Why don't serious sites like I believe this one to be, insist that the girls main photo is a straight CLOSE up of her face, and also maybe insist on a profile shot. That way there will be much less use of misleading and glamorous professional photography that can make anyone look like a model. And hopefully also less concentration on provocative photography clearly designed to get attention. Should such sites try and encourage the woman to describe themselves more as people rather than products with individulaistic profiles, perhaps with obligatory questionaires, on likes and interests, and optional questionaires on beliefs and politics health, job, preferances city/country etc.
Nothing wrong with also having individualistic pictures, full profile but decent.
As it is I find it hard to see the difference between an 18 year old in the middle of her studies and a 30 year old in a profession from these profiles. It's not hard in reality.
It struck me how different wtrav's ex looked in the prof photo on 'A foreign affair' and the on the other disreputable site.
You're aboslutely right in the money Norway. The thing is how you manage to regulate this?
Most sites allow girls to post their pictures and letters online or bring their pics to the agency. AFA takes pics themselves for many girls, but you see what's going on, they're a business trying to give customers what they want, which is models, perfectly looking girls.
Question for any site is building up a reputation. Some customers just want these provactive glamour pictures.Sites which go for that image, will attract them and pretty soon it will be clear that very few get happily married.
Other sites can cater for wishes of customers like me. People who want to meet people, not dolls.
It is as simple as to set up a quality/clarity standard for the pictures that are accpeted by a site and insisting on a questionair, perhaps offering a cut price/free digital passport photo and profile shot taken by the receptionist.Then getting the girls to answer a multi-choice type questionair. I mean if all it takes is a one line add in a paper to get 10,000 woman seeking a "social" where is the problem?
I have nothing against men also having to answer a questionair, and insisting on a certain quality of photos they use.
Buy alowing the glamour doll shots later on in the profile the cite will have no problem convincing its customers that its girls are as good looking as the ones on the less serious sites. Quality, honesty and standard are excellent marketing tools. First thought any serious man has "Is this a scam" second thought "is this an exploitive loose moral sex-market with one foot in the low-life or even worse prostitution"
Imagine headlines like. "Cameras can lie, but we at fiancee.com do our best to make sure our pictures are as honest as can be (see our tough policy on photos)" "Just compare the clarity of our photos to our competitors"
"No-one can guarantee you a lasting love, but we at fiancee.com do our best to make the distances shorter. Our simple questionaires ask the questions our men and woman want to ask and our advanced search engines help our men and women find out what they need to know about their future spouse"
The great thing with multi choice style qustionaires is that they don't need translation for people to communicate who they are quickly.
How about 20 oblagatory questions about general things, and which the search motors can access.
Then, this is the FRESH IDEA so pay attention: about 1000 pre translated standard questions arranged in catagories, work. interests, belief, home, activities, health and sexualtiy, living environment, family relations, ideal woman/man, politics. humour, music etc etc etc..whatever
Then the suggestion would be that you answer what you feel like answering, but no more than 50 questions in your profile.
And when you have started a good correspondance it will of course be naturally to answer and ask more and more of these as you wish, with the advantage that nothing needs to be translated.
The woman get borrow a brochure card with all the questions and choices in russian, proffesionally trnslated, while the men have internet access to the english(even other languanges) copy of the same. Then you just match the question number and answers. Well Olga?
"No-one can guarantee you a lasting love, but we at fiancee.com do our best to make the distances shorter. Our simple questionaires ask the questions our men and woman want to ask and our advanced search engines help our men and women find out what they need to know about their future spouse.. Once we have cut done the distance so that it is hard to miss...well the rest we have to leave in Cupid's hands!!"
As for your question about photos.Thats 100% true-agencies use glamorous photos to attract customers. And the majority of ladies on thos ephotos dont look the same way in a real life. This is a question of competition. There are about 7000 ladies on the site right now. Guess who gets lots of messages and who gets nothing? Of course those who have professional studio photos, good make up and looks like a model.Ladies that have casual pics and what you call digital profile shots-they get nothing. Also beleive me, it will be impossible to assure a lady that her shot, taken in the office by the receptionist right now, without her proper make up, 100% natural and true, will work better then the studio photos that she just made for the agency.
This is a problem of a distance relationships-first picture, then communication. You can't immediately attract attention -you have no chances here. This is what is written in all photo instructions for ladies.There are thousands of ladies, and only hundreds of men.This is not even a question of a business that all agencies make on those photos...its like a rule of a game. Beleive me, there are lots of sites that offer exactly what you are talking about-Passport/facial photos taken by the agency. Usually those are small agencies that have a digital camera. But even those try to polish those pics on the computer, using different programs like Adobe Photoshop etc. Just because those things dont work.There are lots of way to check how the lady looks like-ask for her casual pics, make her photo whle the flowers are delivered to her and etc, but the truth is: to attract men's attention in a 8000( other sites have even more ladies)crowd, a woman should look great. They just have to.By chooseing those girls you give them a chance. You dont have to take what you see for granted. This is the same like ladies also have to trust men, that the photos they send then were not taken five -ten years ago( it happens a lot here) when he was young and trimm and didnt had this big beer gut.;-)
As for questionnaires. definitely good idea.This question was discussed when we did this site. But the case is that it is impossible to create some universal questionnaire that will fully describe anybody's personality. Moreover, the more information it has, the more questions will occur.People are different in different aspects. And what sees to be detailed to you, will say nothing to other person.As for a "about 1000 pre translated standard questions arranged in catagories, work. interests, belief, home, activities, health and sexualtiy, living environment, family relations, ideal woman/man, politics. humour, music etc etc etc..whatever" Once I had a customer. he was looking for a bride here. He was young and really good looking. With a really good job and having an income faaar above average. He was asking girls to fill in a questionnaire for him, like 30 questions. And you know what? We could hardly find a few girls that agreed to do it. Other said that they are not going to do it because he is nuts.This is just an example from my 5 year experience here. Of course I am not the one who takes those decisions for the company and site.. and who knows, may be your idea will be welcome here.
I couldn't disagree more. For the first passport photographs are called such because authorities across the world agree that this is the absolute best way to get a likeness. Are you disagreeing with passport authorities? I have never seen a serious site that gives both CLOSE up facial and profile.Simple rule, the face has to cover pretty much the whole of the photograph. By having a receptionist take the photo you can't get around make up and the such, but you can garentee the age of the photo. And you can promise that you don't touch up the photos. We are not talking 100 likeness. We are talking best possible likeness. Shouldn't this at leat be a goal?
As far as questionaires go you miss two essential points.
1 IF is not the normal for everyone to answer questionaires it's meaningless to ask these questions straight off. Hell I'ld never answer 30 questions for a particular girl I didn't know yet, or even one I did know. It takes some time and can feel like too much infringement. That's EXACTLY why you SHOULD have questionaires. Because then it is normal and accepted to ask and get answers for the questions that are pretty much essential to finding a partner for life.
II: The idea with 1000's pretranslated questions is special to dating across a language barrier. It's a fresh idea - never heard of the like before myself. 1000 questions is a hell of a lot of questions that should easily cover the most important questions anyone would like to ask no matter who they are or what they are after. And unlike ordinary questionairs you only ask or answer the small number of questions after catagory that are important/relavent to you. That way there is no right or wrong anwser sheet. You are encouraged to be personal, honest and open with what matters for you. Thats very individualist for a questionaire.
In addition it makes it much more easy and legit to ask the questions that would otherwise be hard to ask once you are communicating personally, both for the women and the men.
Finlly new comers both men and woman will know more about what they are getting into, just by reading and understanding the diversity of the questions and concerns. Knowledge gives security - and loyalty.
Talk about a selling point. You'ld be light years ahead of the other sites and it wouldn't take long before you could smuggly boast that you were the agency with the best success ratio in long term marriages. Profit and good work are not always strangers. Back me up here guys.
I think it would be interesting and fun too. I just see girls walking out you agency with YOUR brochure with 100 questions and marvelling over the diversity of people dating and giggling with their friends as they pick out questions important to them. Talk about reputation.
I think it's a good idea. I see many people who frequent this forum care about other things in a woman besides appearance. I would enjoy that for a while, but wouldn't pay much attention to the questionnaires. I've noticed if a woman is not blond with blue eyes and clear, brilliant face doesn't even attract me to click on the thumbnail ... but I'm just one example so ...
By the way, the quality of women on this site has improved quite a bit. 16584 is a doll and seems a tough cookie and 16511 is pretty sexy also. I haven't been on the database for a while, this is refreshing.
Yes looks are important, and it's the face which counts most. I look to the eyes very much, need to read the expression there. Passport photos and profile shots please. Anyone disagree with that?
Once the looks got your attention (and yours hers) you're on to the gauntlet of finding out who this person is. Then you have time for and need a pretty versatile questionaire.
Asking a thousand questions? I dont think this is realistic. There is a reason why people have conversations, some of the mystery is revealed, and more created. Even twenty questions cannot take account for the conditions of that day, her mood, what day of the month.
As for appearence, well, I shop by look, but having been in the glamor industry, I know looks are only skin deep. In ten years, how is she going to look?
I avoid the overly glamorous pics (easy to spot) because they are lures or too false, too much of a suprise when you get the next picture and committed some time and work in an exchange of emails.
I agree that too many questions is not good. I think the point was already mentioned that the point of a questionaire is to be a bit of a starter for conversation.
Read more carefully. This is like an interactive questionaire. Nobody has time to ask 1000 or answer more than 50questions I agree. The point is that you can choose your questions from 1000 pre translated questions and ansvers. Individual choice. That's a pretty effective way round both the language barriers and makes it more legit to ask the stuff you don't normally ask until you've met each other several times. Handy shortcut if you ask me.
Net dating across 1000's of miles, and books of beurocracy, hell you can't do that on the blind-date/ take-a chance-and-see-how-the conversation-works-outconcept.
What the hey! Can't blame the GIRL for wanting to look good. Do you send her photos in your pajamas and unshaven? Nothing wrong with a "prom shot". But that's why we share more photos in the correspondence - everyday places and occurances! Be reasonable! If the profiles had lousy photos, then we'd be knocking the girls for not giving more effort!