Online Dating Site Mechanisms: The Basic Browse
How it Works
The basic browse is the most basic online dating site mechanism that you could imagine. It works exactly as you might expect it to work from the name of the mechanism. The database is there and you simply browse through the database, highlighting interesting profiles as you go along. Most of the dating sites have ways for you to save profiles for later inspection and almost all of them will also allow you to narrow your search down by basic profile features such as age and gender. Once you have removed the obviously unsuitable people from your search, you are then left with all of the basically suitable people that you can then look through in more detail in order to find the ones that are best for you.
The Advantage
The main advantage of the basic browse is the fact that it is the most detailed method of searching and the one that is likely to miss the fewest people. If you rely on contextual search or survey compatibility methods, you are probably going to miss people that might have been good for you on closer inspection and really this is because of the nature of how the searches work. With the basic browse mechanism this is impossible because you are the one doing the searching. You can bookmark anyone you find remotely interesting and then come back to look at their profile later. It is such a powerful method that most dating sites leave it open as an option anyway even if they have things like surveys and contextual searches in place.
The Disadvantage
The main disadvantage to the basic browse is simply the time that it takes to complete. A basic browse would take more time than contextual results and surveys put together because of how many different profiles most of the online dating sites actually have. This is understandable, but it can also easily be frustrating for people that would like to get off to a good start and meet a lot of people quickly through the online dating site that they have chosen.
Final Thoughts
If you are in this for the long haul and would like to seriously check out all of the different people that you could potentially hook up with, the basic browse is really the only honest method out there. It is time consuming however, so be aware of that before you choose to do it.
