Zoosk
Pros
Cons
Verdict
One of the most trusted dating websitesZoosk: The simplest dating platform to sign up
The Internet has opened a lot of opportunities to hook up or find a life partner. The new ways of communicating with people you would have never have met in real life are emerging every day.
Some see it as a blessing. Indeed, you save the time you would otherwise spend in a bar trying to hit on someone, and you still find someone with whom you can go out. Others, in turn, doubt whether you can trust any service with private information. There are also those who can’t trust people who want to meet online. We have all heard stories about scams on the social media. But any of these issues are easily solved – you merely have to choose a reliable dating website.
For more than a decade, Zoosk has been one of the most widely used dating websites. It is popular with over thirty million users in various countries, mainly because it was a Facebook app initially. Since then, the service has developed its own website and a mobile application. And they are both doing very well. One of the main reasons for Zoosk’s success is that the developers work as hard as possible to make a user’s life easier. The interface of the website is intuitive and very user-friendly. Plus, you don’t have to waste your time describing your potential partner and yourself or writing essays about a relationship you would like to have. All the necessary information gets integrated from your social media accounts.
The Widest Diversity of Zoosk Users
Zoosk has gained the trust in more than 80 countries. No wonder the number of users is as enormous as it is. A lot of Zoosk users might know English, but in case you prefer using another language, there is no problem. You may choose one of 25 languages and be sure that you will find someone who speaks it.
Search for whatever partner you have ever been dreaming of. There are statistics on Zoosk declaring that there are more men than women, and the majority of them are in their mid-twenties. But the practice shows that all groups of dating website users are present on Zoosk. These are people of different appearances, sexuality, age, and with various cultural, religious, and educational background. They all have different goals and want a different kind of relationship – from a one-night stand to the lifetime of happiness with the one they will meet on the site.
Why choose Zoosk
Unlike most dating services, Zoosk values every moment one spends on the website. So, they don’t force you to fill in endless forms with countless questions about who exactly you would like to find. This is exhausting and discouraging for many users because, let’s be honest, just a few of them have a clear picture of a future partner.
Zoosk truly believes that it shouldn’t be too complicated. The philosophy of the company incorporates the principles of easygoing dating, even if there are strings attached. You don’t have to plan all your future together even if you genuinely fall for each other. So, the basis for bringing people together here is Behavioral Matchmaking that has been invented by the company. It considers your activity on social media, such as your winks, Facebook likes, and messages. That is how the best matches are selected for you in no time and without any effort from your side.
Here are the most beneficial features of Zoosk:
- Profiles are thoroughly verified
- The interface of the website gets constantly updated and is extremely easy in usage
- There are no endless questions about a perfect match
- An enormous database of profiles guarantees that one can find a perfect match
- You can always either broaden your search or, as opposed to that, narrow it down
Starting using Zoosk
You can create a new account on Zoosk or use either your Facebook or Google account to sign in. One way or another, this will take you minimum time, as compared to creating accounts on other dating platforms. Before you start, provide the most general information about yourself: zip code for setting the search radius, sex, birthday, and a partner you would like to meet. You don’t have to describe anybody, – you can merely specify whether it is a male or a female! Then, you are to answer a short list of questions about:
- your appearance,
- kids, if any,
- education,
- ethnicity,
- religion,
- and your attitude to smoking.
Regardless of the simplistic registration requirements, you can still build a thorough profile later if you want to. A lot of information and photos can be taken from your accounts on Facebook and Google. Here is when behavioural matchmaking starts to work: the likes are integrated into a searching algorithm creating your patterns of activity and interests. This will be the basis for matching you up with someone, and soon you’ll see all the people who suit you.
You can also tell a brief story about yourself and/or a partner you wish to have in detail. These things are optional, but if you feel like that, you should do it. Some people still like reading what you have written more than a filled form.
Other perks of using Zoosk
Selecting your personal settings
Behavioural matchmaking is good enough, but you can add some settings to make sure that algorithms will pick a person you want to meet. The radius of searching can be adjusted, depending on how far you can go to see your date. The range is rather extensive – from three to a hundred miles. Any personal characteristics can be altered, too. Choose the age of your future partner (from 20 to 93,) physical appearances, the level of education, religion, ethnicity, and more.
Additional features of the site
You can make your chances to be found by your perfect partner higher by using Boost. Every user nearby will see your profile first. As a result, it will be much easier for them to notice you and you will get more opportunities to date the right person. Like some other additional features, Boost is not out of charge, and you will spend 100 Zoosk coins to use it.
The Carousel is another cool feature Zoosk offers. Those who have ever used Tinder know precisely how it works. You see pictures of other users one by one and choose whether you like, dislike, or maybe like them. The picture is all you have to ground your choice on, and you can see no additional info. Some users don’t dig this feature because they want to know more about their potential date. On the other hand, Carousel is a lot of fun, and you can most definitely get lucky.
Verifying Zoosk profiles
The site claims to care a lot about its users. To do so, they have simplified the registration more than any other dating platform. Newcomers join every day. What they like most about Zoosk at the very beginning is that they don’t need to answer all these questions about their life, what they want from it, and their future partner. But on the downside, the website started attracting scams with fake accounts. Besides, those who were signed up and then blocked for some or all users started trying to come back creating new and new profiles. Zoosk has a great response aimed at not letting any dishonest people benefit from their clients – the verification policy which allows you to feel completely safe using the platform.
You can verify your profile with a Twitter account, or using your phone number, or with a photo. The user is to take a photo (or selfie, to be more precise) from different angles at the very moment of verification. After sending your photo to admins, you are to wait for several hours before you get verified. Once it happens, you get a green checkmark next to your profile photo. When you see that other people have it too, be sure that they have passed the verification phase successfully and you have nothing to worry about when you contact them.
In contrast, verifying profiles via a mobile phone or Twitter only takes seconds to complete. But keep in mind that a verified photo brings you more credibility than any other option.
The disadvantages of Zoosk
The verification is optional, and some scams still get Zoosk accounts, just like they do on other dating websites. A green mark on someone’s photo can save you from a lot of problems. But if there isn’t any, you don’t have to be alarmed at once. If you have any suspicions about this or that person, report it to the management of the site, and they will address this problem as soon as possible.
From this point of view, the website has the only one real disadvantage. The database includes many so-called ‘dead’ profiles. These were the profiles of actual users who left the site for some reason and have not come back. Apparently, inactive users can’t communicate with you, so they bring no harm whatsoever. Nevertheless, it is quite annoying to come across such profiles when you are searching for a match. In case you ever want to leave the site, you should delete your profile not to remain one of the pictures in the Zoosk database.
Money Matters
The pricing system of the service is affordable and flexible. You can choose from several options the one that suits your needs. This can be a basic account that will not cost you a penny. The price of the paid membership varies. The longer you want to stay a member, the less it will eventually cost you. There are three essential options:
- $29.95 for a one-month membership,
- $19.98 per month if you stay with the site for three months (you should pay for the overall period in advance),
- or $12.49 per month if you subscribe for six months.
Non-paying members can enjoy only limited access to the website features. You can look around viewing others’ profiles and mark those who attract you by liking them. That’s it. Everything else gets charged according to the pricing policy of the site. As you can see, the prices are not high, and you can choose whether to pay for additional features or not. Those are bought for coins which, in turn, are purchased for real money. You will need coins to use Boost and buy gifts to the one you want to impress, like flowers, candy, etc. You can start small and spend $19.99 to buy 180 coins. While 480 coins will cost you $39.95, you can save money and buy 1800 Zoosk coins for only $99.95.
Conclusion: If you should use Zoosk
There are two seemingly conflicting characteristics Zoosk has. First, there are many profiles that haven’t been used for years. People abandoned them hoping that the site would update its database or just not caring about other people’s feelings. It is somewhat demotivating to pick someone who will never answer you. Not to mention that this can happen more than once. On the bright side, the number of active users is prevailing on Zoosk. The photo verification and Boost can help them find you.
The second characteristic which shows Zoosk from another angle is being extremely user-friendly. They are like a good host that keeps welcoming new people daily and trying to entertain them without asking too many questions. Behavioural Matchmaking does everything a bunch of questionnaires could do. But it doesn’t make you waste hours of your time before you can start your online dating experience.
There are less free options than you may have expected, but the pricing is quite affordable.