Zoosk Online Dating Sites Review

Matching Criteria

To set up a profile on Zoosk and begin seeing potential matches, you can provide just some basic information, including your age, height, location, and, surprisingly, your religious affiliation or absence of same. You must also upload at least one photo.  Zoosk does not make you take an extensive questionnaire to use the site. Arguably, that means the matches you receive won't be fine-tuned to your partner preferences. On the other hand, the site may be able to deliver more matches and help you keep an open mind about potential connections. 

Profile Customization

It's easy to get started on Zoosk. You can set up a  basic profile easily by answering about ten simple questions and adding a photo. As with other dating sites and apps, you can choose your own username and make it as anonymous as you wish. Zoosk also provides the option of completing profile sections that include Your Story, Your Ideal Match, Your Perfect Date, and Your Interests. Users have the option of being as detailed as they like in these sections - the more information you provide about your personality and preferences, the stronger the liklihood of connecting with other singles who have similar hobbies and relationship goals. There is no apparent character limit in any of these sections.

Interface Features

Zoosk is very simple to use. The site and app (available for both iPhone and Android users) allow you to upload multiple photos and crop them online. Once a potential match indicates interest in you, you'll receive a notification. Then you can indicate whether or not you're interested. If not, he/she/they will be removed from your list of potential matches. You can also message the people you're interested in directly.

Once you've completed a basic profile, Zoosk teases you a little by serving up a few matches, letting you know when your profile has been viewed, and when you've received messages from a potential match. However, to gain full access to the site, you do need to subscribe. Zoosk is affordably priced. You can sign up for either a 12-month or 6-month subscription for $7.50 or $11.00 per month respectively.

Zoosk allows you to browse invisibly for 30 minutes at a time. This feature can be toggled on and off easily. If your calendar gets too full of dates, or perhaps you've met someone you'd like to focus on exclusively for a while, you can take a break from being seen and messaged by other users, but also keep your browsing options open. Some sites require you to pause your membership completely in order to pause messaging and matching. Zoosk requires you to "pay" for this feature each time you use it by spending Coins, which can be purchased on an ad-hoc basis by both basic and paying subscribers. 

In addition to these options, Zoosk has recently launched a couple of exciting social dating features in the US. Available free of charge, Zoosk live is a 24/7 livestreaming platform where users can follow and support their favorite streamers, go live themselves make friends around the world, and more. There's also first-of-its-kind Zoosk Great Dates, a collection of virtual dating experiences which can be accessed as an exclusive free perk for paying subscribers. 

Privacy and Security Measures

You can use your Google or Facebook ID to get started on Zoosk, which is a handy option for people who don't care to amass a million usernames and passwords. Once you set up an initial profile, you can verify your identity via Facebook, Twitter, telephone number, or photo. Verifying your identity makes it more likely that matches will trust your profile. As a user, you can choose to communicate only with verified users, as well, to enhance your own safety. 

Zoosk publishes a section on its website devoted to safety issues with online dating. The section provides common-sense tips, such as staying anonymous and not communicating outside the app until you feel you know someone well enough. Zoosk states clearly that it doesn't investigate users beyond verifying their identity. Instead the site recommends that you do some research on your own once you have a potential date's full name by checking out his/her/their profiles on other social media.

Zoosk's privacy policy lists the many purposes for which it may use the personal data you provide. Some of these make perfect sense because the primary function of the site is to match you with potential dates. However, Zoosk does reserve the right to share your data with third-party marketers, stating "We participate in interest-based advertising and use third party advertising companies to serve you targeted advertisements based on your browsing history. We permit third-party online advertising networks, social media companies and other third-party services, to collect information about your use of our online services over time so that they may play or display ads on our services, on other websites, or services you may use, and on other devices you may use." If you use Zoosk's services, you should be prepared to receive advertisements on products and services outside of Zoosk's own. 

Inclusivity

Zoosk gives you the option of looking for matches of the same sex or opposite sex. The site and app do not provide bisexual users with the option of setting up one profile to attract both male- and female-identifying matches. Nor does it ask for a user's pronoun preference. Zoosk may not be hospitable to some people on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.