Janis Spindel, founder of 2Love Today conducted a survey amongst 7,500 single women in her private database. It has concluded that women would rather rely on the expertise of a matchmaker making expert suggestions rather than solely on computer generated matching.

(PRWEB) February 22, 2012

In a new study conducted by http://www.2LoveToday.com, members confess the online dating industry won’t be putting all its eggs in one basket. A new scientific report uncovers 2LoveToday and the online dating industry has room for growth and offers users some very real benefits matchmakers bring to the table.

Compared to twenty years ago, online dating is now a billion dollar industry and is one of the easiest and most effective ways for singles to meet their soul mates. In fact, one study reports that 1 in 5 relationships are from online dating. Many websites claim that they can help you find your partner using sophisticated matching algorithms. 2LoveToday does not.

Janis Spindel, founder Janis Spindel Serious matchmaker conducted a survey amongst 7,500 single women in her private database. It has concluded that women would rather rely on the expertise of a matchmaker making expert suggestions rather than solely on computer generated matching.

”I totally get that the largest o…………… continues on Houston Chronicle

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Monday, February 20, 2012

GoLocalProv Featu…………… continues on GoLocalProv

TattCafe.com, a niche market dating website for tattooed singles 18-29 years available in 15+ countries communicating in 10 available languages.

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) February 19, 2012

No matter what your age, dating can be fun and flirty but at the same time, it can be very intense, confusing, and a minefield of decisions. Adults between 18-29 who live an alternative lifestyle, with visible tattoos and piercings, can now avoid those first impression judgements by joining TattCafe.com and meeting others who have had the same experience.

A majority of online dating sites require a profile photo of a smiling face but TattCafe.com feels that body parts featuring tattoo artistry are just as important to describe members accurately. So even the shyest of members can feel comfortable giving a glimpse into their personalities without fully ‘exposing’ themselves.

TattCafe.com not only encourages its members to email, sms, video chat, speak to each other using an anonymous calling feature but create/attend social events, such as tattoo conventions posted in their Groups and Events areas.

“Membership has been growing steadily over the past few weeks with singles in Canada, the US, Ireland and Israel being the most interested in meeting others who are devoted to the lifestyle associated with body art an…………… continues on Seattle Post Intelligencer

WASHINGTON — And so it has begun.

I have four matches in the online dating site I have just barely dipped my toe in.

The dip is so slight, so very tiny, that my profile consists only of a user name, my (real) age, my location and a blank where my photo should be.

Yet a veritable plethora of matches have popped up in my Inbox based solely on that information.

I’m not sure if I’m frightened or pleasantly surprised. It’s Valentine’s Day, so I’ll go with pleasantly surprised, secretly frightened and not yet convinced any of those guys is my true love.

Thank goodness my stylish, forty-something friend “Wendy” has agreed to be a mentor as I navigate the post-40 online dating world.

Post-divorce, Wendy got out there, found someone and not too long ago got married again. It took her a few years to find “the one.” But she’s happy, and she’s been trying to nudge me out there for a while.

“I SWEAR I will launch a rescue mission if you are abducted into a CULT!!!” she said.

OK, Wendy, I’m out there on an actual online dating site with what Wikipedia would call a “stub” of a profile. Now what?

“Just get on there. THEY CANNOT SEE YOU!!! Snoop around on ‘them’ for a while until you get comfortable,” she said.

But it seems like a huge, confusing world. Can you give me a few pointers, just in general? Maybe start out…………… continues on ReporterNews.com

By Andrea Bartz and Brenna EhrlichSpecial to CNN

(CNN) – Ahh, yes, February 15, the joyful day when singletons can finally collapse in exhaustion after weeks of maintaining a nonchalant front. Finally, you think, finally, the incessant stream of hearts and cupids and reminders that romantic partnership is the apogee of human achievement will come to a merciful end.And then you voluntarily read to the second paragraph of our weekly netiquette column, silly! That’s right, we’re here to take you waist-deep into that cesspool of romantic endeavors and bad decisions: online dating.Because if you survived yesterday single, you might be gunning to circumvent a repeat performance in 2013 (i.e., another year of you listening to Alanis Morissette and sobbing softly in your bedroom or, conversely, having a faux-peppy who-needs-men night with your g…………… continues on KITV Honolulu

WASHINGTON — And so it has begun.

I have four matches in the online dating site I have just barely dipped my toe in.

The dip is so slight, so very tiny, that my profile consists only of a user name, my (real) age, my location and a blank where my photo should be.

Yet a veritable plethora of matches have popped up in my Inbox based solely on that information.

I’m not sure if I’m frightened or pleasantly surprised. It’s Valentine’s Day, so I’ll go with pleasantly surprised, secretly frightened and not yet convinced any of those guys is my true love.

Thank goodness my stylish, forty-something friend “Wendy” has agreed to be a mentor as I navigate the post-40 online dating world.

Post-divorce, Wendy got out there, found someone and not too long ago got married again. It took her a few years to find “the one.” But she’s happy, and she’s been trying to nudge me out there for a while.

“I SWEAR I will launch a rescue mission if you are abducted into a CULT!!!” she said.

OK, Wendy, I’m out there on an actual online dating site with what Wikipedia would call a “stub” of a profile. Now what?

“Just get on there. THEY CANNOT SEE YOU!!! Snoop around on ‘them’ for a while until you get comfortable,” she said.

But it seems like a huge, confusing world. Can you give me a few pointers, just in general? Maybe start out…………… continues on San Angelo Standard Times

By Andrea Bartz and Brenna EhrlichSpecial to CNN

(CNN) – Ahh, yes, February 15, the joyful day when singletons can finally collapse in exhaustion after weeks of maintaining a nonchalant front. Finally, you think, finally, the incessant stream of hearts and cupids and reminders that romantic partnership is the apogee of human achievement will come to a merciful end.And then you voluntarily read to the second paragraph of our weekly netiquette column, silly! That’s right, we’re here to take you waist-deep into that cesspool of romantic endeavors and bad decisions: online dating.Because if you survived yesterday single, you might be gunning to circumvent a repeat performance in 2013 (i.e., another year of you listening to Alanis Morissette and sobbing softly in your bedroom or, conversely, having a faux-peppy who-needs-men night with your gal pals, swilling salmon-colored drinks and shooting hateful glances at the couples in the bar).And if you’re in a relationship right now, don’t rest on your laurels quite yet: Breakups spike right after Cupid’s big day, according to unofficial Facebook data, so you just might be back on the market soon.We’ve told you what not to…………… continues on WPBF West Palm Beach

Matchless: Searching for Love Online
No one denies the anguish of divorce at midlife, but the online dating that follows is the greatest shock of all. MATCHLESS i…

The Rules for Online Dating
What the international phenomenon of The Rules did for conventional dating, The Rules for Online Dating does for the search for lo…

Online dating has come a long way from its less-than-positive association with the personal ad. But is it actually a better way to meet that special someone?

In some ways yes — and in others, maybe not, according to a study on online dating released by the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

“Romantic relationships can begin anywhere. When Cupid’s arrow strikes, you might be at church or at school, playing chess or softball, searching for a partner at a party, or minding your own business on the train,” the authors write. “But sometimes Cupid goes on vacation, or takes a long nap or kicks back for a marathon of Lifetime original movies. As a result, people go through stretches of time when desirable potential partners seem out of reach.”

Many dating sites, like Match.com or eHarmony, purport to have an advantage over random real-life encounters in that they employ special “algorithms” that can help people find their “match” — weeding through all the people who wouldn’t be compatible in the first place. But this practice might be grossly misleading and even counterproductive — especially since none of these formulas has undergone rigorous scientific review — according to the study.

“The ready access to a large pool of potential partners can elicit an evaluative, assessment-oriented mindset that leads on…………… continues on MiamiHerald.com

Last year dating and romance scams cost Australians more than $ 21 million, with more than 2100 individuals reporting scammers to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The figures have almost doubled from the previous year with the average loss for a victim reporting a scam to the ACCC more than $ 20 000.

“Online dating is an increasingly common way for people to meet each other. However, the growing number of scammers undermining public trust in legitimate businesses like dating and romance websites is an area of concern to the ACCC,” said Deputy Chairman Dr Michael Schaper.

“These scams often see a genuine user of a dating website being contacted by a potential admirer who is a scammer in disguise. After forming a relationship with the victim, the scammer plays on emotional triggers to get the victim to provide money, gifts or personal d…………… continues on NEWS.com.au

Online dating can be a good way to find a special someone for Valentine’s Day. But as a business, the romance is wearing thin.

The industry has grown at a measly 1 percent annually since 2006, according to research firm IbisWorld. That’s in part because sites such as eHarmony and Match.com face a quandary: Every time their product is successful, they lose two customers.

Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, both 33-year-old Internet entrepreneurs from Iran, think they have a solution. They’re the co-founders and co-CEOs of Zoosk, a 4-year-old dating site based in San Francisco. It’s successful, with about 15 million active users each month, but lately the two men have been thinking of ways to spur growth by becoming more like LinkedIn, a hub for job seekers that’s also a destination for people not actively looking for a new gig.

Dating sites match couples and then say, “We’re done with you,” Zadeh said. “We feel that we can change that paradigm and provide more services along the way and throughout your life.”

Zoosk works similarly to eHarmony and Match.com: Users can search listings of other singles for free but pay as much as $ 30 a month for services such as sending and receiving messages or seeing who has viewed their profile. One big difference is that Zoosk piggybacks off Facebook’s audience of 845 million users rather than b…………… continues on San Francisco Chronicle

As if dating – and meeting potential mates online – weren’t tough enough, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports online dating sites come with big holes in security that compromise at least the privacy and possibly the financial security of their users.

EFF points out six major weak points in the security and practices of online dating sites, most of which appeared first among Facebook’s menu of privacy eroding and were universally panned, but have never been eliminated.

First, as with Facebook, information you put up on dating sites doesn’t remain yours, at least as far as the site’s data-purging practices are concerned. Dating profiles remain online for months or years after a member has let a subscription lapse. Theoretically it’s necessary to type in the URL to see a photo or profile after it’s been deleted from the index, but clever searching can turn up…………… continues on PCWorld

Social scientists have confirmed what most singletons have known for years: Online dating is a crapshoot.

A new analysis of 400 academic studies explores whether online dating represents a dramatic shift in the way people seek mates — it does — and whether it is ultimately a good thing for daters — eh … sorta.

The nearly 200-page report, published Monday in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, found the main advantage that dating websites offer singles is access to a huge pool of potential partners. But the sites also reduce daters into two-dimensional profiles and often overwhelm them with potential choices.

Some sites claim to have developed scientific algorithms that can help people find soul mates, an assertion the study’s five authors say is not possible and could be damaging.

“Online dating is good. I’m very, very glad it exists. It gives opportunities to singles who otherwise wouldn’t have them,” said Eli Finkel, an associate professor of social psychology at Northwestern University and the study’s lead author. “The problem is that the way online dating is implemented undermines some amount of its goodness.”

People always have needed help looking for love. Parents and village elders used to play matchmaker. As people became more self-reliant and transient, they turned to singles ads and dating services.<…………… continues on Columbia Daily Tribune

HOW scientific are the “matching algorithms” of online-dating Web sites?

For a fee, many dating sites will collect data about you, crunch the numbers and match you with someone who, as eHarmony puts it, has been “prescreened for deep compatibility with you across 29 dimensions.” Sites like Chemistry, PerfectMatch and GenePartner make similar scientific-sounding claims.

But can a mathematical formula really identify pairs of singles who are especially likely to have a successful romantic relationship?

We believe the answer is no. It’s hard to be certain, since the sites have not disclosed their algorithms. But — as we and our co-authors argue in an article to be published this month in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest — the past 80 years of scientific research about what makes people romantically compatible suggests that such sites are unlikely to do what they claim to do.

One major problem is that these sites fail to collect a lot of crucial information. Because they gather data from singles who have never met, the sites have no way of knowing how two people will interact once they have been matched. Yet our review of the l…………… continues on New York Times

Online dating just didn’t work for Annette Kramr. She was 38, had been married for 14 years, had moved from her hometown in Texas for work and didn’t really know where to meet people. So on a whim, she filled out a survey for the local matchmaking company, Together Dating Service, a branch of eLove.

The face-to-face matchmaking process is different from online dating. It involves in-person meetings with a professional matchmaker and filling out in-depth surveys about likes and dislikes, preferred qualities and personality. The information is then matched to other applicants in the company’s database through a computer program and with the help of a professional matchmaker.

Ingrid Sthare, a professional matchmaker for more than 20 years and founder of Together Dating, says the system works to find more accurate matches.

Some of Sthare’s most successful stories are not of people in their 30s, but others in mid-life who are effectively starting a new phase, like Kramr.

After several dates through eLove, Kramr was matched with John Howe, then in his early 40s and a native of Maine. Like Kramr, Howe had been married before and had moved to the Upstate in 2006. A phone conversation led to dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s, which led to a hike one week later. Both felt “this was different.”

Annette and John got married in September 2010, a little mor…………… continues on Greenville News