Online Dating's Strangest Sites
Online dating is now responsible for one in three romantic relationships. So in honor of Valentine's Day, check out these 12 "niche" dating sites. Some are interesting, some are stimulating, and a couple are just plain weird. Enjoy.
Tue, February 14, 2012
PC World — Online dating is now responsible for one in three romantic relationships. So in honor of Valentine's Day, check out these 12 "niche" dating sites. Some are interesting, some are stimulating, and a couple are just plain weird. Enjoy.
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Agematch (www.agematch.com)
For every mature adult who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, there's a young whippersnapper who knows JFK only as some old-timey guy they named and airport after. You might suppose from its name that Agematch.com is all about helping you find someone your own age, but in fact it's dedicated to "age gap singles"--people interested in intergenerational relationships, which the site refers to as "May-December romances," but which might just as accurately be termed "Eisenhower-Clinton matches." Agematch can help you close the generational chasm, but first you have to get past the barely readable "love fills in the gap" tagline and the Live Support text that turns into "Life Support" if you stare at it long enough.
Asexualitic (www.asexualitic.com)
All the pain of dating, without the sex. Actually the focus here is on developing platonic relationships, and the intended audience is people who identify as "asexual" (not experiencing sexual attraction) rather than "celibate" (sexually inactive by choice) or "incredibly frustrated" (sexually inactive not by choice). The cite links to the nonprofit Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), which deserves respect for being both sincere and educational.
Ashley Madison (www.ashleymadison.com)
Ashley Madison takes the previously discreet pursuit of an extramarital affair, and broadcasts your naughty intentions to the digital world. Today's most recognized name in infidelity (and quite possibly, tomorrow's most recognized name in infidelity-related murder) ensures that third-party-sex-seeking spouses no longer have to suffer the indignity of prowling a sketchy hotel bar for willing co-fornicators; instead, they can poke around with Ashley Madison's 12 million-plus members. The downside? That nothing-serious stand used to last for just one night, but those email messages last forever!
CanDoBetter (www.candobetter.com)
These days, making any relationship work is excruciatingly difficult. And if you happen to be one of those lucky schmucks with a hot lover, CanDoBetter is your worst enemy. The tagline is "Let The World Decide!" and the site's users aren't exactly supportive of mismatches. This "premier matching portal" gleefully channels its inner Gossip Girl and lets anyone with a free membership judge you on what really matters in dating: your looks.
If the court of public opinion decides that your hotter half can do better (which, let's face it, they probably will), you might want to focus on dating someone who doesn't have Internet access. Or someone who's uglier than you.
