Are you Jewish? Are you in a foreign land? Are you looking for a friend, a date, a serious relationship or even marriage? If you are all of these then JewishFriendFinder.com is the place for you. A site dedicated to Jews all over the world, anyone, Jew or not, is welcome to visit or join this online dating site.
Demographics
The home page of the site shows that, as of this writing, there are 71,760 members worldwide. The name of the site is so specific that some people may think that it is exclusively for Jews only. Yet exploring the site reveals that not all members are Jews; members belong to various religions from all over the world.
Features
The best features of JewishFriendFinder.com are the video recording of a user’s introduction which can even be updated. Another feature is its live video chat with sound, which cannot be found on all dating and chat websites.
After a new member has filled out his or her profile and username, the password to enter the site is sent to his or her e-mail. From there, it would be easy to enter the site. Upon entering the site from your e-mail page, you are presented with the subscription for either gold or silver membership. If you aren’t interested yet to subscribe at this time, you still can access your home page.
Your matches who are online at the time are prominently displayed at the middle of your homepage. Interestingly enough, it would be easy for you to contact them. Online members have boxes with short introductions, their username, age, including the distance from where you live, and video introductions to give you a quick look. If you’re interested, click and browse the profile of the member – a very easy step to do.
Your picture is displayed in a box at the left hand corner. This area also shows the number of e-mails, winks and points you received. Curiously, the points refer to how many people you have referred to the site. When you reach a certain number, you are given some free subscription. This is not the only advertisement though.
At the bottom of your home page is an advertisement recommending other dating sites. Interestingly enough, they cater to certain nationalities like Korean, Filipino, German, French, Italian, and even includes a gay dating site. That probably means that this online dating site is just one among the many exclusive ethnicity-based dating sites. But, as mentioned earlier, anyone can join the dating site.
Your account page shows easy to use toolbars with your inbox/main page, my account, chat, search and browse, friends, my lists, magazine, video, blogs, get local and groups.
The search and browse feature shows options on viewing who’s online now, start new search, members near me, popular member photos, and members with top kudos.
It seems that this site has other surprises and a sensible one too! A feature of JewishFriendFinder.com which is seldom found in other sites is the ConfirmID. This verifies a member’s information. To say the least, it provides security to members and discourages fraudulent persons. This feature is not mandatory but members who undergo this confirmation are given two weeks free on silver membership. To avail of this, send an ID with your photo such as a passport, driver’s license or state ID card. Unfortunately, this is only available in Canada and the US. This feature is even added as one preference in searching for matches. It surely makes you feel safe when you go online dating as well as when you meet that someone in real life.
Although this site has more in terms of quick searches and features such as videos and fast connections, and a pale blue background which is easy on the eyes, the page just fills about half of your laptop’s or desktop’s screen. Photos are so small, and more so are the printed words. Also, the other navigable features gives an impression of crowding in a small box.
Profiles
The sign in page is just like any other online dating site that asks about your address, birthday, height, body type, ethnicity, marital status, religion, education and occupation, a title for your ad and a 50 character introduction about yourself for your ad. Uniquely, it asks if you go to synagogue, or if you keep kosher. Which if you are a non-Jew would make you wonder if this is really an exclusive dating site for Jews only.
A unique feature which is rarely offered in other online dating sites is a video of a members’ introduction. This video introduction is displayed prominently on all members’ and matches’ profiles. Being a subscriber, especially being a Gold subscriber, will give one full access of all offered features of this site.
A new member fills out his personality test with 41 questions about his preferences and analysis of your personality and character are the basis of the matches sent you. Unlike those in other sites, the test is a simple one that does not tire the user.
Matching and Searching
The matching and searching profile is dependent on the answers one has chosen in the so-called dove settings of the site. You are asked about who you are looking for: is it a man or a woman and vice versa, the age of the person you are interested in, the place where you want him or her to be living, the body type and height of your preferred match, race, religious affiliation, if he or she goes to synagogue on a preferred day, educational level and where he or she keeps Kosher. It also asks the marital status, if a person is a drinker or smoker, if they have children and if they want children. Then the site will alert the user once a match is found. However, the user can also do his or her own searches along different criteria he chooses such as gender (this is also a homosexual site), the purpose of your search (friendship, dating, serious relationship or marriage) age, ethnicity, languages religion, country, with photos, ConfirmID, personality type and how many matches would you want shown per page. Those with gold subscriptions have advanced matches based on additional criteria.
The video introduction is a nice way for a user to judge how the person talks and how his or her voice is like. This feature is very important because it is the next best thing to meeting face to face but with the security of anonymity.
If you fancy a match in a certain country, the site has one unique feature in their search and match. Just click the browse option and a page will show up. You will be amazed with the member listings in all the countries of the world. Click your country of interest and browse until you can see someone you are interested in.
To contact a match it would be easy to initially send a wink and e-mail that person, then you can do e-mails, and progress to live video chat.
Ease of Use
The pages of JewishFriendFinder site is easy to navigate. Toolbars and submenus pop out as you point your cursor and just click for a feature you are interested to use.
Customer Service and Cost
JewishFriendFinder.com memebership subscriptions has two categories: Gold and Silver.
The billing is localized to the country where a member comes from. This is a good feature because the client understandably would have an easier time to realize how it would cost if billed in his or her country’s denomination.
Silver membership allows you to view and contact members, show up after Gold members in searches, contact new members, access to video and partial access to blogs, groups and magazines.
Being a Gold subscriber entitles one’s profile to show up at the very top of the page, you can contact other members first, view introductory videos, full access to magazine, blogs and group, extra large photos, and access to ICQ, AIM, YIM, MSN IDs of other members. In short a gold member has full access of all the features the site has to offer.
Both categories have 24/7 friendly customer care.
The gold membership costs about $20 per month for a three month subscription while a one month subscription is about $30. Three months on the silver membership will cost $12 per month and $ 19 for a month’s subscription.
Summary
In summary this dating online site is a nice place to meet a fellow Jew but is not exclusive to Jews. Its unique features are video introductions, which are rarely seen in major online dating sites and live video chat. Accessing and navigating the site is easy. Creating your profile is even easier, matches are sent based on your preferences but you can do your searching based on your specified criteria. Most important of all, contacting your matches starts from a wink to e-mail to live video chat and you are on your way to a fun-filled online dating experience.
Rating
From a score of 1 to 5 with 1 as the lowest score and 5 as the highest score, the online site is rated as 3.65, specifically the demographics: 3.25 features: 4.0, profiles: 3.5, matching and searching: 3.75, ease of use: 3.5 and customers service and cost: 3.75.
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