Skout Review 2024 — Real Dating Site or Scam?
| Active Audience | 63% |
| Quality Matches | 91% |
| Popular Age | 25-28 |
| Profiles | 600 000 |
| Reply Rate | 90% |
| Ease of Use | 9.8 |
| Popularity | 8.9 |
| Fraud | Very Rarely |
| Rating | |
| Registration | Free |
Skout users sign up here as well:
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Betty
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15 Jun 2020Updated:10 May 2024
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3409 Views
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9 min read
Pros and Cons
- Ability to meet people from around the world
- The app is free to download and use
- Option for finding casual hookups or serious relationships
- Plenty of measures to protect privacy
- Many fake profiles on the platform
- Customer support is no longer effective as it used to be
- Many viable alternatives have come up in recent times
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Skout is an app-based social platform that serves to find other people with a motive of establishing relationships or friendship. It’s trendy among people in the US, and recently users from other countries have started joining.
How Does Skout Work?
Skout is a platform that started out as a competitor to Facebook in the initial years. Since then, it has progressed into a social app that tries to assist users in finding friendships, relationships, or even network circles. This is a location-based app that tries to connect with other users through information provided on the profile.
Audience Analysis
Skout does not give out information about its user base, but most of its users are from the United States. There is also a higher concentration of youngsters who are less than 25 years of age. There is also a lot of diversity in terms of ethnicity, religion, and race. Most users of the platform are men, while sexual preferences are predominantly straight.
Key Feaatures
Buzz
This is a feature that allows people to explore beyond the profile that has been expressed on the platform. It allows users to come up with interesting posts, which can be fun questions or just photos so that people can get together in a conversation.
Skout Travel
This feature allows users to explore different parts of the world by picking up a 24-hour ticket that allows them to visit hundreds of cities throughout the world. This visit will be done electronically, as the smartphone will be transformed into the city’s location, and it will receive all the local city updates. This feature can be quite useful for meeting individuals from various cities.
Shake to chat
This chat function available in the Skout app has the potential to match with a stranger in a nearby location randomly. It can be activated by opening this feature and just shaking the phone. Even though this is a gamble, it can be worth the effort since there is a lot of mystery involved in meeting someone out of the blue.
Backstage
A user can make use of this feature to provide an element of mystery to visitors, as they would block or hide the pictures so that visitors can unlock them. There is the flexibility to set different unlocking prices, which can start from just 10 points even to reach 10,000 points. If a visitor unlocks the picture for the set price, the user will be receiving credits. Once unlocked, visitors can rate the pictures on a scale of 1 to 5.
Interested?
Skout presents users with several profiles that can be liked or disliked in an instant. This is almost similar to the Tinder-style of dating, but it provides the flexibility of being able to browse through many profiles in just a few minutes. If both profiles that the like button, there is a match that further lets them get in contact.
Skout User-Friendliness
Skout is a very user-friendly platform that offers all of the functionalities within a view taps. The navigation process is made so much easier by the presence of links and buttons that would take users to the key sections that they demand the most. The most used sections of the app, like messages and profiles, are kept within touching distance. Overall, this is a platform that is very easy to understand and use.
Skout Usability And Design
Since this is predominantly an app-based user interface, there is very little to comment about the website design and usability. Still, it can be used for some key aspects, like even picking up a premium subscription. The site’s design has been tastefully done and is reflective of the modern standards set in the online dating industry. However, users are likely to spend more time on the app when they have a tiny section using the website. Even during those usage times, the site design will not disappoint.
Skout Mobile App
The Skout app is available for Android and Apple users alike. In terms of the user interface, it can be very confusing for newcomers and even regular Skout to find it overwhelming. This is due to the presence of many features alongside the higher amount of advertising thrown in the free version. The working of the app is also not so great, as it presents matches outside preferences – like the location. Often, the app also brings up a recommendation to install other apps. Still, this is an option for accessing the perform from a smartphone.
Customer Support?
Skout is a platform that has several users dedicated to improving the profiles and preventing users from experiencing problems on the platform. For this purpose, more than 300 individuals are deployed, and they work on several parameters of the site. It is possible to get in touch with the support team by using an email address provided. This is the primary option available to users, who can also read the privacy policy to understand more about the different rules and regulations.
The Registration Process And User Profile
Skout is very easy when it comes to accepting members to the platform, and users should not spend more than a minute or two while trying to open an account on the platform. The little verification done for the users does not impact the profile quality, as several moderators and administrators have been employed to weed out fake profiles. Furthermore, the use of social media accounts login processes makes things a lot simpler, as data from Facebook or Google records are directly imported to fill the profile up to a reasonable level.
After signup is complete, users can further enter the profile section and modify the available data. This data can be important when it comes to helping Skout’s matchmaking algorithm to do its work. This is a very effective tool that can help users find potential matches.
How Is The Whole Registration Process?
The registration on Skout can be easy and quick. Users can use Facebook or Gmail account to make the signup process a lot easier, but a new account can also be created. If a user opts for the latter, only a minimal set of information is classified as mandatory. There is no verification process, and users are taken straight to the dashboard.
How Much Info Do Profiles Offer? What About Verification?
Despite being a platform for finding relationships, Skout does not force users to put up a profile picture. It is possible to add information even after signing up, but many people end up not doing it since it is not mandatory. If a user decides to upload a photo, it will become online only after approval. This is one of the few security measures employed by the platform to ensure that the quality is retained, but there is no verification procedure during signup. As a result, it is effortless to start a fake profile on this platform.
It is not a surprise that most of the profiles only feature nicknames or first names. The lack of information on profiles can be a disappointment for users who want to search for potential contacts.
Skout Search
It is possible to browse through the Skout platform with a need to find other members. This is due to the presence of a robust search tool, which will be able to filter down users based on various parameters like education, age, location, and more. Beyond this search tool, users will also appreciate the matchmaking process on Skout, which uses a behavioral algorithm to bring together individuals who might be compatible. The algorithms’ results are surprisingly effective and do not take long to find a compatible match, especially with the large user base on offer.
Contacting And Skout Matching
The first signs of Skout being a serious platform for contacting other users become apparent when there is no restriction towards messaging other users, as it is free for every user.
There are some options available on Skout’s to make sure that the messaging system is not exploited. Before a random user can send the message, users will be notified, and a preview of the message is available. It is possible to preview a message before accepting or rejecting the same. If the other user has rejected the message, the sender will be blocked from sending future messages, and this security element can have a major impact on overall usage.
Of course, if a message has been deleted by accident, a user can always go back into the account settings and unblock the user to make future contacts possible. One can also initiate contacts by commenting or liking on a picture uploaded by users.
Skout Subscription Options
Just like many of the online dating users, it is possible to choose free or premium memberships based on the preferences of the user. Each has its own advantages and set of features that can be decided only on a case-by-case basis.
Free Members
The free membership on Skout comes with the potential to start an account and view profiles that are already on the platform. The option of viewing profiles can be done through several means, and one of them is by using the search functionality. After opening profiles, a free member has the power to comment or like on pictures that are classified as public on a user’s page. Perhaps, the biggest advantage for a free user will be the opportunity to message other members.
Paid Members
The obvious advantage for a paid member on the Skout will be the complete removal of advertisements. Furthermore, a premium member has the added benefit of a boost in popularity, and they can directly contact a few people who have favorited them. If there are potential matches, some insights about the users can be gathered by premium users, who can send messages directly to the inbox. Furthermore, there is a high chance of receiving replies from potential matches, as a premium member’s message is always more to the top of the chatbox.
Pricing Options
There are several ways of becoming a premium member on Skout, but the plans are not so different since there is just a one-time frame option available. If a user wants to become a premium member, they have to go with the monthly subscription options, which costs $9.99. There are other long-term plans on this platform, as users can opt for three or six-month plans at a higher cost. If a user wants to go with the points-based system, there is a lot more flexibility since points can be purchased from $4.98 to $99. The minimum quantity of points would be 500, while the maximum stands at 18,000.
It is possible to pick up the premium membership option by paying through PayPal, credit card, or through mobile phone.
Cancelling Skout Subscription?
Once a member enrolls for a premium subscription, it will be put into an auto-renew mode. The user has to cancel the auto-renewal if they do not want to continue with the subscription anymore. However, this can only be done from within the accounts section. If the user has picked up their membership from the desktop site, they can email the customer support for assistance. It is not possible to seek a refund or return of the money that was spent on the premium subscription. The membership is also non-transferable.
Security And Safety On Skout?
A lot of effort is taken to ensure the safety of users with Skout deploying a remarkable 350+ workforce for safety and moderation. There is also a lot of assistance from machine algorithms that review more than 10 million images every day. As a result, Skout claims that less than 1% of the daily users end up violating the rules imparted by the platform. As a result, users have been able to benefit from seeing fewer spam comments and fake users. Due to the involvement of credit card information for premium users, Skout also takes measures to use Internet safety protocols like HTTPS servers and more.
Skout Competitors and Alternatives
eHarmony
This is a dating app that has survived the test of time by being out there for more than ten years. This is accessible as a free download from different App Stores. The mobile app has a humongous user base that puts an individual in the market for a romantic date or just hook up. The strength of the user base puts it in a strong position about the success rate. Apart from being a site just for making romantic relationships, this can also be a great platform for finding friendship. The premium membership offered by eHarmony is available in different time frames.
Zoosk
Zoosk usually comes up with bold claims of being a social networking platform with more than 50 million users on its side. It is tough to argue with this claim considering that the platform is very popular in more than 60 countries around the world. This is explained by the presence of Zoosk in multiple languages. Apart from being accessible on the apps, one can also use the desktop site to great effect. There are paid memberships that provide added boost for users who are keen to succeed in the online dating scenario.
Match.com
One of the pioneers of the online dating space, match.com, started out more than two decades ago, continues to remain a leader on several fronts. The user base is more than 15 million strong, and it has a presence in more than 20 countries. This subscription-based platform is considered quite premium due to the prices charged, but this also keeps several fake users at bay. The quality of profiles on match.com is extremely impressive, and users can be guaranteed a successful date.
Conclusion
The Skout platform can be an enjoyable destination for active members, given its large array of features. However, this may not be the best option for a hookup site, but it can be reasonably successful as a dating app. The site also happens to feature many users who are primarily interested in friendship, as the app has many features that are oriented towards travel and topics. As long as the user is not keen on just hookups, this app can be great with its ability to help users find romantic interests along with experience in culture in different parts of the world.
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