MASHABLE – Aug 31 - A beach town near Tokyo has begun catering to a
specific segment of young men, ones who play the game Love Plus and have
a strong desire to take their virtual “girlfriends” from this game on a
romantic holiday in the real world. Love Plus is a typical dating sim
game in which the protagonist, a high school boy, finds himself in a
relationship with a young woman. He must work to maintain the
relationship. Players can become deeply involved and engaged with their
virtual girlfriends, to the point that one young man even married his
in a Tokyo ceremony last year. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Category: Outlets – Mashable
New Matchmaking Site Lets You Date By The Book
MASHABLE – July 21 - Alikewise is an online dating site that matches people based on their book tastes. You can only search for other users by typing in a book title or author or by username — not by any other interests. A front page newsfeed also notifies you when others add books in your profile to theirs. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Dating Site Launches Online Sperm And Egg Bank For “Beautiful People”
MASHABLE – June 21 – BeautifulPeople.com, the controversial dating site,
now has a forum/sperm bank where one may search for genetic material
from beautiful people. Members can use these forums to meet other
members who are keen on having a family. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
OkCupid Uses Click Data To Match Most Attractive Users
MASHABLE – May 25 – OkCupid sent an e-mail to some of its users
nforming them that they’ve been placed in the top half of users in
terms of attractiveness by its algorithms. As a result of the
categorization, the attractive users will be more likely to see one
another in match searches, while the users who are in the lower tier
will not see a change. The e-mail specified that the determinations
were made through analysis of clicks on users’ photos and reactions in
the Quiver and QuickMatch features. Those two tools ask users to
quickly respond positively or negatively to photos accompanied by
segments of profile text. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Craigslist Adult Services Listings To Generate $36 Million In 2010
with their annual report on Craigslist and estimates that the
classified listing site will generate $122M in revenue in 2010. More
than half of that revenue comes from recruitment advertising, but 30%
of it comes from Craigslist’s adult services ads. The listings, which
have been thenceforth referred to as adult services, include moderation
and charge clients $10 per post, with proceeds no longer going directly
to charity. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
12 Chatroulette Clones
MASHABLE – Apr 13 - From creepy to cute, here are a few Chatroulette clones Mashable likes.
1. Zupyo gives the same video/chat-with-a-random- stranger experience, but it also allows users to search for a chat partner by keyword.
2. Omegle started out as an early 90’s AIM-like, text-only experience, but soon added video chat capabilities.
3. JayDoe
4. KittehRoulette
5. FlirtSpin with local options for gay, straight and bisexual video chat.
6. CamCarousel, a white-label Chatroulette script available for between $99 and $249 depending on the feature set. This clone is an Adobe Flash application, developed with Flex and running in Flash Player
7-12. Other-Language Versions. We found six non-English clones so far; Chatroulette’s erstwhile unique UX can be found in Korean at Ranchat, Chinese at Vdchat, Italian and German at Jaleco, Spanish at Tipitty and French at Roulettechat.
FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Mark Brooks: Woome created Shuffle People which is doing well. Chit Chattur is a new dating focused Chatroulette knock-off.
Facebook Analyzes How Relationship Status Impacts Happiness
MASHABLE – Feb 16 – Facebook looked at how many positive words people
use in their status updates. This results in the USA Gross National
Happiness Index. The results aren’t entirely unsurprising: People who
are in relationships do seem happier than those who are not in
relationships. However, there are some important areas of distinction.
For instance, the people that seem the most unhappy are those that
either don’t disclose their relationship status or those that are in an
open relationship. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
Match.com vs. PlentyofFish
MASHABLE – Feb 11 – There are hundreds of dating sites to choose from.
However, this week’s faceoff pits the two biggest dating sites against
one another: PlentyofFish vs. Match.com. PlentyofFish is the world’s
largest free dating site. It has made millions solely through ads and a
staff of fewer than five, and is led by the founder, Markus Frind.
Match.com, on the other hand, has 20+ M users, hundreds of millions in
revenue, and is owned by IAC. Is Match more effective at helping find
true love, or does PlentyofFish provide the best chance at
romance? Vote in our poll and let us know what you think. Polls close
on Valentine’s Day, 12:00 p.m. PT. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Dating Site For Gay Men Enters Super Bowl Ad Fray
MASHABLE – Jan 29 – ManCrunch, a dating site for gay men, submitted their ad on January 18, and when they checked in again on January 22, they were told that the ad had not yet been approved and that all the spots were sold out. According to Fox News, a CBS representative told Pop Tarts that spots were still open. Officials from the dating site say that they think the process is taking so long because CBS does not want to air the ad, yet the network doesn’t want to reject it outright for fear of backlash from gay and lesbian advocacy groups. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE
Background Check On iPhone
MASHABLE – Sep 22 – DateCheck (by Intelius) is a new iPhone app that conducts a comprehensive background check using a name, a phone number, or an email address. The search application filters social web and public record results for the following factors: Sleaze Detector, Compatibility, Net Worth, Living Situation, and Interests. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE