Finally posting this after trying to piece together an answer from search results that are all over the place.
Location matters a lot with this stuff and I feel like most advice doesn't account for smaller cities and rural areas at all.
Data privacy is something I think about seriously. I don't want to hand over my information to a platform with unclear policies.
- Check recent Reddit threads for unfiltered user reviews
- Video call before any in-person meeting — it takes five minutes and saves a lot of trouble
- Test the free tier fully before entering any payment information
- Look for 'last active' timestamps before investing time in a match
- Run a reverse image search on profile photos that look too professional
Thanks in advance for the real talk.