Category: Cyber-Dating Expert (Julie Spira)

Dan Slater Interview

Posted on February 5, 2013

Dan slaterHUFFINGTON POST – Feb 2 – Dan Slater, author of Love in the Time of Algorithms.

Q: What inspired you to write a book about online dating?
A: I become single at the age of 31. I started using online dating and
also found out my parents met through a computer dating service in the
'60s. I went to iDate in 2011 to learn about the business and wrote an
article in GQ, which became a launching pad.

Q: You take the position that online dating threatens monogamy.
A: People
who are in relationships, which aren't fantastic, might have stayed
together before. Online dating makes it easier to leave and find someone
better.

Q: Do you think the dating algorithms help to create better matches?
A: I believe online dating is getting better at predicting who would get along on a first date.

Q: Do you agree marriage will become obsolete?
A: No. People who are in successful marriages
will tell you that marriage is one of the best things that has ever
happened in their lives.

Q: With the announcement of Facebook's Graph Search, how do you think that will affect the traditional online dating sites?
A: It will help the industry. Once people experience dating on Facebook,
it sends society a huge message that any stigma attached to this is now
gone.

Q: What's next for Dan Slater?

A: I'm a journalist and I want to write. I will now be a lifetime follower of the industry and who the players are as well.

by Julie Spira
See full article at Huffington Post

Facebook Unleashes Cupid Potential

Posted on January 18, 2013

Facebook introducing graph searchUSA TODAY – Jan 17 – Facebook is becoming an online love connection — or maybe a meat market. Facebook's new Graph Search, in limited beta release, extends searches for singles on the network to friends of friends. The new feature, primarily for finding what friends "Like" from music to food and more, is expected to be available more widely over the next few months. It offers a speedy way to sort potential mates. Men will be able to hunt for single women who live in their locale and like a particular taco stand, action movies and sports teams, for example. Dating norms, however, have already taken root on Facebook. People have long-perused the photos and postings of members in the game of attraction, says Julie Spira, a digital-dating maven who runs CyberDatingExpert.com. "It's the world's largest social network, and they could be the world's largest dating network if they want to go there," Spira said. The Search Graph, for now, only culls "Like" selections and has yet to tap into profiles or News Feed data.

by Scott Martin & Jon Swartz
See full article at USA Today

This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.

Future Of Mobile Dating Depends On Getting Women To Sign Up

Posted on August 21, 2012

App_dating_wideNPR – Aug 21 – Grindr, for gay men, has ~4M users worldwide. And straight guys are signing up for a bunch of dating apps, as well. Women haven't demonstrated quite as much enthusiasm about broadcasting their availability and their location to potential dates. There are dozens of GPS dating apps to choose from: SinglesAroundMe, MeetMoi, Badoo, Assisted Serendipity and Skout. "Most women are a little uncomfortable with meeting somebody right away," says cyber dating expert Julie Spira.

by Lauren Silverman
See full article at NPR

Mobile Dating Apps Connecting More People Looking For Love

Posted on June 20, 2012

Cyberdatingexpert bannerNBC MIAMI – June 20 – Some 14M people use the apps, an expert says. It's estimated that mobile dating apps will be a $1.4 billion industry in just two years. "They're not just using them for phone calls,” author and online dating expert Julie Spira said. “They're making dates, reservations, buying shoes, buying books … and dating fits into that as well." Meet Moi is one of those apps that alerts you when a match is nearby. It also became the first matchmaking service to integrate with Facebook.

by Christina Hernandez
See full article at NBC Miami

Julie Spira: Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps

Posted on September 21, 2011

Mobile dating cell with heart PRESS RELEASE – Sep 21 - The year 2011 has quickly become the year of mobile dating. Julie Spira has announced the Cyber Dating Expert Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps for 2011.

1. eHarmony
2. Match Mobile
3. Are You Interested?
4. Skout
5. Plenty of Fish
6. OkCupid
7. Zoosk
8. SpeedDate
9. Grindr
10. Jazzed

According to Comscore, ~14M people worldwide access dating sites through mobile app.  A recent Flurry report showed that mobile usage has now surpassed web usage for dating. Mobile app usage rose from 3.7 minutes in June of 2010 to 8.4 minutes in June of 2011.

The full article was originally published at 1888PressRelease, but is no longer available.

The Business of Love

Posted on June 30, 2011

Idate2011 HUFFINGTON POST – June 29 - "Worldwide, ~122M people monthly log into dating sites with 14M people using mobile dating services," said Mark Brooks, publisher of Online Personals Watch. The business of love and these statistics from Comscore were discussed in detail at the Internet Dating Conference recently held in Beverly Hills. Location based or not, everyone needs a mobile dating strategy. "We're seeing 2.5 times more activity on mobile than on the web because it's easy to wink and flirt on the go" said Robinne Burrell, Director of Mobile Products at Match.com. Match reports 10-15% of their new subscribers are coming from mobile with 56% of singles aged 25-54 going mobile.

by Julie Spira
See full article at Huffington Post

See all posts on Match.com

It Was All About Mobile at the Internet Dating Conference

Posted on June 29, 2011

EXAMINER – June 29 – The most recent iDate was held in Los Angeles at the SLS Hotel. About half of the sessions dealt specifically on mobile dating. The message was clear. You need to have a mobile dating strategy. Match.com’s director of mobile products Robinne Burrell told the group that their subscribers logging on from mobile devices has grown 135% YOY to ~30% of their members. Monica Ohara from Speed Date said their 5-minute online speed dating service reached ~15M members. Unlike Match and Speed Date, Joel Simkhai, founder of the Gay mobile app Grindr, started on mobile. "Two million gay singles have downloaded Grindr's popular location based app", he said.

by Julie Spira
See full article at Examiner

Julie Spira To Be Featured Speaker At iDate 2011 In Miami

Posted on January 18, 2011

Idate2011 logo PRESS RELEASE – Jan 18 – Author and online dating expert, Julie Spira, will be speaking at the 2011 Internet Dating Conference in Miami. Spira will present Web Dating 2.0: Using Social Media to Create Brand Loyalty to conference attendees. She will show online dating site owners how to develop their brand through social media marketing during her session held on January 21, 2011 at 3:30pm. Spira's coveted dating advice has appeared on eHarmony, FOX News, Glamour, Huffington Post, JDate, Match, Men's Health, PC World, WIRED, Woman's Day, Your Tango, and Zoosk. The Internet Dating Conference will be held concurrently with the Social Networking Conference. Mark Brooks from Online Personals Watch will be presenting the 2010 Year in Review at both conferences. Conference organizer Marc Lesnick will be speaking about the emergence of many free online dating sites and what they mean to the industry.

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

iDate Coverage – Final Panel Debate

Posted on June 18, 2010

IDATE OPW – Jun 18 – The final panel debate is the culmination of the Internet Dating Conference. Panel participants include Frederick Vallaeys from Google AdWords, Mark Brooks from Online Personals Watch, Tai Lopez from Niche Enterprises, Violet Lim from Lunch Actually, Karinna Kittles-Karsten from Sacred Love, Julie Spira, and Victor Daniel from Elitemate. 

The first discussion topic was the growing mobile market and its affects on online dating. The mobile platform is a powerful tool, but screen size limitations and platform limitations will affect site design and revenue models. Mobile sites and applications must be streamlined and intuitive to work well and be adopted by consumers. Advances in mobile technology, in particular smartphone platforms, are helping to increase the end user experience and development capabilities. Multitasking capability is one important advancement which will improve the user experience. Push technology also keeps the information flowing and drives user engagement on mobile devices. 

Users tend to download mobile dating applications and use them for a short time, normally a week, then go inactive. The key to breaking through this problem is continuing user engagement to keep them active on your application. Mobile applications and sites have the potential to open up additional revenue streams for online dating companies through proper monetization and billing solutions. Mobile is gaining ground, but as with all new technologies, it will take time to ramp up and gain strong traction in the industry.

The second topic for discussion was social dating. What is fueling the growth of these sites and how well do they retain users over the long term? One aspect of social dating is the safety of meeting people within a group of people known by your friends. Another aspect is the ease of adoption and signup for the sites. The true test of the success of social dating sites is how effective they are at connecting people and creating relationships.

Discussions continued on to the importance of partnering with academia to further develop the dating experience. The science and psychology behind human interactions and relationships need to be implemented into the online dating experience to create successful and lasting matches. Site operators should put efforts into educating members in the skills needed to be successful in dating and relationships. 

Finally, all of the panel participants believe that the online dating market will go up over the six months.

Make It Personal, Keep It Real – Experts Share Advice

Posted on February 14, 2010

Tips and advices picture LA TIMES – Feb 14 – "Keep profiles brief and specific. Leave the novel at home. Don't put pictures of you and your pets or children. Don't post party photos."
— Julie Spira, author of Cyber-DatingExpert.com and the book "The Perils of Cyber-Dating"

"It's great when people put five or 10 pictures of themselves that depict things they love to do, pictures that communicate your personality. It's about making it personal [with] adjectives, interests, descriptions and honesty."
— Bob Holden, EHarmony's VP North America

"You should always have one close-up to the face. Post three to five photos. Also run 50 or so through HotorNot.com [and let people vote] for which ones score the best."
— Mark Brooks, editor at OnlinePersonalsWatch.com

"Get a friend to help you write it.  Be honest about who you are and what you're looking for."
— Greg Liberman, president and COO, Spark Networks

"If you start on a date with a picture from 10 years ago and you've gained 10 pounds or if you have a lot less hair now, you're starting on false assumptions. Your profile should be three paragraphs. It should be a conversation piece."
— Whitney Casey, Match.com's relationship expert and author of the book "The Man Plan."

"The more someone knows about you, the less they want to date you. If you write a massive essay, they're going to find something to dislike about that person. If you don't know something, everyone assumes you're the same as them. Let everything else come out during the dates."
— Markus Frind, founder/CEO of PlentyofFish.com.
FULL ARTICLE @ LA TIMES

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