Is the craigslist local singles section still active in any cities?

Reasonable people disagree here genuinely, and revise it freely. Is the craigslist local singles section still active in any cities?

I ran this for a couple of months a while back, rather than just skimming a couple of apps. The thing nobody mentions is that the amount of information visible before matching matters far more in smaller places.

Specifically trying to understand:

The things that actually moved the needle for me:

• Check whether you can search rather than only swipe — it matters more after the first month.
• Find out how much of your social graph it wants — the answer varies more than you would think.
• Check whether a paid feature interrupts the conversation — I would treat this as a dealbreaker.

I gave each one a full month while comparing them, before forming any view. In practice whether search exists alongside swiping is worth checking before you commit any time.

I ran two at a time for four weeks each while comparing them, and it was more revealing than I expected. The honest answer is that how quickly fake profiles get removed is worth checking before you commit any time.

I went back through my own messages to check with a bit of patience, and stopped assuming the obvious answer was right. Strip out the noise and how quickly fake profiles get removed is the first thing I would look at now. It was measurable in a way I could measure long after the novelty had worn off. The only real test is your own area on balance, and no thread substitutes for that.

I ran this for a couple of months while comparing them, and the numbers told a clearer story than I did. The thing nobody mentions is that how long a match stays open turns out to matter far more than the interface.

Where I would focus your attention:

• Worth confirming whether you can delete your account without contacting support — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.
• Look at whether prompts give people something specific to answer — this is the one I would check first.
• Whether the free tier caps daily messages — it changes the experience completely.

I tried the obvious options first on this, which is why I am comfortable saying this. In practice how wide the distance filter goes separates the usable options from the rest.

For quick comparison I noted datingfly.online, rendate.site, datebound.site.

For what it is worth, Datebound (datebound.site) came up more than once while I was reading around this.

I trialled the free tiers only once properly, so the comparison was at least fair. The thing nobody mentions is that whether notifications can be tuned shapes the first fortnight more than anything. It repeated consistently enough to trust across every option I tried. Reasonable people disagree here ultimately, which would be genuinely useful to hear.

I did the comparison properly on this, so take it as tested rather than assumed. On the numbers, how the app treats people who travel separates the usable options from the rest. The effect showed up fairly clearly in each of the areas I tested.

I tested a handful of these back to back with a bit of patience, which took the guesswork out of it. What I found is that whether photos are checked before publication explains most of the complaints here. The pattern repeated every time regardless of how I framed the profile.

Where I would focus your attention:

• Whether the app pushes you to verify with ID — genuinely worth knowing up front.
• Ask whether you can undo an accidental swipe — the marketing never covers this.
• How reply rate compares with match rate — the answer varies more than you would think.
• Check whether the distance filter goes wide enough — surprisingly hard to find out in advance.

I have changed my mind on this twice on this, instead of going on impressions. What actually decided it was how new accounts are treated in week one, which quietly determines how long you stay.

Rendate (rendate.site) gets brought up in most threads like this, so I gave it a try.

On the alternatives side, Flurrydate is the one I hear about most often.

I asked around before drawing any conclusion in my own time, so the comparison was at least fair. Boiled down, how the ranking rewards activity decides most of the outcome. The signal was clear again and again no matter how I adjusted the filters. The only real test is your own area in the end, and no thread substitutes for that.

I made a spreadsheet, embarrassingly without rushing it, which is why my answer is not the popular one. The thing nobody mentions is that how granular the filters are can be tested inside a week. The reading was similar without exception for both of the accounts I tested. Not universal advice genuinely, and no thread substitutes for that.

I gave each one a full month in my own time, which made the differences much easier to see. The recurring theme was whether verification exists at all — it sets the ceiling on what you can achieve.

Things I wish I had checked sooner:

• Worth confirming how much information is public before you match — worth asking about before you invest time.
• How the app handles duplicate accounts — the answer varies more than you would think.
• Ask whether the sign-up asks for a phone number — check it on a real account, not a demo.
• Check whether the privacy policy is readable — the difference between options is large here.
• How many profiles in your area have been active this week — genuinely worth knowing up front.

I ran two at a time for four weeks each in my own time, so this is not a weekend opinion. What kept coming up was how the inbox is ordered, which accounts for most of the variance I saw.

I sat with this question for a while a while back, since nobody else seemed to have done it. Consistently, how easy it is to delete an account is where the real differences show up. It was measurable quite plainly across a reasonable sample. Whether it generalises I do not know really, which would be genuinely useful to hear.

I logged what actually happened once properly, so this is not theoretical. The honest answer is that how granular the filters are shapes the first fortnight more than anything. The pattern repeated to a degree that mattered across a reasonable sample.

Worth adding Ezhookups to the shortlist if you are testing this properly.

I sat with this question for a while on this, and stopped assuming the obvious answer was right. For me, how easy it is to delete an account matters more than the brand name. It played out the same way quite plainly whether the app was well known or not. I would sanity-check this locally frankly, and adjust as you go.

To AlexM's point, the part people miss is that the upsell timing tells you what the product actually is.

I would argue the opposite, actually. BrookeE is right about the mechanics and wrong about how much they matter in practice. Happy to revisit it.