DateaTrekkie.com Review — Beam Me Up a Date

Do you know where Captain Kirk was born? Do you know what the “T” in James T. Kirk stands for? Better still, do you know how many birthmarks Spock has on his body?

If you know the answer to those questions, two things are likely. One, you are a Star Trek fan — also known as a Trekkie. Two, you probably have some problems finding a date. Especially if you are seeking someone who is as passionate about Star Trek as you are.

What to do? Well, we suppose that you could wait for technology to be developed so that you may enter your very own Holodeck — just as you would on Captain Picard’s Enterprise — and enjoy the date of your dreams simply by instructing the computer what you want to experience. Then again, if you are a stickler regarding adherence to the Star Trek canon and timeline, you will realize that such technology will not be available until several centuries into the future.

Wouldn’t it be better if there were to be a present-day dating site dedicated to Trekkies? A site known as DateaTrekkie.com is exactly that type of site. At least that is what they claim.

Curious as to how effective DateaTrekkie actually is, we assembled a team of our very own “red shirts” to investigate. If you are curious to learn how many came back alive and, more importantly, what we discovered — we strongly suggest that you give our subsequent review a read. It will boldly take you where no other review has gone before.

— Pros and Cons —

Pros

• Loyal and genuine user base (real Trekkies looking for dates)
• Healthy gender ratio
• Presence of user-created forums
• Audio/video chat rooms

Cons

• Requires a paid membership for full and effective functionality
• Lack of native mobile apps
• Design aesthetic looks old

— Is DateaTrekkie for Real? —

One of the most frequent questions that we received about tDateaTrekkie was whether it was a genuine dating site. We can, in all honesty, answer that it is.

We can also say that it holds true to its target audience — the Trekkies. Even though the site itself is not directly associated with the Star Trek franchise, it is clear that the developers are genuine fans of Star Trek and are truly conscious about what Star Trek means to its users.

— The Members —

Before we get into any real details about the platform and the site’s performance, it is important to establish what sort of person you will find as a member of DateaTrekkie.

To be honest, we had expected the site to have a gender ratio that was top-heavy toward the male side. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that DateaTrekkie has an evenly balanced gender ratio. By our calculation, we estimate that there are three males for every two females on the platform’s user base.

Additionally, the site also has a strong representation from the LGBT community. Close to 15 percent of the user base belongs to this demographic.

In terms of age, the site is popular with users as young as 18 and as old as those in their 70s. DateaTrekkie is by all appearances truly universal.

— The Platform and User Interface —

DateaTrekkie is designed to be accessed via a desktop browser. The site lacks native mobile apps. This fact was distressing considering that its target audience is highly tech-savvy.

The site can be accessed on your smartphone via a mobile browser. However, the user experience is not as rich as that on the desktop version.

In terms of the aesthetics of the site, DateaTrekkie appears antiquated in its design. Even so, it is fast and responsive.

— Features —

The features available on DateaTrekkie are nothing unique when you compare them to other online dating sites.

The site has “quick” search as well as advanced search options. These filters work fairly well to provide you with an accurate list of suggested matches.

Communication with other members can take the form of emails, flirts, instant messaging, and audio/video chats. There are also user-created forums that you can access covering a wide range of dating and Star Trek related topics. We found the forums to be an excellent way to get the ball rolling when you first join the site.

— Cost —

DateaTrekkie is free to join and upload your profile. As a free member, you will have access to the basic search features offered by the site. You will also be able to receive instant messages from other users.

If, however, you want to interact with other members and take advantage of the advanced search features, you will need a paid membership. Not only will premium membership allow you to send messages, but you will also be able to use the site in invisible mode and make use of the audio and video chat functions as well as having access to the user created forums.

A one-month membership has a cost of $29.95. You can slash the average monthly price to less than half by paying $39.99 for three months in advance. There is also a three-day trial available for a cost of $7.95.

— User Experience —

As with any dating site, the quality of the user experience that we obtained on DateaTrekkie was directly correlated to the number and quality of interactions that we had with other members.

We found the membership base on DateaTrekkie to be lively and engaged. Having a premium membership and being able to initiate conversations resulted in all of our testers engaging with other members throughout our testing period.

The members that we encountered all seemed genuine and at the very least you could rely on them for online conversation. As far as taking the next step — boldly going into the world of a real date — it seemed to us that it was also possible. However, unlike other dating platforms where the leap to a real date is implicit from the first moment that you have communication with another member, on DateaTrekkie we felt that it would take additional online conversation with a user before reaching that stage. Even so, we were satisfied with the overall user experience.