For the purposes of this category, communication includes emails, anonymous phone calling system, instant messaging, video chat, and message boards. You will obviously get to see more of a person through video chat than a group chat room, although chat rooms can be a great way of seeing how a person interacts in a group. The more ways you have of communicating with other people, the better you are able to get to know each other.

The ranking of the different sites in “Communication Between Members”

	Overall Score (1-10 Score)	Free Registration
True	8.18
AmericanSingles	7.73
MatchMaker	7.27
Date	7.27
SinglesNet	6.82
Match	5.91
ChristianMingle	5.91
BlackSingles	5.45
eHarmony	4.09
Mate1	4.09

Communication with other members and the ability of a site to protect your privacy in the process are key aspects of successful dating. An anonymous phone calling system and the ability to block certain members ensure that your privacy is protected but that you can still reach out to people without having to be concerned for your safety. Match and eHarmony both offer an anonymous phone calling system, meaning you can call a person without having to have his or her phone number and vice versa. The ability to call someone comes with a paid subscription.

There are sites which go the extra mile to get the community involved and put together people with similar interests, so they can get to know each other in a more natural way. True, Singlesnet, American Singles, and Christian Mingle all scored well in the sites’ endeavors to engage its members. True offers a number of video webcam chat rooms, numerous personality tests, dating advice, etc., all geared towards engaging members in a quality experience. Singlesnet offers chat rooms and many diverse message board topics with fun prompts any time any member contacts or flirts with you. Christian Mingle also offers message boards, chat rooms, and the ability to search verses of the Bible right on the site!

For the overall communication category score, True.com was first with a score of 18 out of 22 possible points. True offers one-on-one video chatting and video chat rooms. It is the only online dating site that provides a criminal background check. True.com allows you to look for people based on categories like “basics, interests, personality, communication, sexual, romantic, and commitment,” so even though the options are not the typical “friends, dating, serious” categories, these categories provide a full spectrum of options to help you connect with other like-minded or compatible members.

American Singles was second with a score of 17 out of 22 (7.73) and it offers not just instant messaging and message boards, but the ability to send e-cards in addition to more standard forms of communication. It is also the only site amongst the ones listed that has a built-in video game called “Cupid’s Quest.” American Singles allows members to choose from a plethora of dating options: date, friendship, marriage, long-term relationship, intimacy/physical chemistry, marriage & children, activity partner, or email/chat. A question that can certainly help you to get to know a member better is a question that American Singles poses to all its members: “What have you learned from past relationships?” All of these sites include helpful dating tips and articles for both men and women. Other sites that include helpful dating tips and articles are eHarmony and Match.com.

Matchmaker comes in a close third place with a score of 16 of 22 possible points (7.27). It is the only other dating website besides True (for the purposes of this study) that offers audio and video messaging. While True’s video chat is live, Matchmaker allows you to upload audio or video messages and send them to people as emails.

True and American Singles both offer customer support by phone and email. Most dating websites just offer email support. True’s customer support was the friendliest most enjoyable conversation that left me smiling for hours.

Features Reviewed for Communication Between Members:

• Who’s Viewed You: The ability to see which members have viewed your profile. Something about your profile heading or picture must have caught their attention. If you can see who visited your profile and you are interested them, it is a good opportunity to break the ice.
• Anonymous Phone Calling System: The option a site gives you to talk on the phone with other members without giving them your phone number.
• Instant Message: The ability to instant message other members. This feature is helpful if you want to contact somebody who is online at a specific moment.
• Chat Rooms: Chat rooms can help members get to know each other better. Sometimes there are special interest chat rooms that group similarly minded people, or members of the same ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
• Message Boards: Message boards allow people to post and reply to topics about dating, love, religion, and any number of topics.
• Block a Member: If a member is bothering you, block him or her from being able to contact you.
• Video Chat: Live webcams allow you to see who you are talking to in a chat room or you may have the ability to send videos in an email message.
• Who’s Online: This feature allows you to see who’s online at any given moment so you can instant message them if that is your preferred form of getting to know someone.
• Email communication: Every online dating website allows its members to contact each other by email. Email communication is mostly freeform and up to the members, but is occasionally guided by the site in the form of prompts or questions.
• Services of the Community to Engage Others: Some sites go the extra mile in order to engage their members and help them get to know each other. This feature measures if the site tries to do that and also how well it achieves its objective.
• Variety of Relationships: Some sites give you the ability to state what kind of relationship you are looking for, or they may offer various personality descriptions to give you a variety of options in finding specific kinds of people. This feature measures how many options a site gives its members to seek their desired level of involvement.
• Customer Service: If the site has Customer Service available for its members to solve customer issues.
• Relationship Tips/ Other Articles: The availability of relationship tips and articles to the site’s members in order to help them get the most out of their membership in their site.