Black People Meet Review

Editor’s Summary

Launched in 2002, BlackPeopleMeet (BPM) is the biggest site for African-American singles and one of several niche dating sites run by People Media. It’s closer to parent site Match.com than to a hookup app; users are generally looking for more serious relationships, and most are in their 30s and 40s.
 
Although the site is intended mainly as a way for, well, black people to meet, it’s not like there’s a genealogy test required to join. Profile pages allow you to check various answers for your race, and a small but noticeable chunk of users are non-black people interested in finding a black partner.
 
BPM has a two-tiered system:

• Members, who use the site for free, have access to the basic site but can’t really interact
• Subscribers, who pay a monthly fee, have access to the full range of features for interacting

Subscription is cheaper than many other dating sites, although pricing is somewhat deceptively presented -- the rates listed describe the weekly cost, rather than the standard monthly cost. The three subscription options are $66 U.S. for six months ($11/month), $39 for three months ($13/month), or $17 for one month. All are billed as one-time lump payments.

The subscription also automatically renews itself when it runs out, so anyone who has abandoned the site will have to go back in and deliberately opt out rather than letting the fixed term expire.
 
BPM gives you many (arguably too many) ways to contact other users: messaging, asking questions, sending “Flirts,” Liking photos, Favoriting profiles, sending notifications that you’re online, sending gifts
 
These options make the site adaptable to your approach, but may be frustrating for users looking for a single straightforward system for interacting. If you do want a more streamlined, Tinder-like setup, the BPM app’s “Are You Interested” feature lets you browse through profiles one by one and swipe to indicate interest.
 
BPM is a site where the more you put into it , the more you get out of it. That’s true both in terms of the time and effort you put into customizing your profile and connecting through various methods -- and in terms of how much money you literally put into the site.
 
Several additional features, such as promoting yourself to the first page of search results, can be activated using paid “tokens.” Tokens can be bought in packages ranging from $1 for 25 to $10 for 280, and most features cost $20. Careful, though -- when they run out, tokens automatically refill themselves and bill you for it unless you opt out.
 
BPM provides daily matches, but those can be merely people who are near to you or viewed your profile. BPM lacks the robust compatibility matchmaking algorithm of sites like Match.com, but it helps make up for that by giving you extensive search filters to adjust the wall of people you see on your homepage according to your specifications.
 
You can filter results by region and age range, plus search by who you’ve viewed, who’s viewed you, who’s online, or username. By selecting “More,” you can filter by any of the factors listed on a profile page (smoking, ethnicity, and so on).

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Other Popular Choices

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Zoosk

What Zoosk brings to the table is a warm and inviting dating atmosphere that might feel almost like it's as much a social media site as it is an online dating platform. It features an inviting and colorful interface that puts its millions of users on the same level, regardless of gender. With both desktop and mobile versions, it's AskMen's top-rated online dating option for a reason.

Check out Zoosk

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Match

You've probably heard of Match before -- it's been a big name in the world of online dating not just because it's been around for over 20 years, but because it has smartly stayed on top of the game, boasting all the latest features you'd want from a modern online dating site. Match still features a somewhat traditional aspect -- you're more likely to find men messaging women first than the other way around -- but the atmosphere remains relaxed, so you're likely to be accepted however you choose to reach out. Since Match is a paid option, expect to find users a little more serious than those on hookup sites, but that might be just what you're looking for.

Check out Match

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Elite Singles

If you're on a mission to find not just a soulmate but someone who's just as ambitious as you are, Elite Singles might represent a tantalizing option for you. The site aims to match users based on nearly 30 different character traits; it'll also provide you with a comprehensive profile that can help you understand what you're looking for from potential matches much more clearly than other sites.

Check out Elite Singles

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FriendFinder-X

If you're just looking for something more casual (or naughtier), FriendFinder-X can help you speed up the sex angle when it comes to online dating. The site provides a totally uncensored experience, so you can expect to engage in discussions about meeting up for a hookup, or even just engaging in cyber sex as soon as you're signed up.

Check out FriendFinder-X

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IN-DEPTH

Sign-Up & Login Process Process

The short sign-up process prompts you to select your gender and the gender you’re looking for, input your location, and then create a username, bio, and further description.

If you want to get started right away, you can choose one of a dozen pre-set personality types to serve as your bio. Your options are Family First, Educated, Foodie, Nature Lover, Nerd, Adventurous, Old Soul, Active, Ambitious, Music Head, Creative, Educated, and Humorous. The types are common enough to find on dating sites, and their default bios are pleasantly written but can be an awkward substitute for a real persona.
 
The sign-up process does funnel you toward the paid Subscriber route; if you want to stay on the free Member version, you have to skip the step rather than proceed normally.
 
Once you have an account with at least a placeholder bio, you can go ahead and start browsing the site and the people on it. You have the option to not even upload a photo and just lurk on the site to see if you like it. The default option for search excludes those without photos, so you’re essentially invisible until you start fleshing out your profile with more of the real you.
 
If you want to rush in, the site doesn’t hold your hand too much, so you may want to backtrack later and figure out how exactly tokens, Flirts, etc work.
 
Once you’re signed up, your profile is fully editable, all the way from question responses to main traits like your gender / desired gender. So there’s no danger of having to redo a profile if you change your mind about anything or notice you ticked the wrong box somewhere. Note: Although your desired gender is switchable, there isn’t an option to search men and women simultaneously, so if you’re interested in both (or interested mostly in making friends) you’ll have to flip back and forth.

Logging in to BlackPeopleMeet requires the simple combination of your email address and password -- nothing more, nothing less. Using your email instead of a username just means you have one less thing to remember when logging in.

Members & Messaging

BPM provides a lot of different avenues for talking to other members:
You can send a message, send a “Flirt” (i.e. an indication you’re interested), or ask a question. If you’re not ready to reach out directly, you can Favorite a profile or Like a specific photo. On the homepage, you can live chat or send Flirts to a sidebar of people currently online.
 
Profile pages are the main venue for getting to know people and contacting them. Right under photo name age and location it indicates how active the person is on the site, which can be useful for adjusting expectations of a reply. The main photo is small, but clicking on it will take you to a gallery that takes up the full profile column and comes with a checkmark icon for Liking photos and an “I’m Interested” button below.
 
Below that, profiles are split into several sections stacked on top of each other. The first section includes options for smoking, Zodiac sign, children, ethnicity, religion, body type, political affiliation, occupation, pets, height, and marital status (the site doesn’t allow married users, but differentiates between Never Married, Widowed, Legally Separated, and Divorced)
 
The 5-10 options for each item are straightforward, but some users may find them too limiting. And, somewhat strangely, for a site focused on connecting black people, Ethnicity focuses on covering the main general options for race (i.e. Middle Eastern, White), but doesn’t touch on different black ethnicities. So users trying to meet others with the same family background (whether a specific country or even just Caribbean, West African, etc) will have to comb through manually. The site does let you answer “Where I grew up,” though, which can be used to find people raised in the same country.
 
Other main sections of profiles:

• your bio
• traits you’re seeking in a partner
• additional info

 
Optional sections:

• 7 personality questions on how punctual you are, whether you like books, etc
• Top Interests and written explanations of why they’re important to you. This section often gives some of the better insights into people.
• Questions you invite your profile viewers to answer in a message to you 

All profile pages also include a “you may also like” bottom bar that lists three similar profiles.

Key Features

• Many ways to interact with other users, from simple indications of interest to full messages and questions
• Thorough, easily-accessible interaction history
• Filterable search
• Instant live chat
• It’s easy to sign up and browse before buying
• Plenty of possible icebreakers and message prompts in profile pages
• Paid tokens provide additional features such as promoting your account
• Paid members can create audio and video messages to put up on their profiles for public or private consumption

Safety & Security

Privacy: BPM is owned by People Media, which is owned by Match group, a group that owns multiple major dating sites including Match.com, PlentyOfFish, and OKCupid. BPM’s privacy policy states that the site may obtain both personal and non-personal information about you from other Match Group businesses, business partners, contractors and other third parties.

Safety: The terms & conditions explain that BPM does not conduct criminal checks or otherwise screen users, but may look into and suspend accounts at its discretion.

Noteworthy

People Media also operates the more niche Black People Meet spinoffs, Black Seniors Meet and Black Christian People Meet.
 

Main Competitors

BlackCrush
InterracialDatingCentral

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