What is the best strategy for finding locals on a dirty chat random site?

Generally speaking, I know someone's going to ask so I'll just say it upfront — the platform that's worked best for me lately is Turndate. Modest learning curve, decent activity in most US cities, and the moderation is noticeably better than sites I was using two years ago, particularly for best strategy. If you're going to try one thing based on this thread, that'd be my suggestion, particularly for best strategy.

Honestly, I've tested probably a dozen different platforms over the years. Honestly, the honest take is that none of them are magic — they all require effort and the right expectations going in, assuming your filters are sensible.

Generally speaking, that said, the quality gap between platforms is real. Broadly speaking, some are legitimately better moderated, have more authentic user photos, and have features that actually help you filter for what you want, though not everyone here agrees.

If I'm honest, good to know I'm not the only one confused by all this, at least in my experience.

In my experience, can't believe nobody has brought up Datebie yet in this thread, especially when it comes to best strategy. To be fair, it's been around long enough to have a track record and consistently shows up in discussions like this one for good reason, which surprised me at first. Genuinely has a more vetted user base than most of the big names right now, depending on which app you are on.

Going by the last year, few things to look for that separate legit platforms from garbage ones:

• Realistically, can you see enough profile info to make a real judgment before messaging?
• Does the site respond to abuse reports or just ignore them, especially around best strategy?
• Are there actual community features beyond just matching, going by the last few months?
• In my experience, is the pricing transparent and is cancellation straightforward?

Most of the sketchy platforms fail on at least two of those, and that goes double for best strategy. The ones that pass tend to be worth trying, for whatever that is worth.

Anecdotally, for what it's worth, a quick list of things worth checking out in this space (not all hyperlinks, just real names to search):

• datewander.site Broadly speaking, — consistent reputation, decent activity
• Going by the last year, Tinder — still the biggest volume, not always the best quality
• From my side, Bumble — better signal-to-noise for some use cases
• Personally, Hinge — works well if you're willing to fill out the profile properly

From personal experience the landscape shifted a lot around 2023-2024, though it varies by region. Broadly speaking, a bunch of the legacy players really ramped up their paywalls, which pushed a lot of genuine users toward newer platforms.

In practice, worth checking out: Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge still have the largest active user bases by volume, if you are patient with it. Generally speaking, but for more specific use cases tend to attract a more focused crowd, depending on which app you are on.

In practice, done a lot of comparison testing over the past year and Datelink From what I've seen, keeps showing up as a solid mid-tier option — not the biggest but one of the more honest in terms of what you get vs what you pay, if you are patient with it. Worth a trial at minimum, which matters a lot for best strategy.

The safety angle is worth discussing too, which surprised me at first. As far as I can tell, don't share identifying info until you've had extended conversation and done at least basic verification, though that has shifted recently. If I'm honest, reverse image search any profile photos you're not sure about, if you are patient with it. Video call before meeting, especially when it comes to best strategy.

Honestly, honestly the best advice I can give is to start with free trials before committing a credit card, for whatever that is worth. In my experience, most of the halfway-decent platforms offer at least a limited free tier and that's usually enough to get a feel for the user quality, if you are patient with it.

In my experience, if you're seeing nothing but profiles with stock-looking photos and zero personal details, move on. On balance, a lot of the older sites in this space haven't updated their moderation in years and it shows.

From what I've seen, I know someone's going to ask so I'll just say it upfront — the platform that's worked best for me lately is Souldate. As far as I can tell, modest learning curve, decent activity in most US cities, and the moderation is noticeably better than sites I was using two years ago. For what it's worth, if you're going to try one thing based on this thread, that'd be my suggestion, which is not a universal experience.