#hacking | Best Personals Ad Alternatives (2019) | #blackpeoplemeet

Once upon a time, singles would publish personal ads in the local paper when they wanted to meet someone new. It could read something like “Single man seeking a woman who likes to go camping and drink beer” or “Single woman seeking a man interested in Jeopardy marathons and weekend getaways.”

However, today’s newspapers have historically low circulation rates, so singles will find few date opportunities in its pages. Fortunately, local dating sites can fill that gap and provide the romantic avenues once available in the classifieds.

Instead of writing an ad in the lonely hearts column, singles can create dating profiles on free dating sites and apps that attract a diverse and international dating pool. We’ve listed some of our favorite modern alternatives to dating personal ads to help you get out there and make something happen.

Best Overall Personals Ad Alternatives

We’re going to start with the best of the best in the online dating scene. Regardless of your age, orientation, or background, the following mainstream dating sites cater to everyone. And, best of all, these sites are free to join, so they’re a cost-friendly alternative to paying to put a personal ad in the paper.

Match is our #1 pick for singles seeking a local date. This dating site has been around since 1995, and the team has perfected its matchmaking system by studying how people connect online and offline.

Setting up a dating profile on Match is similar to writing a personal ad because you have a lot of space to describe yourself in your own words. The Summary section lets singles talk about anything they want, while the Topics section provides more pointed prompts, including “For fun I like to” and “Right now I am reading.”

Singles can also fill in demographic information about themselves and their ideal partner. For instance, if you’re a never-married grad student seeking a well-educated and liberal atheist, you can put all that information down in your Match profile.

Many single professionals have chosen EliteSingles as their go-to dating site because it maintains a high-quality network of career-driven and relationship-minded singles.

EliteSingles is the premier dating site for the most selective and desirable online daters out there. Over 85% of its members have graduated from college, and over 90% are looking for a serious commitment.

Check out our EliteSingles review for more details about how the dating site works and how it can upgrade the traditional online dating experience.

In 2007, Zoosk launched as a socially savvy dating site geared toward 20-somethings and 30-somethings. Today, it has over 40 million members, and it sees over 3 million messages exchanged each day.

Zoosk has a lot of communication features, including virtual gifts, likes, winks, pre-written greetings, and instant messaging, and many of them are free to all users. It also has search tools and match recommendations to help singles find compatible dates.

Many Zoosk couples have shared their stories and expressed gratitude to the site for introducing them. “I married the woman of my dreams,” said Philip in a testimonial. “We want to thank Zoosk for bringing us together, and we hope everyone on this dating site finds their true love!”

Every 14 minutes, someone finds love on eharmony. This time-tested dating site has been inspiring deep relationships and marriages since 2000, and it has over 2 million success stories to its name.

The foundation of eharmony’s success lies in its Compatibility Quiz, which includes questions about your daily habits, temperament, family values, relationship goals, and more. The purpose of this in-depth questionnaire is to get to the heart of who you are and what you want.

The Compatibility Quiz is optional and takes about 30 minutes to complete. Once completed, it forms the crux of eharmony’s match algorithm. If you answer the questions honestly, you’ll find your match recommendations and compatibility ratings will become more accurate as a result.

One of the biggest benefits of online dating is that singles can pursue the particular types of dates they’re interested in and find niche communities built on shared values and mutual interest. ChristianMingle is a great example of that.

ChristianMingle is definitely one of the most popular Christian dating sites around, and it sees over 3.5 million monthly views. Our dating experts have given it 4.3 stars because it fulfills its promise to connect Christians online and create meaningful matches.

“I knew right away, this guy is special,” said Katheryn, a New Yorker who fell in love with a man she met on ChristianMingle. “It may take a while before you meet that special person on here, but, if you are patient, if will be worth it.”

Since 2002, BlackPeopleMeet has established one of the world’s largest online communities of African-American singles, and it continues growing each and every day.

BlackPeopleMeet’s mission is pretty straightforward — it introduces black and biracial singles to one another and fosters real relationships based on common values, backgrounds, and goals.

Some singles may feel hesitant to state their preference for black dates on a general dating site or in a personals ad, but that’s the norm on BlackPeopleMeet. Members of this niche dating site want to find a dark-skinned cutie to flirt with online and date offline.

As a totally free dating site, Plenty of Fish can reach much farther than a newspaper and offer singles virtually endless opportunities to connect. Plenty of Fish has over 150 million members, and it sees over 4 million daily views.

The POF community is a fun, diverse, and flirtatious place to meet new people. As long as you follow the rules and behave in a respectful manner, you can message anyone on the dating site and build an online rapport before meeting in person.

If you want proof that POF actually works, take a look at its heartwarming success stories, which include many newlyweds starting a life together after meeting on Plenty of Fish.

OkCupid is a forever free dating site and app where friendships and relationships can blossom naturally.

The OkCupid platform includes advanced search filters (by age, ethnicity, orientation, interests, and other key factors) as well as a swiping section called DoubleTake where users can view and match with highly compatible profiles.

Since launching in 2004, OkCupid has collected thousands of success stories, and it currently boasts creating 91 million matches per year. It’s free to join OkCupid and send messages to anyone you like, and you can always upgrade your account to appear higher in search results and see who’s liked your profile.

Tinder made a huge splash in the dating scene in 2012 when it created mutual matching and swiping tools to help singles find dates faster than ever.

Instead of reading long paragraphs of dry information, singles can simply look at a photo and decide if they can see a future with that person. Only when two people swipe right on each other can they exchange messages and arrange a date.

Today, Tinder is responsible for over 30 billion matches in 190 countries, and conversations on the app lead to over 1 million dates per week.

Launched in 2014, Bumble is relatively new in the online dating scene, but it has already made a name for itself as the first feminist dating app.

Entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe-Herd founded Bumble as a female-friendly solution to the superficial hookup culture perpetuated by some swiping apps. She wanted to protect women from unsolicited dick pics and creepy messages, and she wanted to save men the frustration of sending messages to unresponsive women.

Bumble empowers women to send the first message to the men they match with (either gender can message first in a same-sex match), and it also puts a 24-hour time limit on the conversation, so they have an added incentive to say hi.

In a recent survey, 85% of Bumble users said they want to find a serious relationship, and just over 25% of users said they had gone on a Bumble date within the last month.

Best Senior Personals Ad Alternatives

Some seniors may have fond memories of newspaper personals, drive-in movie dates, and pen pal romances, but these old-fashioned dating tropes miss the mark in the 21st century. According to a 2017 survey of newlyweds, brides meet their spouses online more often than they do through friends or at work.

Online dating has become an unstoppable force in the lives of singles of all ages, and we’d encourage seniors to give it a try if they’re feeling lonely and want to find someone special.

SilverSingles has earned the trust of countless singles in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s. The senior dating site caters to an older crowd and streamlines the online dating process to make newcomers feel right at home.

From the quick signup process to the straightforward matching, SilverSingles makes it easy to jump on board and start flirting with people who share similar values and life experiences.

SilverSingles prioritizes online security and customer service. Anyone can use the Help Center to get their bearings, and the dating site has a paywall set up to ensure only verified subscribers can send messages and view photos.

OurTime is another premium dating site built to serve seniors in the dating scene. Its free basic membership includes unlimited flirting and searching, and you can also edit your profile and upload photos to your personal gallery.

As a People Media site, OurTime has an extensive database that grows by almost 20,000 members every week. The team supports online matches as well as live members-only events to help seniors come out of their shell.

Many of OurTime’s members are divorced or widowed and use the dating site to start fresh in a new relationship. “I would recommend your site to everyone and anyone,” said a 70-year-old woman who found love on OurTime. “Thank you for sending me the best man in the world.”

When you have a dating site like SeniorMatch on your side, you can find date prospects, pen pals, and new friends in just a few clicks. The dating site’s motto is “you don’t have to be alone,” and it lives up to that by fostering a thriving senior-friendly community.

SeniorMatch has over 1 million members, all of whom have been verified as over 50, and it facilitates over 1.6 million conversations each month. What’s more, the dating site has more than 36,600 success stories to its name. You can rest assured you’ll have plenty of options on this bustling platform.

“We met on your wonderful site, and it was literally love at first site — or sight,” said a SeniorMatch member in a testimonial.

Best LGBT Personals Ad Alternatives

Back in the days of newspaper personals, gay and lesbian singles couldn’t really take part in the fun because it’d mean outing themselves and risking harassment from homophobic people. Instead, locals had to build underground spaces (gay bars, softball leagues, etc.) where the LGBTQ+ community could thrive.

Online dating has offered a less public and more targeted way to meet LGBTQ+ singles in town, and many queer singles have jumped on it. Today, 65% of gay couples meet online, and the following dating sites and apps support singles across the sexuality spectrum.

With over 98 million members, MenNation has declared itself the largest gay dating and hookup site in existence. This all-male dating network is open to gay, bi, and questioning guys from all walks of life.

Whether you’re a single seeking a hookup or a couple seeking a threesome, you can pursue your desires freely on the MenNation site. All it takes is an email address to get started. You can choose a unique username, browse anonymously, and pick up dates who are interested in no-strings-attached sex.

LesbianPersonals is a frisky dating site where women can run wild and let go of their inhibitions. The sex-positive space encourages singles, couples, and groups to arrange romantic encounters that fulfill their deepest fantasies.

Couples who consider themselves unicorn hunters will enjoy this open-ended dating field. LebianPersonals is full of sexy playmates who want to experiment and push the boundaries.

A saucy flirtation may start with a few texts on LesbianPersonals, but it could soon escalate to trading raunchy photos, setting up a video call, and arranging a steamy hookup with someone in your neighborhood.

Designed by a queer woman on behalf of queer womxn, HER is less about facilitating hookups and more about building relationships. The dating app has over 4 million members worldwide, and 100% of its members are female.

HER provides a safe, dude-free zone for lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans womxn seeking new friends, hot dates, and potential partners. The Community Guidelines urge members to be supportive, inclusive, and loving throughout the online dating experience.

The HER community spreads positivity by sharing stories, posting photos, and creating local events geared toward LGBTQ+ singles. You can see HER’s impact by viewing #WeMetOnHER Instagram posts created by couples who are blissfully in love.

Last but not least, Grindr is the ultimate gay dating app known for its powerful location-based matching. The app can help gay singles find dates who are in the same bar or on the same block as one another.

Grindr’s real-time matching and chatting often lead to hookups, but we’ve also heard of a few Grindr relationships that have gone the distance. In fact, about 84% of Grindr users have fallen in love with someone they met on the app, and 56.5% say they believe love is possible here.

“My boyfriend and I met on Grindr while he was visiting on vacation,” said a Reddit user. “Relationship is still fresh and long-distance is hard, but we are talking about the future.”

Best Hookup Personals Ad Alternatives

Dating sites geared toward relationships can be a major drag for singles who just want to fool around and get laid. Casual daters and serious daters often have different expectations regarding intimacy and long-term commitments, and that can lead to a rocky dating experience where neither party is satisfied.

If you’d rather skip the small talk and get right down to business, then a hookup site — not a dating site — is going to be the best place for you. We’ve listed some of our top choices for singles and swingers interested in exploring the raunchy side of dating.

The BeNaughty site keeps things casual and empowers singles to flirt outside the lines. Members can browse by age, gender, and location whenever they want to scope for dates.

Highly selective singles can also use advanced search parameters for orientation, ethnicity, body type, hair color, and eye color. We’d recommend sorting the dating profiles by popularity or last activity because that’ll mean the flirtatious members show up at the top of your list.

If you want to get the ball rolling quickly, you can send a mass text message to everyone who falls within your search parameters. BeNaughty can recommend a flirty message that has proven to work, or you can write something flattering, funny, and original yourself.

Since 1996, Adult Friend Finder has built the world’s largest sex and swinger community and created over 4.6 million connections online.

The AFF community includes single men, single women, straight couples, gay couples, trans folks, and swinger groups who want to enjoy adult entertainment and spice up their sex lives.

Whether they’re sharing erotic stories or sending X-rated private messages through the site, AFF members can be themselves and express their sexual fantasies without fear of judgment or censure.

FriendFinder-X is the hookup site “where good girls do bad things.” If that sounds appealing, you can create a free account within minutes and start messaging these angels of the night.

Much like the dating personals of old, FriendFinder-X features short ads created by local singles seeking dates. However, the website’s profiles can also include nude photos and naughty content, and it has a two-way video cam option for anyone eager to get some face time with that special someone.

Does Craigslist Have Personals Anymore?

No, Craigslist is no longer in the dating game. It shuttered its personals section to avoid being held responsible for the actions of unsavory folks soliciting sex on the site.

In 2018, U.S. law enforcement agencies cracked down on classifieds websites with dating sections, maintaining that such unregulated spaces were being used for prostitution and human trafficking. After a 93-count indictment, Backpage’s CEO pled guilty to sex trafficking, and the site was shut down for good.

In the wake of these developments, Craigslist closed its dating personals section. “Any tool or service can be misused,” the Craigslist team said in an official statement. “We can’t take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services, so we have regretfully taken craigslist personals offline.”

What are Some Sites Like Craigslist Personals That are Free?

A lot of dating sites have the means to create fast connections just like Craigslist personals once did. Several decent alternatives have similar setups and membership bases to that of Craigslist, and some can even offer more matchmaking power and security protocols.

Our dating experts would recommend giving OkCupid a try if you want to explore the dating scene without paying anything or making a big effort. The site is free, after all, and it’s open to people of all kinds.

However, if you want to get a higher quality dating experience, you may want to invest in a more traditional and time-tested dating site like Match.com. With millions of active and authentic members, Match can offer a lot more date options than Craigslist ever could.

Match is a good alternative to Craigslist because it has in-depth profiles, extensive search filters, and ironclad safety features to make sure singles don’t fall for scams or meet people who aren’t serious about meeting up in real life.

What is MWM?

In the context of a dating personal ad, MWM means that person is a married white male. Guys use this shorthand to describe themselves in as few characters as possible. You may also see women call themselves MWF — married white females — or W4M — women seeking men. Check out these dating acronyms to find out more.

What is Doublelist?

Doublelist is a new dating classifieds site on a mission to replace Craigslist in the hearts of singles seeking a local date. The site currently boasts have 170,000 users, which is pretty good for a new kid on the block.

Unlike many of its competitors, Doublelist takes the time to double-verify its new users and send confirmation codes via an email address and phone number. This verification system cuts down on the spam and brings greater transparency to the site. You can create a free Doubelist account within seconds and start chatting up folks online.

Turn a New Page & Make a Date on a Dating Website

Publishing a personal ad in a newspaper may seem pretty old-fashioned now that we have online social networks connecting us 24/7. Dating sites can connect singles faster, easier, and more effectively than the personal ads of old, and singles don’t have to publish their full names or contact information to attract dates here.

We’ve listed 20 dating sites and apps that have proven popular among today’s singles. Any of these platforms can inspire hookups, friendships, and relationships in just a few clicks and swipes.

Next time you’re looking for a local date, you can trade your newspaper subscription for an online dating subscription — believe me, your wallet will thank you. Good luck!