BBC NEWS — Jul 29 — Many of the Dubai's black-shrouded UAE girls say they cannot check out the latest fashions in Zara or sip a smoothie in a cafe without being bombarded with the phone numbers of hopeful admirers. UAE population has increased roughly eightfold since 1975. Traditionally, a young man's first amorous approach to a woman is supposed to be a marriage proposal made by his parents to her parents. Bluetooth is a feature built into some mobile phones which enables the user to transfer data to another wireless device nearby. But crucially, it also enables one person to contact another within a 10 metre radius without knowing their phone number. Ahmed Bin Desmal's friends joke that he is a "Bluetooth king". The 20-year-old says he has used the technology to send notes to girls he sees in public places. "In our country it's very rude to go up and talk to them," he says. "I sent some notes, they liked them – they took my number and they called me. I say nice things – I'm into poems." Saud, 22, met the girl he describes as his girlfriend two years ago on the internet, through instant messaging software. Although they talk on the phone, he has seen her only five or six times, by following her from a distance as she shops with her family in a mall. He says she's beautiful. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Category: Outlets – BBC
Text Date Advertisement Deemed ‘Irresponsible’
BBC NEWS — June 21 — A mobile/online dating firm has been criticised over an advertisement for its text dating service which could encourage teenagers to make dates with strangers. Textandmeet, promised: "You could be meeting someone tonight." The words, "over 18s only" were featured in the small print. The Advertising Standards Authority said it was possibly "irresponsible". It was "concerned" the poster could imply it was "acceptable for young people to make dates with strangers". It was spotted by a member of the public near a local swimming pool, cinema and a fast food restaurant. The posters depicted a bikini-clad woman sitting by a swimming pool with a mobile phone while three men looked on. All posters have now been removed. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Text Date Advertisement Deemed ‘Irresponsible’
BBC NEWS — June 21 — A mobile/online dating firm has been criticised over an advertisement for its text dating service which could encourage teenagers to make dates with strangers. Textandmeet, promised: "You could be meeting someone tonight." The words, "over 18s only" were featured in the small print. The Advertising Standards Authority said it was possibly "irresponsible". It was "concerned" the poster could imply it was "acceptable for young people to make dates with strangers". It was spotted by a member of the public near a local swimming pool, cinema and a fast food restaurant. The posters depicted a bikini-clad woman sitting by a swimming pool with a mobile phone while three men looked on. All posters have now been removed. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Lonely Welsh Seek Help in Dating
BBC NEWS — June 14 — Of 3 million people in Wales, 45% are single. UK programme, ‘week in week out,’ questioned 800 people and also called on dating expert Henry Enos, a lecturer at the University of Glamorgan, to analyse the results. According to the survey, more than 20% of the population in Wales have used some form of mediated dating. With those questioned for the programme, the most popular way of meeting a potential partner was through a blind date, followed by online dating and speed dating as equal second. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Online Dating Good For Romance
BBC — Feb 14 — Bath University psychologist, Jeff Gavin, surveyed 229 online daters. He told BBC News that 4% were already married. UK-based internet dating agencies have an estimated six million subscribers. only 9% of chatroom users chose to converse via a webcam, most "shying away" in favour of "text-based relationships." Almost one in five of those interviewed had started a relationship lasting more than a year via a dating website. Male website customers tended to be "more committed" than female ones, as subsequent chatroom conversations gave them a way to express their feelings which did not normally exist. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Video Phones Act as Dating Tools
BBC NEWS — Hundreds have submitted a mobile video profile to win a place at the world’s first video mobile dating event. The top 100 meet their match on 30 November at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. The event, organised by the 3G network, 3, could catch on as the trend for unusual dating events, like speed dating, continues. BBC NEWS
