Finding Love at Lavalife.com:
 Lavalife bills itself as “America’s Sexiest Dating Site” and does its best to live up to that. Available singles
cover the whole gamut of age, interests, orientation, and income; with searchable profiles and several communication options, dating and mating are not too far off at all.
Lavalife allows the creation of three separate profiles, under the headings of Dating, Relationship, and Intimate. The feeling of intimacy seeps through the whole site. The layout is simple and sexy and the dating community carries those same feelings into each of their profiles. The separation of interests allows freak-seekers to have their playground while those focused more on emotional intimacy have a chance to browse as well. As a non-paying member, the searchability of other profiles is both manageable and extensive, allowing you to sort by who is online, whether or not they have a photo, and how local they are, in addition to other more specific criteria. The greatest perk for Lavalife at this non-paying level is that members are able to upload short segments of video. Again, with a video for each profile, the Intimate section is able to keep Vegas, the bedroom, and everything else behind closed doors while the other sections have got members uploading videos more appropriate to the crowd drawn there.
Members with a free online dating account at Lavalife also have access to three other tabs in addition to their profiles. One of these, called “The Party,” is a quick-and-dirty photo gallery mixed with a short-order menu. Photos and ages are displayed with several to a page for easy browsing. Deeper conversation options are limited unless the user is a paid subscriber, but those with a free membership can Smile at anybody who interests them. Lavalife’s Smiles allow for a quick, pre-scripted message to be added; these have a very wide variety of options, almost to the point that a conversation could be carried on in Smiles alone. The other available tabs are an Entertainment section, with access to dating-related magazines and shows, and a set of user Forums.
For those who are willing to pay, Lavalife supports double-blind email, instant messaging, and access to a list of personals who have viewed your profile. An additional charge allows access to Lavalife from your mobile, so no matter where you are and how your love life is going, you can keep tabs on your online singles community at Lavalife.
Though perhaps more oriented on the wild, crazy, erotic side of relationships, Lavalife still has its place in the online dating community. As a dating web site, it is exceptional; as a forum for self-expression, it excels. Individuals looking for love should be able to find it at Lavalife—but as we say with almost every review, a lot depends on the available singles using the site. With the great level of browsing you can do on Lavalife, it should be easy to decide if this is the place to stitch your heart to your sleeve. With all of that browsing, though, remember that Lavalife doesn’t do more than basic matching. You’ve got to make the effort to find the one for you—but like Lavalife says: they are where singles click. |
