Senior Match
My mother is a widow often tells me that she would consider going back on the market, if she could just find the right environment. You know—safe, secure and not treating her as if she’s 100 years old, just because she’s over 60. On the surface, Senior Match might seem such a place as its slick homepage is strewn with links specifically tailored to those over 50. I like that it seemed right from the start to cater to mature daters as inexperienced in life, rather than old.
The SeniorMatch signup process was rather standard, as far as mandatory information asked, except on two counts. First, although sometimes a complete physical description is obligatory when signing up to a site, in this case, I only was required to provide my height and no other appearance details. I know traditionally women prefer to date someone several inches taller, but still, that requirement seemed somewhat arbitrary.
“…it is free to read the community forums and blogs, or to reply to email and instant messages.”
Another, atypical mention is that when I agreed to the terms of service after filling out the first few pieces of information, I was required to verify that I was at least 30 years of age. I didn’t have to stretch the truth on that one. I thought it showed some effort to make sure that even if some folks might be looking for a May-December romance that the younger participant was still in the realm of full-bloom, not still wet round the ears from an April shower, or the melting snow of early March.
Otherwise, SeniorMatch.com was par for the course, as far as its services resembling those of most other online dating sites. I discovered it is free to read the community forums and blogs, or to reply to email and instant messages. However, to initiate instant messaging, or compose emails, as well as read some of the advice and general news items geared towards people 50 plus, I would have needed to upgrade to a paid membership.
Unfortunately, SeniorMatch hasn’t done well on attracting visitors to the site. I found it difficult to determine, whether my local area was doing better than the overall traffic numbers might suggest, as free searches only get within 100 miles of home and the last login info is only viewable upon upgrading. That seriously hindered my ability to see how many others nearby were using the site.
The site might attract more members through better promotion and repositioning its name to an audience young-at-heart. Not everyone of a certain age wants to be called a senior, or would even consider him, or herself one. Senior Match needs to work on grabbing hold of more of the vital baby boom generation. In the meantime, it may be a site to keep your eye on.