There's 2 aspects to internet dating sites that can be critiqued. One is the design/usability aspect and the other is the experience + ability of the site to enhance yr social life or find true love. In the first respect I'd rate LL better than 2 stars, as I found the design and features good. The aspect about LavaLife that really appealed to me was the prepaid credits concept. This allowed me to judicially spend $ on prospects that appealed to me and who I thought I would be compatible with, even if that meant going many wks without contacting anyone. Much better than subscription site that encourages guys try to get value by contacting as many women as possible. I also liked the fact that you could see a persons last login, so you didn’t waste time on inactive profiles. With LL my review will focus more on the 'Intimates' section and is for male readers.

* Women tend to be passive users. If you think sending smiles is a good strategy to get a response..think again, though its hard not to after using up yr credits on unanswered emails.

* My feelings are that LL did not have a deliberate strategy of posting fake profiles. I know of a few girls + even guys who admit posting fake profiles to stooge guys or too waste guys $ and suspect this accounted for a few. I found there were quite a few profiles that would be established then no further activity for whatever reason, so it pays to wait a week at least before sending email. Though you run the risk that she would have received many emails in the meantime, I generally found I had better chance of response not from contacting a women who was only a few days new.

* I found I never got a response from women with raunchy profiles. No doubt they got 100s of emails or enjoy being c**kteasers. Even though it goes against instinct, you'll likely do better with the plain profiles.

* Initial smutty or even just flirty comments never really worked, even to my surprise on LL intimates many women seemed to get indignant. A number of good looking guys I know who use date/chat sites assure me that women totally love it, so play it on that basis.

* In relation to the above I also found a number of women who seemed to just enjoy conversation. If things don’t start progressing after a few of weeks, don’t get caught up spending weeks in the hope. I don’t think women should have any illusions as to why a guy is using the intimates section, but a lot seem to.

* Average size for women tends to mean size 14-16. A count on random day of % of slim women looking for 'muscular' type guys in my city came to 75%. Fit in many cases is used because they go to yoga class once a week or walk the dog and is a weasel type description. Its not the same as 'she's fit'. lol. Also when it comes to age You will also find any woman with sex appeal, tend to go for their age down. If you are over 37 and hope to meet up with nice women early 30s or younger..think again.

* I logged on once as a female and found there was 7 x the number of males logged on as females. Articles in the media on internet date sites tend to be fluffy PR pieces. Occasionally you get to read an article written by women that roadtest these sites, that from a guys perspective provides a reality check. In these the women gets 100s or in one case over 2000 emails a week from guys, or else they give their candid opinion on guy's profiles as they work through them filtering out the 'great guys worthy of investing any of their time with'. Like many male posters have commented here, when it comes to date sites women can and do go for guys above their league + with adult fun aspect of LL intimates, x that by 2, so definitely be prepared to lower your expectations.

With the people I know, their experiences with internet dating/chat mirror those of many the posters on e-date-review. While my avg joe mates (and myself) would complain how the women were so fussy, the good looking, hunky guys I knew would have no trouble finding heaps of women on the www who were 'bang up for it'. The women with sex appeal complained about all the losers + creeps, while the avg looking women write off the sites because all the guys they met either lied about themselves + career, or were dating multiple women, or broke it off at the 3 mth mark when the C word stared to get mentioned. Pretty much the modis operandi of a number of the good looking guys I know who use date sites and go back for more.

With LL intimates have a go, just don’t have any illusions that different principles from the niteclub/bar scene apply here and you are going to get heaps of raunchy slim women. Don’t get f**ked up over it like some of the posters on this site, though it can be frustrating. Likewise take a reality check on your own desirability. If you are an avg joe guy, thin, short, slobby or bit nerdy, you are really better off networking via a social/sporting/hobby club.