One journal post I read mentioned that some people think of OKC as a dating site and other people thinks of OKC a social media site. Actually much like those old Double Mint Gum commercials it’s both, mainly because you use social media techniques to get the attention of potential dates and/or mates.

Now the younger folk here probably have a good grasp of to use this site since they FB, tweet and twitter to their buds anyway. But those close to my age range may not have a grasp of the best ways to use this site, since I personally know some iconoclasts who are quite proud they don’t know how to turn on a computer, let alone have a Twitter or Facebook account.

Remember there are anywhere from 20,000 to 37,000 people on this site at any one time. That’s a lot of competition. Fortunately OKC has some neat features to put you out there. So where do you start?

Let’s take a look at the launch pad of the “Home” page.

The Home Page is an interesting piece of architecture.  The top strip is potential matches, the left side strip matches outside your dating filters, and under the potential match strip, recent activity. All this should provide you with your first clue.

If you want to be noticed you need to use the site features. On Facebook, friend feeds work much the same way. If you post rarely, it will take ever so much longer for your post to show up in the friend feed. If you post often, then they will show up faster. I’ve noticed that the people who sign in rarely are not up on the potential match strip all that often. So the first clue is sign in often. 

Activity Feed

The Activity Feed pops up other member’s activity to peak your interest. The goal is to use the Activity Feed to draw people to look at your profile page.

Profile Changes—No one ever writes the perfect profile, even a professional writer. Tweaking your profile should be a regular activity. When you do, your changes are posted in the activity feed. And you do want people to notice you don't you?

Journal Entries—Personally I love reading other peoples journal entries. If you post a comment, it will show on the activity feed, giving you exposure.

Match Questions—The site encourages you to answer Match Questions. If you post the answer publicly, and add an explanation, it will show up in the activity feed.

Tests—You really didn’t think test were about finding out something about yourself did you? Your result puts something amusing about you in the activity feed.

Pictures—Never mind how many words a picture is worth. Uploading a new shot not only feeds your activity feed, there is probably no better way to get attention on there.

Quiver Matches

Quiver matches are such a gift it’s a shame that so many people ignore them. Since seriously tenanting this site two months ago, I’ve only gotten one query from a Quiver match. OK, maybe Staff Robot sends a few your way that are a little outside your interest parameter, but what the hay, you just might make a new friend, and you can’t have enough of those. Or can you?