MERCURY NEWS – May 5 – Researchers at Stanford's Social Media Lab wanted to find out how honest users are with each other. They focused on the so-called "discovery" phase of online dating, when users begin exchanging information and emails. So how often do people slip a few fibs into that critical conversation? Not as often as you might expect, it turns out, according to the study published this week in the Journal of Communication. Two-thirds of the study participants didn't tell a single lie in their attempts to snag a date. Overall, only 7% of the thousands of messages were deceptive.
Category: Outlets – San Jose Mercury News
eHarmony Pays $2.2M To Settle Auto-renewal Lawsuit
MERCURY NEWS – Jan 10 – eHarmony agreed to pay $1.28M to settle a consumer-protection lawsuit filed by four California counties – Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Napa, and Shasta – along with the city of Santa Monica over its automatic-charging practices. eHarmony will also pay $1M in separate restitution to customers who were unknowingly enrolled into a subscription between March 10, 2012 and Dec. 16, 2016. Eligible recipients will be sent notices of any monetary recovery, which will average about $30 for each affected customer.
Relationship Redefined By Technology
MERCURY NEWS – Nov 23 – ~25% of online daters met a spouse or long-term partner through a dating site. Another study finds couples who meet online are twice as likely to get married than couples who met offline. All this connectivity can come with a cost. We're stumbling at staying focused on the people who are physically closest to us. One British divorce lawyers' website claimed in 2011 that Facebook played a role in a third of all divorces.
by Julia Prodis Sulek
See full article at San Jose Mercury News
New Dating App Twine Looks To Dig Deeper
MERCURY NEWS – Sep 1 – Twine launched on July 31st and wants its users to connect based on common interest instead of relying on looks. Twine stands out by initially hiding members' identities and appearances, according to Mark Brooks, an iDating industry analyst and consultant. It vows to keep an even ratio of men to women in each city, which solves a criticism of digital dating that women get "inundated by guys and guys are often ignored," Brooks said. In 2011, for the first time, singles spent more time on dating apps than on dating websites, according to IBISWorld. "This app world we live in now is not going to be around forever," said Marc Lesnick, who organizes the annual iDate conference. Users continue to complain about the limited features available on their smaller smartphone screens, along with advertisers who don't like the size of their ads, Lesnick said.
by Dan Nakaso
See full article at Mercury News
Singles Are Embracing A New Age Of ‘Dating’
MERCURY NEWS – Feb 10 – A dinner date with a group of people maximizes the odds of a connection. Table for Six utilizes the talents of dining coordinators and matchmakers to hand-select three women and three men to have dinner together. "You go to the dinner and everybody meets each other and that's it–you see what happens," says Marc Paiva, COO. Table for Six was founded in 1997 by his wife Julie Paiva, who is now retired from the business. "Having six people can also provide a sense of security in a new environment." Another good way to meet someone is to participate in events with other singles. With an office in Santa Clara serving ~1K members, Events and Adventures was created for single professionals to meet other singles. The club does not have marriage statistics, but members do get married, says Barb Morgen, Events and Adventures' director of membership and marketing emeritus. About nine years ago, Lance Evander realized most of his friends were married, making it a challenge to meet new people. "One of the main reasons I started Urban Diversion in 2003 was to provide a more natural way for people to meet each other." Nearly 100 people have been engaged or married from the club, but dating is not the main focus, he says. Urban Diversion welcomes married and single members.
by Tiffany Carney
See full article at Mercury News
Online Dating Sites Are A Treasure Trove For Scientists
MERCURY NEWS – Aug 1 – Romance
doesn't lend itself to yardsticks and calculators. But the proliferation
of online sites like Match.com, PlanetOut.com and FarmersOnly.com give
social scientists unprecedented opportunities to study who likes whom,
and why. "But I'm not sure we'll ever find the algorithm that eliminates the
need to actually get to know someone," said one of the new field's
leading researchers, UC Berkeley's Andrew Fiore. Online dating sites reveal the motivated behavior of people actually
seeking real partners, he said. Through "content analysis," researchers can study how people
market themselves.
Among the findings:
– Men
most often make the first move
– Both men and women seek partners who are similar to themselves in
age, education, height, religion, politics and views about smoking
– Women are less open-minded, at least regarding ethnicity
– Both sexes exaggerate a bit. Men add a half-inch to their height;
women miraculously drop five pounds off their weight
– Appearance
matters
FULL ARTICLE @ MERCURY NEWS
Local Matchmaker Warns Of Internet Dating Scams
MERCURY NEWS – Feb 12 – For every online nightmare there's a story of a couple who met and married. Between 21M and 24M people visit dating sites each month in the U.S., said Mark Brooks, an industry consultant who runs OnlinePersonalsWatch.com. With the advent of dating sites that cater to married people looking for affairs, such as AshleyMadison.com, the number of hitched users trolling those services intended for singles has diminished from ~30% to 10% or less, Brooks estimated. "And some sites are now using fraud reduction companies such as iovation to keep online scammers away", he said. "The Internet dating services are flawed because they lack service," Brooks said. "The matchmaker services are severely flawed because they lack choice." Paul Falzone, a Boston-based matchmaker, is trying to bridge the divide. Falzone's company, which owns The Right One and Together Dating Service, bought an online dating site a couple of years ago. In October, Falzone renamed the entire enterprise eLove, and he plans to launch a select service for the Web site after Valentine's Day that lets clients visit a local matchmaker for background checks and photographs — and then head online. Kate Bilenki, director of love for the free dating site Plentyoffish.com, said most people she knows in their 20s or 30s wouldn't consider going to a traditional matchmaker. FULL ARTICLE @ MERCURY NEWS
See all posts on AshleyMadison See all posts on PlentyofFish
See all posts on eLove See all posts on iovation
Facebook’s Virtual Gift Store Makes Millions
MERCURY NEWS — Sep 2 — Venture capitalist Jeremy Liew, who
specializes in social networks, predicts that Facebook will make about
$35 million
from its virtaul gift store. That’s about 10% of its projected revenue
for
2008, estimated at $300m to $350m. For Facebook, these are gifts that
keep on giving. The more users
who are willing to pay $1 to send digital valentines, birthday or
holiday greetings, the more Facebook is able to collect users’ credit
card information and create ”digital wallets.” "Digital goods work
well when you’re trying to get some attention
in a noisy environment," said Liew. FULL ARTICLE @ MERCURY NEWS
Mark Brooks: Hotornot.com did well from virtual gifting also.
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
How To Survive Valentine’s Day
MERCURY NEWS — Feb 10 — On Valentine's Day couples long for the perfect evening, singles just wish it was Feb. 15. Too much emphasis is placed on this one day, says Jennifer Hunt, who with "life partner" Dan Baritchi operates the Dallas-based Ask Dan and Jennifer dating and relationship site. "Such pressures can make many Valentine's Day gifts and gestures seem forced and obligatory." Here are a few tips to make this the best Anti-Valentine's Day ever:
• Exchange flowers with friends
• Instead of wishing it was you getting a box of chocolates, buy yourself the most decadent, pricey sweets around
• Hold a singles party
• Grab that decadent meal on any day other than Feb. 14.
• Make an online dating profile.
FULL ARTICLE @ MERCURY NEWS
Chinese Embrace Online Dating
THE MERCURY NEWS — July 5 — In a country where unmarried 25 year old women are considered over-the-hill, the Chinese are experiencing an American dating phenomenon. Companies like Baihe.com, Yeeyoo.com and Meetic.com.cn are part of one of China's hottest emerging markets, online dating. iResearch forecasts the market at $80 million and growing. The one problem is the lack of online payment options. Once this is fixed, says Andrew Conru of Friend Finder, all bets are off. FULL ARTICLE @ THE MERCURY NEWS
Mark Brooks: I'm in Shanghai right now – see www.seasonalparadise.com. Check out the rankings. iResearch has been kind enough to offer the monthly Chinese dating and social networking rankings to Online Personals Watch.