Month: March 2006

Are we Addicted to Love?

Posted on March 29, 2006

SPIKED ONLINE — Mar 28 — Love is recast as something to be planned and managed and might not last forever and moving on is no bad thing.  Internet dating indicates some wider social trends.  Underpinning the discussions about love today is a powerful streak of bad faith. Internet dating appears like the safer, more controlled option, avoiding the risk and unpredictability of face-to-face encounters. In The Normal Chaos of Love, first published in German in 1990, sociologists examine the new nature of love…  The solidity of marriage and family has dissolved.  There's greater potential for chaos.  Women are no longer dependent upon men and demand more.  Men, stripped of the traditional breadwinner role, are less certain of their identity and more prone to questioning their role. Intimate relationships thus become fraught and temporary and the child becomes the last remaining, irrevocable, unique primary love object. Partners come or go, but the child stays.  People want more.  Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (author of Liquid Love) and writer/broadcaster Kenan Malik said (in 2003)…Bauman: On the one hand there's the need for relationships because 'I must have some support, I can't be alone…on the other hand, the fear that once I get it, that I am finished. My freedom is over.'  Malik: 'The same social changes that are leading to the singleton society are creating a yearning for durable relationships.'  From the explosion in online dating to the proliferation of popular novels and TV shows dealing with the plight of the 30-something singleton, there seems little doubt that we do live in a more atomised, lonely society. 

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

Mark Brooks: Online dating brings freedom and hope, greater selection and immediacy.  Slick ads and magazine covers of gorgeous girls and ab-ripped guys have helped raise expectations to a crescendo that no-one can deliver on, including dating sites.  eHarmony has tried to redress this expectation balance by slowing the online dating process and 'discouraging' photos. It's a profitable path for them, but the core problem remains.  Expectations are at giddy heights.  Your comments please… 

40 Million Surfers Online Daily Just For Fun

Posted on March 29, 2006

CENTER FOR MEDIA RESEARCH — Mar 30 — According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project the internet is increasingly a place where Americans just hang out. Some 30% (40 million) of internet users go online on any given day for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time. 

The full article was originally published at Center For Media Research, but is no longer available.

Facebook’s on the Block

Posted on March 29, 2006

The_face_book_4BUSINESS WEEK — Mar 28 — Owners of the privately held social-networking site hope to fetch as much as $2 billion. And media giants like Viacom may make a good match. They have turned down a $750 million offer.  www.facebook.com has become the seventh-most heavily trafficked site on the Internet, according to comScore Media Metrix. It racked up 5.5 billion page views in February.  MySpace had 37.3 million unique and logged 23.5 billion page views, making it the second-most trafficked site after Yahoo, which had 30 billion.  MSN had 18 billion.  Sites like MySpace, Facebook, and the video-oriented YouTube, are a primary form of communication for younger people who can spend an hour or more a day at such sites. 

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

Do you ‘Yahoo!’ in Indonesian?

Posted on March 29, 2006

Yahoo_2JAKARTA POST — Mar 27 — Yahoo! launched http://www.yahoo.co.id, in addition to new sites for the Philippines (www.yahoo.com.ph) and Vietnam (www.yahoo.com.vn).  There are 60 million internet users in Southeast Asia.  "The next billion Internet users will come from non-English speaking countries" says Jason Coates, Communications Manager for Yahoo! Southeast Asia. The Yahoo! 360 personalized website, currently still in beta form, is located at 360.yahoo.com and offers blogs, photo sharing, friend testimonials, e-mail access and other services. Indonesian Yahoo! users can access more features to user accounts via their mobile phones than any other website. 

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

Christian Alternative to ‘MySpace’

Posted on March 29, 2006

XianzPR WEB — Mar 28 — XIANZ.COM is a Christian based social networking site (by invitation only) that offers the same functionality as sites like MySpace.com, Facebook.com, and Friendster.com. Settings can be specified that allow only people of the same age range to communicate.  Features include: Customized profiles with photos, video and music, private and instant messaging, online Blogs, personal message boards, birthday reminders & invites, shared interests, friends lists & shout outs, groups, events and listings. A large music module will be integrated in the next few weeks. 

Mark Brooks: I've not seen a Christian social network yet.  Makes sense. But what a funky name.  Doesn't lend itself well to word of mouth.  I added it to the social networks list.  A friend tried creating Craigslist for Christians, JoinGod.com, last year but didn't get it to critical mass and got busy with other projects.

European Internet Dating Rankings on Online Personals Watch

Posted on March 29, 2006

Mar 29 — Nielsen//Netratings is supplying the top 3 rankings for Europe for Online Personals Watch.  You can find the monthly rankings on the left bar.  I'm in Prague right now, making European connections and playing with mobile phones.  An interview with Bebo's CEO will go live on Friday.  I just bought Europe's hottest PDA 'thingy'…a Nokia Communicator, and am experimenting with video blogging.  Very cool.  Anyway, here's the Euro rankings for February…

Top 3 Spain – Nielsen//Netratings ~ 2/06
1 Meetic    2 Amigos.com    3 Match.com Network

Top 3 Germany – Nielsen//Netratings ~ 2/06
1 iLove    2 FriendScout24    3 Yahoo Personals

Top 3 France – Nielsen//Netratings ~ 2/06
1 Meetic    2 Easyrencontre.com    3 Match.com Network

Top 3 UK – Nielsen//Netratings ~ 2/06
1 Match.com Network    2 Yahoo Personals    3 LoopyLove

AND, courtesy of Hitwise…

Top 5 UK – Hitwise ~ 2/06
1 Gaydar.co.uk    2 GirlsDateForFree    3 LoopyLove
4 DatingDirect     5 Yahoo Personals UK & Ireland

Some Feel Wronged by Perfectmatch

Posted on March 28, 2006

Perfectmatchcom_3SEATTLE TIMES CONSUMER AFFAIRS — Mar 27 — Perfectmatch.com is getting out there, thanks to product placement in three major movies and TV segments on "Dr. Phil" and "Live With Regis and Kelly." But Perfectmatch.com also is getting a bad reputation among some consumers who say the site didn't find them a perfect match at all – and didn't respond when they tried to get a refund. "The last year and a half for Perfectmatch has been a very exciting period," Chief Executive Duane Dahl said. "We've experienced a tremendous amount of growth, and certainly from that growth we've had a couple of challenges."  Perfectmatch has doubled its staff in the past year and has 3 million members, Dahl said. Much of its growth can be attributed to a pre-Valentine's Day "Dr. Phil" show last year that featured the company.  Perfectmatch says Galpin was one of about 207,000 people who paid $99 that day for a four-month promotional membership.  Many of the Perfectmatch complaints were about the company's automatic-renewal policy. 

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

Mark Brooks: The down side of giving away trial memberships is the aftermath of chargebacks and complaints.

Breaking up is Complicated in a Digital Age

Posted on March 28, 2006

Soyouvebeendumpedcom_1WALL STREET JOURNAL — Mar 27 — Splitting up rituals: bowing out of email lists, updating online profiles, clearing cellphone memories of phone numbers and old text messages.  Nokia even shows a TV ad that features a woman named Jill, who says cellphone-number deletion is a sort of post-breakup therapy.  The Internet makes it much easier – and therefore more tempting – to find out what a former partner is up to. soyouvebeendumped.com. 

Married Man Sues After Dating Service Won’t Match

Posted on March 28, 2006

Eharmony_7SAN JOSE KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS — Mar 27 — John Claassen is taking eHarmony.com to court, because the popular online matchmaker refused to find him the perfect mate.  Why? Because he is married.  Claassen says he is legally separated. Claassen cites California civil code, section 51 and seeks $12,000 in civil penalties. 

Mark Brooks: Black or white, married or not.  That's the way eHarmony sees it.  That's their position, and when users are paying $50 a month to meet serious singles who are ready for a relationship (i.e. no baggage), why not. Ashley Madison takes a different (appalling) position.  Sexsearch.com doesn't mind separated singles.