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SilverSingles is an online dating service for men and women aged 50 and over. SilverSingles has been in business since 2002 and aims to cater to those looking for a serious relationship while providing a safe and enjoyable online dating experience. SilverSingles uses an intelligent matchmaking system, data encryption and a team of people who manually verify profiles to accomplish that goal.
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SilverSingles aims to help you find your perfect match through three membership plans. Plans start at $31.95 and go up to $57.95 per month. Its platform is protected by SSL Encryption and fraud detection systems.
SilverSingles is an online dating service catering to people aged 50 and older who are looking for a serious relationship. The company operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany. Over 80 percent of members hold a university degree, making this online dating service especially attractive to those with a higher level of education. SilverSingles uses an accurate algorithm to make it easier to meet others with common interests who are looking for a more committed relationship.
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New members create a SilverSingles profile by selecting their gender and whether they are interested in a man or woman followed by entering a few personal details, email address and a password. The profile begins to take shape when new members answer a few basic demographic questions such as birth date, relationship status, and education level. Members then select characteristics they are looking for in potential matches, such as age or education level. From there, the profile gets further defined:
SilverSingles offers free memberships but critical functions are absent, such as the ability to view potential match photos and communicate with other members. This Basic membership is intended to be a trial period, during which users can complete the personality questionnaire and see limited information on potential matches. In comparison, a Premium membership provides unrestricted access to all SilverSingles features.
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Premium memberships are for three-, six- and twelve-month periods with fees paid monthly. The longer the membership period, the lower the monthly payment.
Features | Basic | Premium |
---|---|---|
Basic user profile | Y | N |
Premium user profile | N | Y |
Unlimited potential matches with photos | N | Y |
Unrestricted communication with matches | N | Y |
Read receipts for sent messages | N | Y |
See all visitors to user profile | N | Y |
Full access with iOS and Android app | N | Y |
Cost: 3-month/6-month/12-month | Free | $57.95/$34.95/$31.95 |
If you tried SilverSingles in the past but didn’t continue using the online dating service, take another look at the recently redesigned website and mobile app. This online dating service is straightforward to use, even if you are not technically-inclined. However, you’ll need a paid membership to get much use out of SilverSingles, even though there’s a free Basic membership.
Profile options: Four sections divide the member profile:
There are a few ways to see potential matches on the SilverSingles website or in the mobile app. First, a heart icon at the top of the page indicates the number of potential matches you have. Click on the heart to see the Matches list. Each match is assigned a number to show the level of compatibility. The higher the score, the stronger the similarities between the two profiles.
Once on the Matches list, members can view the profiles of potential matches, send them a private message or a smile as a greeting, add them to a watchlist, or delete them from the Matches list. Members can use many filters for varying results on the Matches list, for example, to only see new matches or members they’ve communicated with previously.
SilverSingles offers no phone support, however, members can contact the Customer Care team via email, U.S. mail or fax, all listed on the website. Click on the privacy link, and you’ll see a phone number, but it’s an international number for the parent company, Spark Networks, located in Germany.
The Help Center on the website has plenty of information on creating a user profile, meeting potential matches, managing accounts, and understanding billing and membership issues. SilverSingles lists helpful dating articles about first date etiquette, romantic date ideas, online safety and more. There’s an FAQ section, and members can click on links to the parent company’s online dating services in 23 other countries outside of the U.S., although these aren’t all SilverSingles sites.
DatingAdvice.com ranks SilverSingles 4.5 out of 5 and includes the site on its list of the best online dating services for 2020. DatingRankings.com gives SilverSingles a 9.8 out of 10 rating, and Mashable gives the dating service a nod for being the best dating site for those who are divorced, over the age of 60 and hesitant to start dating.
The few complaints we saw revolved around the Basic membership not letting you fully experience the service and the lack of being able to contact customer service via the phone.
The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of Personality Traits developed by psychologists Robert McCrae and Paul Costa in 1992 is the foundation of the SilverSingles personality assessment. The FFM contends a combination of the ‘Big Five’ factors determine all personalities: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
We found no confirmed numbers for SilverSingles monthly active members. Spark Networks, which owns SilverSingles and several other online dating services around the globe, welcomes a combined 65,000 new members and matches 2,000 couples each month.
You can expect between three and seven potential matches each day if you have a complete member profile and a Premium SilverSingles membership.
If a potential match has not uploaded a profile photo, you can visit their profile and click on Ask for Photo. You will get a notification if they upload a photo.
SilverSingles only stores your data as long as you have a membership. If you cancel your membership and delete your account, SilverSingles removes all your profile details and photos from the website. You can’t reactivate your account after you delete it, so you will need to create a new profile if you return to SilverSingles.
The Customer Care team at SilverSingles manually reviews and verifies all user profiles to ensure members are honest about their identity. However, some online dating service users try to engage in scams by asking other users for money. The Federal Trade Commission found online dating scams reported to the FBI tripled from 2012 to 2016, with users losing over $220 million to scammers in 2016 alone. Never send cash, checks or gift cards to anyone on SilverSingles or another online dating service.
According to the Pew Research Center survey, 5 Facts About Online Dating, people aged 50 and older using an online dating service doubled between 2013 and 2016. If you are in that age group and want to meet individuals with common interests who are looking for a serious relationship, SilverSingles is an excellent online dating service.
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