianCupid is the built-in message translator. With this feature, your messages can be translated into your target language with just one click.

Of course, these translations won’t be perfect, but that is to be expected of any online translator. This feature is only available to the paying, premium members, but if you’re willing to upgrade, your dating pool will be significantly expanded with the use of this feature.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Standard – Craft customized searches, browse recommended matches, send interest, communicate with premium members
  • Gold – All of the above, plus: Unlimited messaging and communication with other profiles (text, audio, video, Instant Messaging), ad-free browsing, invisible browsing
  • Platinum – All of the above, plus: Better ranking in searches, VIP profile highlighting, extra profile space, access to advanced matching algorithms, message translation, extended search capabilities.

Latin American Cupid

Latin American Cupid has a large selection of Colombians. Because it is also owned by the same guys who own Colombian Cupid, you will probably see some overlap in the women and men that show up in your search results. That will not be the case for everyone though, so for the best results, I recommend signing up for both sites.

Latin American Cupid is full of Colombians. When I was in Cartagena, a search for women living in my vicinity between 21 and 35 years old who have been active on the site within the last 3 months typically turned up more than 1000 profiles.

The site has been online since 2003 (ancient in Internet terms) and is one of the biggest sites under the Cupid Media Network umbrella, with over 3 million members.

In contrast to focused, niche sites like MexicanCupid, LatinAmericanCupid is for people looking to connect with residents of any country within Latin America, including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and many more.

LatinAmericanCupid is an all-around great dating site, available in eight languages, and serving customers with the polished website and strong features typical of a Cupid Media Network member. Just be wary of the scam-artist sob stories, asking for money!

Sign up Process

Signing up for LatinAmericanCupid is enjoyably smooth. All that is required at first is your name, gender, password and email. The next step is just to write a short blurb about yourself, describe your ideal partner, and you’re done!

Technically your profile is not yet complete at this stage. However, you can go on to browse and search for members if you wish. When you do get around to completing your profile, be warned that it may take some time to do so, as there is a lot there.

How to Locate Potential Matches

After entering your ideal match criteria, LatinAmericanCupid will present matches for you to browse, viewing by Photo View, Basic View, Detail View and Profile, and sorting by Newest Members, Photos First, Last Active, and Relevance. You can also tailor your searches to include or exclude profiles based on age-range, location, ethnicity, body-type, even their astrological sign.

How to Communicate with Other Members

As a free member, basic messaging is pretty limited. You can communicate freely with premium members, and you do have a few options for getting other Standard members’ attention. But none of these options (sending interest, adding as a favorite, visiting profile, or sending a “locked” message) include actual conversation. They will only notify the member of your existence and interest, and for anything to move forward, one of you will have to upgrade to a premium account.

The good news is, once you pay for a premium account, the messaging features are top notch, with audio, video and IM chat all available.

Unique Site Features

Easily one of the most useful and unique features on this site is the ability to translate your messages to the language of your choice. While copy/pasting from Google Translate isn’t exactly a hassle, it is nice to be able to translate messages with just one click, without ever leaving LatinAmericanCupid.

Considering that most of the profiles on this site will speak little English, you’ll be as glad as I was to have this feature available.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Standard – Create profile, upload photos, create customized searches, send interest to anyone, communicate with Gold/Platinum members
  • Gold – All of the above, plus: Unlimited messaging and communication with other profiles (text, audio, video, Instant Messaging), ad-free browsing, invisible browsing
  • Platinum – All of the above, plus: Rank above other members in searches, doubled profile space, VIP profile highlighting, platinum-exclusive search features, advanced matching algorithms, message translation

Launched in 2006, Badoo will be an OK option for Colombia. I tend to find the quality higher on the two sites above. To have any success on this site, you need to send out A LOT of messages as their filtering system for fake profiles is definitely not the strongest.

Badoo has over 300 million members from 190 countries. Although this site is intended to be a social gathering of sorts, it gears more towards a dating platform. So if you can speak one of the 41 languages offered here, then the site is fair game for you.

Sign up Process

There are three options when signing up for Badoo: looking to date, meet new friends or just chat.

By picking one, it doesn’t necessarily lock you into the “friend zone,” but a lot of the users start off just looking for someone to chat with and end up meeting later. No matter which option you pick though, you are bound to meet interesting and amazing people.

Like all chatting and dating sites, you will need an active email address, a name (some people choose to use a pen name until meeting) and a password. You can link several of your social sites here, like Facebook and Twitter. Just remember though there are some creeps, and you might not want to do that right away.

Once everything is set up, you are ready to go.

How to Locate Potential Matches

If you are looking to find someone, you would need to click on the “Encounters” option. By doing so, you will see one profile at a time to gauge whether or not they are someone you would like to meet or chat with.

If the member isn’t someone that sparks your fancy, simply click on the “X” to move to the next profile. As with all dating sites, the more information you sign up with, the more chances you have to be matched with someone. Badoo is no different and will alert you when there is a possible match.

The other option is, of course, searching for people near you. This feature allows for multiple profiles to scroll through at once. Although some people prefer this over searching the entire database, keep in mind that your soul mate might just be around the world.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Now that you’ve picked the option of either “Encounter” or “People Nearby,” simply start up a conversation. You can save your favorite people and even send someone a gift if you are so inclined on this site.

If you want to read other people’s profiles, you will need to make sure your profile is up-to-date and completely filled out. And since you have the potential to meet people from all over the world, you’ll need to make sure you turn on the location service.

Unique Site Features

Badoo is well established and has a user-friendly platform. While this site seems to be in tune with Facebook and Twitter, there is no way to share updates to your account.

If your profile seems to lack views, there is the option to have your profile advertised to the masses, for extra money of course.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

  • Free – Sign up, create a profile, browse, favorite, and chat with other users
  • Platinum – You see the most popular members in Encounters, your profile is shown more often in People Nearby and in Encounters, includes all Super Power features
  • Super Powers – See who wants to meet you or who favorited you, undo previous votes in encounters, invisible browsing, chat with new users and most popular users
  • Paid Features – Rise up in People Nearby, be shown more in Encounters, be featured in local searches, send stickers in chat, send “gifts”

OKCupid

Sign up for this website if you’ve run out of options on the sites above.

OkCupid is a free dating site that uses complex algorithms and an expansive question-matching system to find the best possible matches for its members. The huge user base (over 50+ million since launch) and lack of signup fees is both a plus and a minus.

With so many people, your chances of finding a good match are high, however “free” also seems to attract a fair amount of spammers and suspect profiles. Because of this, it might take some time to sift through the chaff.

All-in-all though, you can find whatever you’re looking for on OkCupid: quick hookups, serious relationships, and everything in between.

Sign up Process

You can sign up with your Facebook account or manually enter your basic information. Next, you pick a username and password, write a few words about yourself, and answer five personality questions.

Finally, you “Like” three user profiles to give OkCupid an idea of your type. After that, you’re free to browse!

How long it will take to complete your own profile depends on you. With photos to upload, basic stats to fill in, eight prompts to play with, and thousands of possible questions to answer, there is room for a lot of information.

I love writing and enjoyed the chance to share so much about myself. Others may find it a bit overwhelming and prefer to keep it short and sweet.

How to Locate Potential Matches

For general browsing, OkCupid helps you narrow down your search with a number of filter options. When browsing, you’ll see each person’s main photo, username, age, location and a “% Match” and “% Enemy”. These last two stats are OkCupid’s algorithms at work, comparing and contrasting how each of you answered questions.

You can also use Quickmatch, which shows you other members to “Like” or dismiss, notifying the both of you when there is a match.

How to Communicate with Other Members

You have two official options: “Liking” and Messaging. Liking feels useful really only as a bookmark of sorts, because users can only see who’s Liked them if they pay for the premium membership. Online messaging is text only, but free and simple to use.

A final, indirect form of communication is to simply visit someone’s profile, as OkCupid will notify them each time you do so.

Unique Site Features

OkCupid’s most unique feature is their question matching system. Questions range from the mundane (Are you a morning person?), to the sexual (Are you fetish-friendly?), the deal-breakers (Is interracial marriage a bad idea?), and the downright bizarre (In a certain light, wouldn’t nuclear war be exciting?).

Most Visited Dating Sites

For each question, you also specify which answers you’ll accept from others and how important the question is to you. There are thousands of questions to choose from, and the more you answer, the more accurately you can match with others.

OkCupid also uses all of your answers to create an overview of your personality, e.g. More Adventurous or Less Kinky.

Membership Fees and What is Included for Each Membership

  • Free – Create a profile, browse, Like, and message other users
  • A-List – Advanced search options, invisible browsing, message filtering, extra message storage, ad-free browsing, username changes, see who has liked you, and see when someone has read your message.
  • Incognito Mode – Lets you Like and visit profiles invisibly, hides your profile from searches.
  • Profile Boosts – Appear more often in searches and at the top of the list in Quickmatch.

Tagged is probably Badoo’s largest competitor in that they offer a product that is very similar. I know some people who have had quite a bit of success with Tagged in the major cities like Bogota, Cartagena, Cali, and Medellin.

I like to leave no stone unturned in the dating search, so I recommend you sign up and give it a try when you’ve exhausted the other options above.

Sign up Process

Tagged has to be one of the fastest sites to sign up for. Plug in your name, email address and upload a photo. Confirm your email address and enter the code Tagged sent and you’re done.

You can spend quite a bit of time filling out your profile that includes your dreams and favorite things. Tagged also lets you change your profile skin and create groups or join groups.

This site is similar to Facebook when it comes to uploading videos and photos. The unique feature of this site is that you can buy “Pets” which is other people’s profiles. This is one way to let people know you are interested in being friends or possibly meeting for coffee.

How to Locate Potential Matches

The best feature for Tagged is the “Meet Me” option. This is ideal for people looking to find a potential match and start a relationship. The simplicity of the “Meet Me” feature has been duplicated many times over and is especially popular with Tinder.

Like Facebook, Tagged lets you play games on the site and challenge other member’s scores. This makes a great ice breaker for meeting new people.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Every 24 hours you can send someone a “Wink” which is similar to a “Thumbs Up” or a “Like.” You can also send them a message which is text-only but can be more personalized by adding stickers or emojis.

Although when you do send a message, a new window pops up which is nice considering the fact that you don’t lose what you need to say and don’t get distracted from other things on the site. You can also invite other members to groups or comment on a profile or picture.

Unique Site Features

While some people enjoy buying “Pets” or profiles to let their matches know they are interested, this feature is a bit strange. On the other hand, it is a sure fire way to let someone know you are interested in them since you receive a message if you have been bought.

Like fantasy football, you use virtual cash to purchase your “Pets” and can be bartered and traded or sold for a price. This aspect of Tagged is a bit off when it comes to moral standards, but seems to be popular and an easy way to be introduced to new people.

What is Included for Each Membership Level

  • Free – Sign up, create a profile, browse and contact other members. Basically everything except the perks below
  • Premium – See who likes you in Meet Me, see who has viewed your profile, contact the most popular users, contact new users before others do, “message read” notifications, chat and email support

How to Get Started:
Sign up for one of the websites above if you’re interested in finding a Colombian woman (or man) for a long term relationship. If short-term love is your thing, download Tinder to your smartphone.

If you need help with how to set up a profile, what to write for your initial and follow up messages, when to ask the woman/man you’re interested in to go offline for a date, etc., check out my e-book, Online Dating Success: How to Find Love Anywhere in the World.

Good luck!

Useful Phrases in Spanish:

  • Hola, ¿Cómo estás? – Hi, how are you?
  • Me llamo… – My name is…
  • ¿Cuál es su nombre? – What is your name?
  • ¿De dónde eres? – Where are you from?
  • Yo soy de los Estados Unidos. – I am from the United States.
  • ¿Hablas Inglés? – Do you speak English?
  • ¿Qué te gusta hacer para divertirte? – What do you like to do for fun?
  • ¿De verdad? – Oh really!?
  • ¿Tienes hermanos o hermanas? – Do you have any brothers or sisters?
  • Tu eres bonita. – You are really stunning.
  • Me gustas mucho. – I like you a lot.
  • Vamos a salir este fin de semana. – Let’s go out this weekend.
  • ¿Estás libre a las 7 de la tarde? – Are you free at 7 o’clock?
  • Qué bueno!! Gracias. – Cool! Thank you.
  • ¡Qué genial! Hasta Luego. – Great! See you later.
  • Adiós – Bye.

Further Reading

  • Worldwide Online Dating Site Reviews: Be sure to check out my country-by-country reviews of the best online dating sites in the world.

  • Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.

  • Worldwide Jobs Guide: If you are interested in working in this country, be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in this country and other countries around the world.

  • Worldwide Apartments Guide: If you are interested in renting an apartment in another country, take a look at my articles on how to find an apartment in various countries around the world.

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