AffinitySA.com Website Review
AffinitySA.com has only been around since 2004. Like many other dating services today they are punting the mixture of matchmaking and social events. A conversation with the owner, Lyle Tapinos, explains that there’s more to it, and they want to help people improve themselves. For example, an inexperienced guy is going out on a hot date, AffinitySA would send someone out to help him with selecting the best clothes and also give him a pep talk to boost his self-esteem.
The launch party in June 2005 at Cafe Vacca Matta was amazing. The quality of the women and the men was superior to any nightclub I’d been to in years. Since then, I’ve been back to Vacca Matta, and I do believe this is more attributed to the type of people that Vacca Matta attracts anyway. There’s hope, though, because one thing that’s a sure winner is to attract people of high status, and Vacca Matta certainly does so without trying too hard.
Before registering, a general look around the Affinity.com website shows them advertising their “next event” as the “Know Your Man” special on 3 August, which is long ago. The other major disappointment is the Featured Profiles, which are shown and change often enough, but you are not able to click on them. This defeats the purpose of showing or rotating profiles on the front page. The registration is simple enough, and when you click on “join”, you get slapped with all the terms and conditions, which are standard fare on the Internet. What’s super is that only the most basic details are asked when you’re registering, after which a confirmation email is sent, and then you go back to complete the registration.
Only at this point are you asked to complete more questions, as well as allowing you to upload your photos. This is the type of registration process which makes it smooth sailing for people who are inexperienced on the Internet. It’s good web usability practice to have this kind of multi-step registration process. Once you’re registered and you log in to the website, there is a Latest News section which is blank; the Featured Profiles on the right are replaced with your profile. The automated matching uses the criteria specified in “Describing your Match.” Something I’ve seen before is that when you’re only allowed to select one criterion, e.g. “blue eyes”, it excludes all the rest. And you may want to select “blue” + “green” eyes, but because it’s the drop-down list doesn’t allow you to have multiple selections. When I clicked on “Who’s Online?” I found I’m the only one, and this is a Wednesday at 10 am. Maybe the busiest time of the day is the evening, but I doubt that because most people who use Online Dating do so during work time because they have unlimited access to the Internet at the office.
You can also place little classified ads. At the time of writing this review there’s only a few ads by some horny guys on the website. The overall impression of AffinitySA.com is that it’s a work in progress. The website is not updated frequently enough and will continue to be a major problem with credibility. On the upside, if AffinitySA.com is hosting another function at Cafe Vacca Matta in Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg, make sure you’re there because it’s a blast.
Visit AffinitySA.com and let us know what you think.