General News

Trust PlentyOfFish to come up with a headline as provocative as "New Research Study: The Most Desirable Singles Of 2014." They certainly have a flair for drama, I'll give them that. And I couldn't help taking the bait...I'll give them that, too.

POF wondered who was getting the most attention on the site, so they deployed their research team to analyze the messaging data from over 81,000 user profiles and 1.8 million messages among the 25 to 35 age group. Their mission was to uncover the leading indicators determine whether a user is more or less likely to receive a message. The good news is: the study actually has some good news.

"Women are no longer interested in the bad boy who doesn't want to settle down," the study reports, "and men are increasingly seeking out educated women who are financially independent." Good news, indeed. On the other hand, gender roles are still firmly intact: "women still place high importance on a man's income and men still give precedence to a woman's age and body size." Not such good news, but there's always hope for change.

Key findings from the study include:

• Women between the ages of 25 and 26, receive 14.4% more messages.
• Women who are 33 years old receive the fewest number of messages.
• Women who have a graduate degree receive 6.45% more messages.
• Women who are Catholic receive 20% more messages.
• Men who earn between $100,000 and $150,000/year receive 42% more messages.
• Men with doctorate degrees receive 33% more messages.
• Men who want children receive 23% more messages.
• Those who 'Prefer Not to Say' if they want children receive 21% fewer messages, and those who "Don't want children" receive 42% fewer messages.

Put it altogether, and you've got a pretty clear picture of the ideal man and woman for 2014. The ideal woman is Catholic, thin and 25 years old. She has earned a graduate degree of some kind. She is a dog owner who drinks often or socially. And she has been in a relationship for at least 3 years, but not longer than 8 years.

The ideal man for 2014 is Christian with brown hair and an athletic build. He has earned a doctorate degree and now makes between $100,000 and $150,000 per year. And, perhaps most importantly, he is actively looking for a relationship.

Much to my surprise, I'm finding myself unexpectedly un-offended by the findings. I was expecting completely unachievable standards...instead what I got was a bar that's set high, but doesn't feel completely impossible. Is the study crazy? Am I?

To find out more about this dating site you can read our Plenty of Fish review.

First off... Happy Valentine's Day everybody 😊

We are a day late with this notification (sorry about that) but eHarmony in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are all having free communication for 5 days. It started yesterday (Feb 13) and runs to the end of the day on Monday Feb 17.

Free communication weekends are easy to participate in and no credit cards are required. First you must sign up to the service and create a free membership account. Next you will take the Relationship Questionnaire. The questionnaire is an important part of the process since all of your matches will be based on the answers you give here. Be as honest with yourself as you can (I know it is hard) and you can expect it to take you from 30 to 60 minutes. Once completed eHarmony will then send you your first batch of matches. Once you find a match or two you like you can start the guide communication process with them and see where it takes you. Free communication events on eHarmony does not include secure call communication, skip to email, or photos.

Besides the first week in January, this weekend is the busiest time for online dating since Valentine's Day reminds singles of their relationship status. If you are 35 years or older, looking for a long-term relationship, and you are someone with at least a college education then you will fit right in on eHarmony.

For more on this popular matchmaking dating site you can read our eHarmony review. In the United Kingdom eHarmony is slightly different so it has its own review. You can find the eHarmony UK review here.

Tired of the selfies you see populating dating apps like Tinder? Would you like to know a little more about the person before you start messaging? The folks behind Twine Canvas think you do.

The free new app allows you to create a visual "canvas" of pictures that show your interests and hobbies, rather than revealing photos of yourself to attract someone's attention. The idea behind this is simple: it allows people to begin to engage on a deeper level than just a superficial selfie or headshot - marketers are labeling it as the "anti meat-market app."

Twine Canvas is a brand new app, separate from the original Twine, also created by developer Sourcebits. After studying user feedback, the company decided to create a new app altogether rather than just revamping the old app.

Getting started with Twine Canvas is pretty simple. You download the app to your iPhone or iPad (no Android version yet), and login with your Facebook account. You can create your own "personality canvas" to add to the gallery, which expresses what you like to do or what your hobbies are. It's basically a type of virtual vision board, with a mosaic of user-generated pictures - from a cup of coffee (coffee lover) to a sailboat that shows you love to be on the water. You can also describe yourself in a few short words, shown underneath the canvas.

Then you can start searching through a gallery of other user's canvases to "like" them (swipe down for canvases of people you want to meet). You can adjust your filters to sort by age, gender, and location. If you both like each other's canvas, your profile photos are revealed and then you can start messaging.

"Twine Canvas adds creativity and personality to flirting by giving men and women a unique way to express themselves. When someone creates their canvas of likes, hobbies and experiences, it's far more insightful than a shallow selfie or an impersonal stat," said Rohit Singal, founder and CEO of Sourcebits.

The developers also claim that the app was inspired by the visual self expression of other platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Whisper and Tumblr. They wanted to allow people a certain level of creativity and visual expression when it comes to mobile dating.

While daters might get frustrated with not being able to see what potential dates look like until they are mutually matched, it's an interesting idea to engage people visually as with Instagram. Now I'll be waiting for the Android version.

Have you ever come back from a bad date, wanting to warn other women about how badly it went and how much of a jerk he was? Well, now you have that opportunity.

Lulu, a female-friendly social networking app, provides a way for women to communicate to other women privately about a man they have dated. And while there might be more motivation to rate a guy negatively after a date gone wrong, there are also some positive reviews following good dates.

On Lulu, a woman can rate men in different categories, like ex-boyfriend, crush, together, hooked-up, friend or relative and then take a multiple-choice quiz which gives him his rating from 1 to 10. Female users can also add hashtags, depending on what specifically they want to communicate to other women, like #neversleepsover.

Users are verified by their Facebook logins - women can only review and read reviews of guys who are Facebook friends. Everyone who participates must sign up through Facebook. The site assures users that nothing is ever posted publicly on Facebook, however.

Though the site is designed for ladies (founders Alexandra Chong and Alison Schwartz felt like women needed more of a safety net when meeting men they didn't know for a date) - men can use it in a limited way, too. They are allowed to see how they are faring in terms of reviews when they download the app and check "My Stats" (with Facebook verification). They can also add photos and hashtags about themselves. Some men ask their friends and family members to review them since Lulu provides the option.

And what about the obvious question - can women use Lulu as a type of revenge site against an ex-boyfriend?

Lulu's website claims that they have built a lot of protection into the app so a man's reputation won't be undeservedly damaged. Unlike Yelp, the reviews are multiple choice quizzes, so women can't leave long rants about specifics. Second, the guy and girl must be Facebook friends. Women are able to agree or disagree with the assessments of other women, so one review doesn't skew the rating. And if a guy doesn't want to be reviewed on Lulu at all? He has the option to remove himself completely.

Chong claims that the app was conceived with the end goal in mind - figuring out if a man was kind and date-worthy, rather figuring out if you should meet him based on his particular likes and dislikes from a dating profile. Lulu provides some sense of security, which is a welcome addition to the dating scene.

Does having a healthy body image contribute to a better relationship?

According to a new study by Tallinn University, women who were satisfied with their body image were found to maintain happier relationships, too.

The study was based on survey data drawn from 256 women between the ages of 20 and 45. Nearly 72% of respondents were cohabitating with their partners and 28% were married.

After studying the responses, lead researcher Sabina Vatter noticed that women who were satisfied with their relationships were more likely to be satisfied with their body weight regardless of whether or not they had an ideal body type or weight. She also discovered that these findings corresponded to higher levels of self-esteem and low self-consciousness.

"This shows that body and body weight can create general satisfaction, which would be forwarded to feelings for a romantic partner," Vatter said.

Additionally, those participants who were dieting or who just came off a diet were more likely to be self-conscious about their bodies. They were less satisfied with their body weight, weighed themselves more often and had higher BMIs than those who had not been on a diet. They also reported lower satisfaction with their relationships.

Women who were most critical of their body image were found to have less satisfaction in their relationship, including their sexual relationship with a partner.

According to Vatter, "These findings suggest that our satisfaction with body size, shape and weight has more to do with how happy we are in important areas of our lives, like our romantic relationships, than it does with what the bathroom scales say."

The study didn't mention any other factors related to body image as part of the survey, but focused specifically on the connection between body image and relationship satisfaction. Many women compare themselves to an ideal body type they can't duplicate but perhaps see in magazines, causing more feelings of anxiety which can also impact relationships.

According to the study, those women who have greater levels of acceptance and more self-esteem about their bodies (and less inhibition) are able to have happier and more fulfilling relationships, including the sexual component. But it goes both ways - happier relationships can help create happier feelings about your body.

"When a woman was satisfied with her relationship, she was also satisfied with her body weight, which also applies vice versa," said Vatter. "Higher body-weight satisfaction results in higher satisfaction with a relationship."

I dream of the day when I can stop writing about this.

I spent years hearing about the social stigma that surrounded online dating. Then it was "Hooray - the stigma is over!" And now media outlets are halfway back to where they started, pulling a massive "Just kidding!" on all of us. These days, the headlines proclaim that, although we are using dating sites and mobile apps to find partners more than ever before, we're still kinda embarrassed by it.

Good grief. Can't we just make up our minds already?

The latest to jump on the Just Kidding bandwagon is The Washington Post, which recently published an article that bluntly addressed the problem: "As dating apps grow in popularity, people still feel some stigma."

"More and more people are doing it," the article begins, "but no one wants to talk about it. On the record, that is." There's no doubt about the first half of that statement. The recent Pew study on online dating found that 11% of American adults have given it a try - a figure that shows a massive jump from the 3% it was at five years ago. Among Internet users who were currently single and looking for a partner, 38% had decided to give online dating or mobile apps a go.

Yet, according to the same study, 21% of Internet users also agree with the statement: "People who use online dating sites are desperate." That's an eight-percentage-point decline from the Pew study in 2005, but still...ouch. Why are we still so inclined to pass judgment on those who use their laptops and smartphones to find love? Especially when we've probably tried it ourselves (or at least been tempted)?

"I think people don't like to admit that they are having trouble in their romantic life," said Eli Finkel, a social psychology professor at Northwestern University. "That concern is misplaced. It is totally normal to figure out who is compatible for you." Finkel, who published a critical analysis of online dating last year, has seen everything online dating has to offer, from the highest highs to the lowest lows, but he remains a firm supporter. "In general," he said, "it is a great thing that exists."

On the ground, however, feelings are still mixed. The Washington Post spoke to one man who said that he and his friends consciously keep online dating out of most of their conversations and off their social media profiles. "We don't want to put something that is supposed to be like a dating, personal ad into our real world," he says. "I think that delineation, that separation from online-date persona and in-person social situations, is a real thing."

Another man praised the anonymity offered by dating services, because he doesn't think the world is ready for people like potential bosses to search his name and see it tied to the latest dating mobile app. "More and more people are having those conversations," he said. "But we're still not at the point where everyone is comfortable."