How to Choose the Right STD Dating Website

Introduction

With eleven different STD dating sites reviewed on No.1 Reviews, we can understand that users may need a helping hand when deciding which site is best for them. With our extensive experience of reviewing all kinds of dating sites, we hope that this buying guide, along with our extensive reviews of the major players in the STD dating market, will help you know what to look for when deciding on which STD dating site to use. Of course, you shouldn't feel restricted to signing up for just one site. You can sign up for a free trial with a few STD dating websites to see how they compare before you choose the one that is best-suited to you.

What is Online STD Dating?

The phenomenon of Online Dating has developed and expanded alongside the worldwide growth of the Internet. STD Dating is a specific branch of online dating aimed at those who are living with some form of sexually transmitted disease. Most sites are focused on those living with HSV (Herpes), HPV and HIV/AIDS, although many sites are also aimed at those who live with a wide range of sexually transmitted diseases and infections such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Chlamydia, Thrush, Syphilis and many more. This niche online dating market has grown considerably in the last few years, as more and more people living with these conditions are looking to the Internet to find love, friendship and companionship. The only way to know whether online STD dating is for you is to give it a try, and with most sites we review offering a free trial, you really do have nothing to lose.

Choosing an appropriate site for you

Some STD dating sites cover a variety of STDs, however most STD dating sites are focused on those who live with a particular disease. These sites offer help and support relating to a specific STD, such as HIV for example, and also offer users the opportunity to meet with others who share their illness.

Common Features

There are a number of features common to a lot of STD dating sites that are intended to support their users and improve their dating experience. To help you know what to look out for, we have broken down what we consider to be the most important and useful features that you can find on a number of online STD dating sites:

• Photo Profiles – An extremely common feature of many online dating sites is photo profiles, which allows users to store photos alongside their profile in order to ‘advertise’ themselves to other users. These let you get a real feel for the person you are chatting with before you meet with them, or contact them properly. Photo profiles are now standard on most dating sites, and certainly on all of the STD dating sites we have reviewed.

• Instant Messaging – Instant Messaging is a service offered by many sites similar to the services offered by MSN, Yahoo and GoogleChat, and allows users to chat in real time with each other. We love this feature, as it allows users to have actual, real-time conversations with other users when their relationship is at an early stage (i.e. before phone calls!)

• Forums, Chat rooms and Blogs – Forums, blogs and chat rooms hosted by online dating sites allow users to communicate on a number of different topics (those both related and unrelated to online dating and their illnesses), giving an opportunity to get to know users a little more, as well as creating a community feel.

• Articles, STD News and Medical Support – Many STD sites offer users not just the opportunity to meet other people who are living with their respective illnesses, but also an informative support group to improve their quality of life. Many sites give users the opportunity to read articles written by STD experts from the medical field, and list news developments related to STDs in a newsfeed. They aren’t essential features, but many users find them to be a welcome addition to their STD dating site.

• FAQs and Technical Support– Sounds a little boring, but we think this is really important. Look out for sites that offer technical support by email and phone, especially those that offer support 24/7. FAQs are also important to help you solve common issues.

“Powered By…”

A common feature of a number of sites is that they are “powered” by another, larger site. This simply means that the site shares the features, structure and often, membership directory of the parent site. Many users find this a comforting element in choosing a site to join, having the security of a major site without feeling that your profile will never be found amongst the hundreds of thousands that can sometimes exist on larger sites. This practice is relatively common; so don’t be concerned when you look at a site that is “powered” by another. Of particular note in relation to STD dating sites is Positive Singles, a site that powers several of the other sites in our top ten.

Privacy, Safety and Anonymity

Many users who begin online dating of any kind are concerned about their privacy and safety. With STD dating this has an additional level of importance, based around the fact that in many cases users will not want details of their condition known by those who know them outside of the site. Most of the websites we review offer excellent privacy settings so that your data and identity are secure. Check our reviews for those sites that offer particularly useful or unusual privacy tools. Many sites offer an additional safety measure that involves a process commonly referred to as “ConfirmID”. This process allows users to submit a copy of some form of ID, have an ID check through their credit card details, or have the accuracy of some information (profession, income, geographical location, age etc.) confirmed to other users by providing evidence to support such assertions. While not all sites will offer this service, it is something worth paying for if you are particularly concerned by your privacy and anonymity.

Pricing and Free Trials

The price structure for STD dating sites varies considerably between sites. Check out our reviews for an up to date listing of prices for each site and their relative subscription lengths. Most sites offer free trials to allow you to get a feel for the site and decide whether you wish to sign up for a full subscription. Many sites we have reviewed are completely free of charge to all users, and do not require the payment of any subscription fee. While these sites will appeal to many of our readers, they often provide less features (and are less popular) and so users will have to be aware of the trade off between price and usefulness.

The Bottom Line

While online dating is often described as a numbers game, where the bigger the site is, the more success a particular user will have in finding a date, this is not the only consideration when it comes to STD dating. We think that it’s even more important than normal to find a site where you feel completely comfortable when giving STD online dating a try. Check out our reviews for an indication, where possible, of the size of the site and the number of users, but also read our extensive editor’s reviews to get an idea of what every site is like. Most importantly, join the site and experience the free membership options to see whether it is the perfect site for you.