Smart Home Lifestyle

July 14, 2007

Internet Dating; Technology Helping People Click

Ladies, forget waiting by the phone, try surfing the net. Online dating puts you in control of your social life, turning that little black book into a “dating game” database. Finally, there’s a tool to help find your prince while kissing a whole lot less frogs.

“We are thrilled at how far TRUE has come in such a relatively short time,” said Herb Vest, founder and CEO of TRUE. “What this means to our members is that TRUE is adding more than 1,000 new singles per hour, more than any other dating site. With more than eight million members available nationwide, our subscribers can afford to be pretty picky.”

Lonely lookers

Online dating takes the blind out of blind date. With sites like Match.com, eHarmony, TRUE and date.com, subscribers get an upfront overview of age, political and religious views, relationship history and interests. And they all recommend posting your photo for an even greater response. When it comes to Internet dating you can start to get to know someone without them knowing your personal information, a safety plus, especially among women.

“People of all ages, religions, ethnicities and economic backgrounds are currently using online dating sites,” said Date.com’s CEO, Meir Strahlberg. “We are proud to have helped make the internet a safe and convenient way for people to start a relationship.”

eHarmony, who boasts that 90 of their users on average get married every day, takes it one step further offering secure phone calls. And TRUE let’s you do a voice recordings or videos to help make things a bit more believable.

So how has technology helped online dating? The mobility of it all. MatchMobile from Match.com lets you search for the one, get winks from interested parties and send and receive e-mail all from your phone. And it’s not just about phones, any portable device that has Internet access will get you on your way to finding “Mr. Right.”

So, which dating service is better? Sites like Match.com and Yahoopersonals.com give you the freedom to scan hundreds of profiles. If you to narrow the playing field, sites like Bigchurch.com and Amigos.com help keep you connected by appealing to different religious and ethnic groups. And if you want the ultimate in electronic dating with the hopes of long term commitment, sites like eHarmony.com and TRUE.com are the best, and most expensive, bet. These sites are big on compatibility testing and they determine who and who will not be your match.

Let’s just be friends

For the social butterfly, sites like Myspace.com and Friendster.com keep you in the know. You can view your friend’s pictures, e-mail or send messages and list events. These “Friend” sites make it easier to stay in “group” touch with friends, family, school or church groups or activities. And because of the popularity of the friend sites and the dating sites, there’ve been some merges.

“As social networking online continues to grow, these sites want to expand their offering with an online dating service,” said Herb Vest, founder and CEO of TRUE. “The relationship between TRUE and Friendster is a logical one because we’re both pioneers and share similar target audiences.”

Business not pleasure

If you’ve had enough of Business after Hours groups, sites like Facebook.com help promote both you are your business all from the comfort of your desk. And with more than 24 million active users, Facebook is the sixth most-trafficked Website in the United States.

Friendster too, can help stay connected with business contacts, while getting beyond much of the fluff.

"In this age of spam and unsolicited e-mails and communications, this is an excellent way that Friendster enables our users to control who views their profiles and their inbound communications,” said David Jones, vice president of marketing. “Friendster offers the greatest control in the industry over who can view your profile and who can contact you."

Author: Diana Kostigen, Marketing/Public Relations Director, Comtec