Zoosk.com
More than just a dating website, Zoosk.com is an 'online dating
community.' In fact, you may be surprised to learn that this
popular dating website even began as a Facebook application, before
morphing into a full-fledged online dating site that is now
integrated with other social networks including Bebo and MySpace.
For those who aren't entirely comfortable in online social
situations, the company also offers a compatibility matching
service to help you find relevant suitors.
Membership Base
Zoosk claims to serve over 50 million singles worldwide. While
this can be helpful for singles looking for the widest possible
pool of potential mates, the site serves singles worldwide and
operates in 24 languages, so the singles community that is relevant
for you will be significantly more limited. Married people are not
eligible to use Zoosk, but both straight and gay singles over age
18 are welcome to register.
Compare Zoosk.com's membership base to
other dating sites >>
How Zoosk Works
There are two ways to register for Zoosk. The traditional method
requires visiting the website and creating a profile. However,
because Zoosk began as a Facebook app, it should not be surprising
that singles can also create an account via the company's Facebook
app. For the purposes of this Zoosk review we tested both the
Facebook application and the website, and we were impressed to see
that the Facebook version functions nearly identically to the web
version. There were, however, some glitches in the app. For
example, we were asked to validate our identity in one of two ways,
but the first way did not show in the app, so we could only choose
phone validation.
Sample page from Zoosk Facebook
Application
Unlike most of the other services which allow users to search
for a match without a photo, Zoosk does not allow any singles to
contact other users without first uploading a photo. The upside to
this is that you'll be able to see a photo of nearly anyone you
want to contact. The downside, of course, is that if you aren't
ready to upload a picture of yourself, Zoosk may not be the right
online dating site for you.
Another unusual feature that we encountered during our Zoosk
review is the ability to automate your responses to winks. At
first, this seems like an interesting concept, as it will ensure
that you won't accidentally miss responding to the suitor of your
dreams. On second thought, however, this type of automatic response
eliminates the need for personal interaction which is an essential
part of any successful online dating experience, and it made us
wonder how many responses to us were coming from people who were
truly interested.
Auto-reply to Winks
Singles looking for a little bit of help finding love can take
advantages of Zoosk's compatibility matching services. During our
Zoosk review, however, we found this service to be dramatically
less thorough and relevant than online dating sites that focus only
on compatibility matching.
We appreciated the popups that kept us updated about all Zoosk
activities even if we didn't have the website open. We received
popups every time another member contacted us or viewed our profile
so we didn't need to check our emails to see who was
interested.
Chat on Zoosk
Registration
Creating a profile on Zoosk can be done via their website or
using their Facebook application. The profile questionnaire takes
under 10 minutes to complete and prompts you to give a somewhat
shallow description of yourself. Aside from the standard questions
about physical appearance, family status and religion, most of the
general questions relate to what types of books, movies, music and
other forms of entertainment you like.
Zoosk
Registration
Singles who wish to take advantage of the company's
compatibility matching service, known as ZSMS (Zoosk Scientific
Matchmaking System) can also choose to complete a short 27 page
survey that asks not only what you think about certain issues (such
as dating someone of another ethnicity, what you're looking for in
a first day or how you like to show affection in public), but how
you would prefer a potential partner to answer the same questions.
There is an option to skip questions that you don't wish to
answer.
Sample of Compatibility Matching Survey
Customer Support
The Zoosk contact us page makes it very clear that only support
and billing inquiries will be accepted, which left us with no way
to contact the company about technical or policy-based questions.
The site does, however, offer a somewhat comprehensive FAQ section
that answers basic questions about the service in a very direct
way.
Zoosk
Contact Us Page
Zoosk Help
Desk
Compare Zoosk.com's customer support to
other dating sites >>
Summary
Positive Features
- One of the largest online dating communities
- Social network integration
- Several mobile apps for dating on the go
- Competitive pricing
Negative Features
- Member profiles are not thorough