CNN GO – Feb 14 – Matchmaking has always played an important part in love and marriage here in China. But its method has changed in recent years, with online dating playing an increasingly important role. Gong Haiyan has been the person most instrumental in this revolution, founding China's first major online dating service, now called Jiayuan. Gong says her business wasn't an instant hit, but after a shaky start, Jiayuan has gone from strength to strength and retains a 50% market share in China. Last year the company was expected to top RMB 100M in revenue and according to the Jiayuan site, their customer base now includes 30M users, and 4.5M people have so far found a match. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN GO
Category: Outlets – CNN
Dating The Second Time Around
CNN – Feb 11 - Gonzaga is the senior director of research and development at eHarmony.com. His book, "Dating the Second Time Around: Finding Love That Lasts," is packed with practical advice for people eager to give dating another shot.
Q: How do you define second-time love in your book?
A: Most of the people we talked to are divorced, but we think it's any significant relationship.
Q: What are some of the obstacles to dating after a long-term relationship or divorce?
A: Simply access. Where can you find single people who are also looking for relationships?
Q: What about the emotions that may still be lingering from a previous relationship?
A: That's the other really big challenge. People feel like they aren't good at it because a relationship of theirs hasn't worked out.
A: That's the other really big challenge. People feel like they aren't good at it because a relationship of theirs hasn't worked out.
Q: Can there be lessons learned from the previous relationships?
A: They know the things they absolutely have to have in a partner.
Q: Do you have any advice on how to approach a new relationship?
A: The first part is assessing yourself.
Q: How can you get over the stigma of the internet?
A: There are a lot of people who have met their spouses and partners online and you will find them all around you.
Q: What are the dos and don'ts of a first date?
A: Make sure you're comfortable with wherever the meeting is going to be. Spend more time getting to know the other person rather than trying to get them to know you. Don't share too much about yourself and don't try to sell yourself.
The full article was originally published at CNN, but is no longer available.
Divorce: Why The Big In China?
Critic Praises Craigslist Move To Censor Ads, Calls For More Info
CNN – Sep 7 - Craigslist's decision to censor its adult services section is a "good step but a continuing battle has to be fought," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal a leader in the fight against prostitution ads. "We have received no definitive word that the shutdown is permanent." The section that usually reads "adult services" on Craigslist was replaced Saturday by the word "censored. Craigslist representatives said that they will release a statement at a later time. A CNN investigation of Craigslist's adult services section, which replaced "erotic services ads" two years ago, counted ~7,000 ads in a single day. Many offered thinly veiled "services" for anything from $50 for a half-hour to $400 an hour. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN
Mark Brooks: Casual encounters and erotic services sections are still live on Craigslist. Users will simply switch to those sections.
Single? You’re Not Alone
CNN – Aug 23 – There are 96M people in the US who have no spouse. 43% of Americans over 18 are single, and 61% of them have never said 'I do.' ~46% of all households nationwide are maintained by a single person. More than half of the unmarried Americans are women. And for every 100 single women, there are 88 unmarried men available. There were 904 dating services available as of 2002, employing ~4,300 people to help the single folks find each other and the companies collected $489M that year. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN
GPS Dating Apps
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Moms Post On ‘Date My Single Kid’
CNN – July 19 – This month, a 63-year-old woman launched "Date My Single Kid," an online dating site to expand the scope of potential suitors for her son. "We aren't trying to start a scientific matchmaker service like eHarmony," says Geri Brin. "We are doing it like a mother would do it. You know what your child wants. Her son estimates she set him up on at least 30 dates before her site went live. Some dates went well. Others lacked a spark. Geri Brin say parental involvement is natural today, when many parents act more like friends of their children. Already her site has lured in more than 200 parents, who are advertising their 20-, 30- and 40-something children as available for dates. There's nothing new about parents interfering in their children's love lives. Until the 1940s in the US, the family was usually the broker in a relationship. Matchmaking parents also exist across various cultures. Shaadi.com is a popular Indian matrimonial website where parents, including those who live in the US, post their children's photos and information in hopes of securing them a spouse. In Japan, some parents eager to marry off their child throw matrimonial parties at hotels and conference centers. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN
Online Dating Without The Creepy Strangers
CNN MONEY – May 20 - Thread.com is a new site that lets singles view profiles of their friends' pals on Facebook and request introductions. Facebook already has all the raw ingredients of the largest dating site in the world. More than 400M people worldwide have profiles. And since Thread relies on users' pre-existing profiles, rather than asking them to create new ones, it takes less effort to get started than most online dating outlets. Last year, Thread landed $1M in venture funding from First Round Capital and Sequoia Capital. Angel investors, including RottenTomatoes.com CEO Joe Greenstein and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, also put in additional $200,000. Thread's close ties to Facebook bring a few risks. "If Facebook decides to do something, Thread must follow along, and in one fell swoop it could take their bottom line with it," says Mark Brooks, an Internet dating industry consultant. Facebook is already at the center of a firestorm over privacy issues. Thread still has to figure out how to monetize its matchmaking, whether through advertising, subscriptions or virtual gift-giving. Roelof Botha, a partner at Sequoia Capital, had already tried his hand at Facebook matchmaking — cutting and pasting his friends' profiles and sending awkward e-mails back and forth — when the Thread business plan hit his desk. "A lot of people were doing this manually, so I thought, 'What a wonderful idea,'" he says. Brooks, the Internet dating industry consultant, agrees: "They're bottling what we already do in the real world." FULL ARTICLE @ CNN MONEY
Women Marrying Men With Less Education, Income
CNN – May 17 - A Pew Research Center report this year noted a surge in
women between the ages of 30 and 44 making more money than their
husbands. Women made more money than men in 22% of married couples
surveyed in 2007, compared with 4% in 1970. Women represent ~ 60% of
students holding advanced degrees in areas such as medicine, law,
business and graduate programs, the U.S. Census reported in April. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN
Finding Love Online, Despite Health Problems
CNN – Apr 14 – While sites like Match.com and eHarmony don't discriminate, they also don't cater to people who are coping with sexually transmitted diseases, disabilities, or mental health conditions. "On bigger dating sites the competition is tremendous," says Jim Houran, PhD, a clinical psychologist and columnist for Online Dating Magazine. "And let's face it, depending on what the illness is, it could very well make you uncompetitive in the larger dating pool." Over the past five years, several sites such as Prescription4love.com, Nolongerlonely.com, Cisforcupid.com and DateAble have launched to serve the needs. The sites require members to disclose their illnesses upfront, clearing the air for what might be a deal-breaking revelation later. Prescription4Love has 8,000 members who represent nearly 40 health conditions. Ricky Durham founded Prescription4Love in 2006, inspired by his late brother Keith, who lived with Crohn's disease for 15 years before passing away in 2004. People with mental health problems, from chronic depression to schizophrenia, have also benefited from specialized sites. No Longer Lonely, a dating site that caters to the mentally ill, now has 16,000 members. The site has been responsible for more than 20 marriages. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN