Today, it stands out from the competition by not referring to itself as a dating website, but rather a social media network that emphasizes dating.
That description was intriguing enough for me to go ahead and sign up so that I could 
review the site for you, and I found some cool features along the way. Some of these features include voting on whether I liked member profiles and sharing pictures from social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. I’ll be detailing my experience on the site, with an in-depth Badoo review, including the sign-up process, creating my profile, and searching for and reaching out to other members.
- There is a feature that notifies you where you and another member may have met
- Verification process ensures members aren’t engaging with bots
- Social media-style interface that’s pleasingly familiar
- Profile verification means more reliable profiles
- GPS feature shows where and when you may have made contact with a member in real life
- Linked social networks allow you to connect with members away from Badoo
- Popularity Meter offers users a game-like experience with features such as superpowers that adds to the site’s entertainment factor
- Many of the cool features on the site are only available to premium members
- No algorithm-based matching sets; it’s restricted to a location feature instead
- Some women only look to meet people for friendship
Member Information
More than 482 million users are on the site, with 60 million active users and over 45 million people visiting the site each day. While not all of them are looking for love, many are seeking that special person. Even those not looking for a relationship are looking to meet someone interesting, who might just turn out to be the one.
Badoo’s membership database comprises of people from almost 200 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and India. While there are no guarantees a member will find their ideal match, with so many members from many parts of the world, the platform offers users a significant chance of meeting someone special.
Sign Up Process
Signing up to Badoo was easy. I signed up via my email account, but other options are available, such as signing up through social media sites like Twitter or Facebook. By signing up through email, all I had to do was answer several basic questions, like my name, date of birth, and email address. Once I’d gone through that initial phase, I could upload photos from either my personal devices, Google Plus, or my Facebook or Instagram account. As I didn’t want to link my Badoo and social media accounts together, for now I opted to upload a photo I had saved on my Mac.
When I logged back in later, I was prompted to verify my account by copying a hand gesture from a photo on the screen and then uploading a photo of myself making that same gesture.
Contacting People
The messaging feature is great and offers many advantages over other dating sites. Other sites only allow you to message another member once, or maybe not at all until you receive a “like”. Badoo gave me two chances to impress a member, and I could message anyone who replied indefinitely.
There was an option in settings that allowed me to be notified as soon as I received a message. I could also add a user to my favorites list if I felt there was potential for a match. On the other hand, I could block those who I felt were saying something inappropriate or offensive to ensure they won’t message me again.
There’s a game called Badoo Encounters that enables men to search for members quickly. The feature showed me matches with member photos and basic information, including their name, age, and compatible interests. All I needed to do for any profiles I was interested in was click on the ‘Heart’ icon. It’s an easy way to quickly browse through other profiles, similar with Tinder. As I can be quite fussy, however, I took advantage of an option that allowed me to filter results by a specific age range.
The People Nearby function enabled me to find members who were near my location. I had the option to filter these results by those who were either online or were new to the site. Despite it being called People Nearby, location was only one of the options to filter results. I could also filter by distance away from me, age, gender, and what the person is looking for.
Another way of engaging with members is through live stream. Members can host a stream while other members can interact with them. I felt it was a nice way of keeping members engaged. Badoo scans the streams continuously, with moderators removing any inappropriate content. That made me feel safe while watching a couple of broadcasts, rather than wondering whether my time would be wasted.
Profile
Next, it was time to create my profile. I didn’t want to message other members only to have them visit my profile and see only my name, age, and city. Seeing as there was a lack of sections, such as hobbies and likes, I decided to focus on my description. I took some time here to write about my interests and what inspires me. I wanted to show that I’m unique from the typical member who may reach out to them.