Month: November 2005

Specialized Online Dating Sites

Posted on November 9, 2005

Datemypetcom_2ABOUT DATING — Robert Yau, owner of DateMyPet.com, shares that not only do his subscribers love that they can find others who love their pets and animals as much as they do, but they enjoy that he offers a list of 'no-kill' rescue groups for adopting a pet. "People are seeking more than someone they can be attracted to. It's important for them to find connections with others who have similar passions, lifestyles, beliefs and life values." Nine Specialized Online Sites Worth Trying… Dharma Match, Yoga Connect, Date My Pet, Spirit Singles, Act for Love, Vegan Passions, Earth Wise Singles, Green Singles, Soul Match. 

The full article was originally published at About Dating, but is no longer available.

Friendster Revitalisation

Posted on November 9, 2005

Friendster_2BUSINESS WEEK — Nov — In its hunt for new members, Friendster has dusted off my recommendations and reissued them to my friends. Who says I'd want to recommend Friendster now? And who says those people are still my friends? (They are, but I'm making a rhetorical point.)

The full article was originally published at Business Week, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Friendster has been making up for lost time.  Have you seen it lately?  A new look and lots of new features.  New CEO Taek Kwon has got the Friendster team jamming!  Who would have thought Friendster would have been playing David and Goliath with Myspace?!

Net Gains in Love Games

Posted on November 8, 2005

FroppercomTHE TELEGRAPH — Nov 7 — Age: 25, Occupation: Service, Calcutta, Sites visited: OkCupid, LoveCompass, date.com, datingindya.com   , yahoo.com, Frequency: Several times a day, Since: High school.  So how many in Net-savvy Calcutta are ready to say "Aati kya Khandala" online? Quite a few actually, if one goes by the figures by one of the leading Indian online dating sites, Fropper.com.  Navin Mittal, head of Fropper.com, told GoodLife from Mumbai: "We have some 15,000 members in Calcutta, 60% age 18-25. There is far less response from the 35+ age bracket." Starting in 2003 with only a few thousand members, Fropper today boasts 850,000 members and over 15 million page views a month.  The name Fropper (short for "friend hopper") seems to underline a change in social attitude. The new-age partner-seeker is ready to search for compatibility. The anonymity of the Net allows one to search, fail and search again.

The full article was originally published at The Telegraph, but is no longer available.

I Want Yr Text

Posted on November 8, 2005

SUNDAY MAGAZINE — Nov 6 — Here's a short glossary of acronyms used online and for SMS messaging on cell phones…  GNBLFY – Got Nothing But Love For You, GYPO – Get Your Pants Off, IDKY – I Don't Know You, ILU – I Love You, IYKWIMAITYD* – If You Know What I Mean And I Think You Do, KFY – Kiss For You, RBTL – Read Between The Lines, RUMORF – Are You Male Or Female, RUUP4IT – Are You Up For It.  More than 250 million SMS messages are sent every month in Australia. In some ways, cyber-flirting is also a return to a more old-fashioned style of courtship, in which prospective partners spent rather more time getting to know each other and writing love letters before jumping into bed together. On the other hand, it can also be akin to having a virtual harem ready to lead you astray.

The full article was originally published at Entertainment News, but is no longer available.

Speed dating … with Some Reservations

Posted on November 8, 2005

HERALD NEWS — Nov 3 — If you are a South Asian seeking other South Asians the playing field gets that much smaller.  Our first-generation immigrant parents – from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka – never had to worry about finding the right someone, growing up in countries with mostly homogenous populations. Don't get me wrong. We're not all looking to date only someone of the same ethnic background. But when you have parents desperate to cling to a romanticized homeland, marriage is a link for preserving tradition. (Flirteve.com) 

The full article was originally published at North Jersey, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: beyondentertainment.com also runs Asian focused speed dating in the California Bay Area.  click2asia.com also.  Speed dating is finding success within demographics beyond simple age range limitations. predating.com, hurrydate.com, and 8minutedating.com are America's leading national speed dating outfits.

MySpace Launches Record Label

Posted on November 8, 2005

Myspacecom_1ASSOCIATED PRESS — Nov 3 — The social networking Web site MySpace.com has launched its own record label in a joint venture with Interscope Records hoping to capitalize on its broad reach among music-savvy consumers. MySpace Records will feature independent and unsigned artists as well as compilations that include top groups from other labels.  The first release will be a compilation of tracks which will feature songs from groups such as Weezer. "MySpace Records: Volume I" goes on sale Nov. 15 at major retail locations. MySpace is expanding its brand in other areas as well, including a satellite radio channel that will launch in the next six months. The company is also considering starting its own film imprint,
DeWolfe said.

Mark Brooks: There’s  a lot you can do with 36 million eyeballs.  How far can they stretch/extend the MySpace brand?

Lunchdate At Center Of Dating Controversy

Posted on November 8, 2005

LunchdatesSTORY 1 — YAHOO NEWS — Nov 3 — Too busy to meet new people and tired of the bar scene, Traynor, 39, turned to LunchDates.com to meet someone. A personal chef by profession, Traynor, 5 ft 5 tall, checked off medium under "build" in the Web site’s membership survey. She said she told a LunchDates counselor in a phone interview she weighed a little less than 200 pounds. She got a call from Lunchdate, and the representative said, ‘I’m sorry. We can’t help you because you’re overweight.’ Sack, Lunchdates co-founder said, "I just don’t have the people for everybody. Whether it’s age or body type, religion, hobbies, if someone asked us for something we can’t do we try to be honest about it," Sack said. Body type can be an issue with dating. I have no control over it. I can only be as honest, as courteous and as sincere with people as I possibly can. And I’m certainly going to spend more time with my staff about it," Sack said. 

STORY 2 — YAHOO NEWS — Nov 4 — Helen Long was feeling good about herself after finishing her first Ironman triathlon three years ago at the age of 40. A busy personal trainer looking to meet someone, long turned to LunchDates because of their claim to provide a personal touch.  She indicated she would be interested in dating men between 33 and 48. LunchDates called her back and told her she was being unrealistic about the age range.  "There’s no way I would have anyone in their 30s interested in meeting you." 

Mark Brooks: Real world matchmaking services are extremely limited in their selection.  They usually have membership bases of a few hundred members to draw on for their matchmaking.  On the one hand, it’s good these services are honest about the services they think they can provide before extracting
thousands of dollars from hopefuls.  On the other hand, this example is wholly discriminatory and outrageous?  Your comments please…

Suicide Girls Ready to Go on iPods

Posted on November 8, 2005

SuicidegirlsASSOCIATED PRESS — Nov 6 — Suicidegirls.com, an online social network of amateur pinup girls (with an online dating element) said it logged 500,000 downloads of the sexy "featurettes" – three- to five-minute video clips – in the first 24 hours targeting the new iPod-toting crowd.  Two in five Internet users visited an adult site in August, according to tracking by comScore Media Metrix. 3% of all Web traffic and 2% of all surfing time involved an adult site.  FULL ARTICLE @ USA TODAY

Mark Brooks: Suicidegirls has done very well with it’s unusual niche of porn meets online dating.  Tattoos and piercings abound.  There truly is something for everyone.  www.alt.com and www.bondage.com are the all-out online personals variants for the whips and chains niche.  (Viewing discretion advised)

LoveHappens Darling of Dating Industry. Y! Personals Still Winning

Posted on November 8, 2005

LovehappensBUSINESS WIRE –Nov 3 — According to the Keynote Customer Experience Rankings, LoveHappens (Tickle) and AmericanSingles.com are the top sites for online customer experience based on research on 1,150 customers. A companion study, based on research with 2,000, found Y! Personals to be leading in the competition for new online dating customers. TRUE ranked #3 driven in part by the view that the site is "safe," "ethical" and "trustworthy."

How Cellphones May Beat Computers as a Dating Service

Posted on November 8, 2005

Cellphones_may_beat_computersWALL STREET JOURNAL — Nov 3 — The latest phones can do email, video, music, photo sharing and Web surfing. Though the U.S. was late to the market for sending text messages over in recent years. SMS.ac boasts tens of thousands of communities of users who share interests in topics including sports, music and politics over their cellphone screens. In July, Upoc launched its first dating service. Since then it has attracted about 25,000 subscribers, at $4.99 a week, he says. Match.com has offered such a service on cellphones since February 2003. Zogo expects users to communicate in a novel way: by voice. Users are connected by a phone call. Zogo makes the calls to the two users. No phone numbers are made public, so users can remain anonymous behind their screen names. The Zogo service is free as the company builds up its user community. It eventually will cost $12.99 a month. Setting up a Zogo account and using it on a cellphone was cumbersome.

Mark Brooks: Instant gratification with Zogo's service…once they build a critical mass of users.  Webdate offers mobile dating with access to 4 million profiles.  Nice.