General News

It seems that the desire for online dating has reached even the most religiously conservative societies. According to The Jerusalem Post, the Palestinian Authority's Supreme Council has legalized online dating, but with a catch. Daters must abide by Shari'a rules, which means communication between members must be with the intent to marry.

Though Islamic scholars have dismissed online dating in the past, the council stated that the mingling of men and women online was now "a central characteristic of our time" and "unavoidable." This opens the door for many Muslims to date outside their social circles and provides more opportunity for meeting people than ever before.

Islamic dating websites have emerged in recent years, modeling themselves after other popular religious dating sites like JDate. But many Islamists, including Palestinians, already converse freely over social networks like Facebook and Twitter, according to The Times of Israel. It seems that allowing online dating was the obvious next step.

It seems Australians have gotten over the stigma that used to come with online dating. The majority of singles (51%) said they have either tried online dating or are willing to give it a shot. It seems more and more are looking outside their own networks of friends, colleagues and family to pursue a romantic relationship.

So if you're a resident, you might be wondering: who would I be meeting through an online dating site?

Two of the country's most popular online dating sites, eHarmony and RSVP, have pulled research from their membership to reveal the typical Australian online dater. So in case you were wondering, now's your chance to find out before you sign up.

According to eHarmony, which has a user base of about two million in the country, the average Australian online dater has never been married, is in her (or his) early to mid-thirties and works as a teacher. The next most popular professions for females are nursing and retail, and for men - truck driving. It makes sense that singles in such isolated professions, some with shifting schedules, would look for love online.

"Plenty of research exists showing that many people meet their partner at work," eHarmony spokeswoman Sarah Mason told the Sydney Morning Herald. "However, a large number work in an environment which is not conducive to developing meaningful romantic relationships. Others may be too time-poor, or just shirk at the thought of making small talk in a noisy bar after a long day at work."

The research from dating site RSVP differed a bit from eHarmony, however. According to them, the most popular age group is between 25-34, followed by 35-44 year-olds. For these members, the most popular occupation is in healthcare, followed by education and science.

Not surprisingly, most of the women on RSVP want men who are a few inches taller. Both sexes prefer people with green eyes. Also, vegetarians have a 37% higher success rate with other vegetarians on the site.

RSVP has about two million members as well.

While this research paints a picture of the typical online dater in Australia, especially in terms of professions they hold, it doesn't reference all of the diversity found online. Let's face it: people have all different backgrounds, preferences, and reasons for joining a dating site. Variety of choice is more important to online dating than knowing the "types" of people you might see online when you join. People connect based on chemistry, not on profession, height preference, or even the type of food you enjoy. So date with an open mind.

Perhaps the rise of free Internet porn has come at a cost to some large companies. FriendFinder Networks Inc. (FFNTQ), publisher of Penthouse Magazine and a number of adult entertainment websites, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

FriendFinder said that it has struck a deal with debt holders to reduce its debt by $300 million if accepted by the U.S. Bankruptcy court in Delaware. One note holder will get ownership of the sex entertainment business if the plan goes through.

The company built its network by buying and starting up social media, dating, and sex sites such as adultfriendfinder.com (for casual relationships), Amigos.com for Latin dating, and BigChurch.com (aimed at those more spiritual). Together the FriendFinder network includes 8,000 websites with 220 million members and 750,000 subscribers. But they haven't turned a profit since 2008.

FriendFinder Networks was originally formed in 2003 when founders Marc Bell and Daniel Staton purchased the publisher of Penthouse from bankruptcy. A year later they'd planned to launch an initial public offering with $460 million, but when the IPO was completed in 2011, they'd only managed to raise $46 million.

The company had also tried to purchase Playboy Enterprises in 2010, but the deal fell through.

The founders primarily blame the financial problems on the $400 million acquisition of Various, a network of dating sites that didn't generate the revenue expected, and the fact that credit card companies wouldn't process payments from sex website members. Others are looking at the bigger picture of the industry itself.

The question that perhaps the company's founders hadn't planned on was: who needs to pay a monthly fee to look for sex and porn when the Internet (and mobile apps) are rife with free options?

The question of the growing popularity of the mobile platform is one to consider as well. Dating app Tinder has exploded, and FriendFinder was rapidly trying to move its business into the mobile space since roughly 80% of its traffic was migrating from the desktop.

And what about Penthouse? Its flagship business has expanded into European broadcasting, a video business and does licensing deals as well, but surprisingly, the print edition of the magazine is still available even though it's struggling.

FriendFinder isn't the only casualty in the wake of free Internet porn. Earlier this year, LodgeNet Interactive, which provided adult films and video games to hotel guests, filed for bankruptcy, partly due to Internet competition.

For a certain generation, MTV's Cribs - in which celebrities give on-camera tours of their over-the-top homes - will always be a legendary TV show.

TechCrunch's take on Cribs might not have the same legendary status as MTV's version of the show (and you'll probably never see Mariah Carey make an appearance on it), but it's still interesting to see the inner workings of some of the tech industry's hottest companies. The latest episode of the series took a peek inside the office of eHarmony, one of online dating's biggest pioneers.

TechCrunch's Colleen Taylor met with Arvind Mishra, VP of Product at eHarmony, for a tour of the site's offices in Santa Monica. The first thing you notice about the interior of eHarmony HQ is that love is in the air (and everywhere else). eHarmony definitely doesn't skimp on the romantic decorations - there are hearts everywhere, signs that say "LOVE" in curling script, and pictures of happy couples lining almost every wall.

Upon entering the lobby, visitors and employees are faced with larger-than-life letters that spell out the name of the company. Mishra calls the massive sign "an homage to our larger-than-life mission: we're trying to lower the divorce rate." Big letters = big mission, he explains, as Taylor looks hilariously incredulous.

In addition to the constant reminders of the company's mission, the eHarmony offices are also home to many trophies. The office likes to hold challenges - like a pinewood derby race and a contest to display photos sent in by happy couples - to encourage bonding amongst the staff.

As Taylor and Mishra continue their tour, they pass an extremely yellow kitchen, the pet (stuffed) giraffe that makes its home amongst the social team, and a collection of bikes that employees can check out in order to take their lunch break at the beach 20 miles away.

eHarmony does its best to encourage creativity, individuality, and a sense of fun amongst its employees. Various colorful pieces of flair can be found on all the staff's desks. A beanbag-filled room named Malibu - so called after the site's recent redesign - was built to be a creative space. A game room features pool, foosball, and guitars on the wall. And a Donkey Kong machine with 200 games can be found in the main lunch room.

The heart of eHarmony, other than all the actual hearts that fill the building, seems to be the kitchen. Once every week, the entire company gathers to have lunch together (Hey there, Neil Clark Warren, sneakily making an appearance in the video while having lunch with your employees!). That sense of community is what really makes eHarmony special. "When you're this small," Mishra explains, "you want to make sure that everybody knows and likes everybody else."

eHarmony is having a free communication weekend right now. It started the day before Halloween and ends Sunday November 3rd just before midnight (PST).

These free communication weekends are the perfect time for someone who hasn't tried eHarmony to give the service a try. You can not only create your profile and answer the in-depth questionnaire for free but you will also receive your matches and be able to communicate with them at no cost, and with no credit card required. Free communication includes the guided communication process and email. The guided communication process is designed to allow matches to easily break the ice and introduce conversation starters. This is achieved by each match asking and answering a few questions so the person you are communicating with has a better understanding of you as a person. As always free communication events do not include photos, the secure call phone service, and skip to email.

The last free eHarmony communication weekend was at the end of September (see Story). For more on this dating site you can read our review of eHarmony.

How About We may be the first online dating site that offers a service especially for couples. Their latest venture, How About We For Couples, aims to plan, book, and arrange dates for people who are looking to spice up their relationships. They launched in New York and San Francisco and are planning other cities in the near future. So far, they have 130,000 couples signed up.

The founders noticed a trend among couples of relying on Netflix and take-out meals for entertainment, losing the magic that comes with the headiness and excitement of a new relationship. So instead of sitting on the couch, How About We for Couples provides ideas to get you both inspired and to cultivate relationships instead of letting them go stale.

How About We have been innovators from the beginning. When its founders Brian Schechter and Aaron Schildkrout first started researching the online dating industry, they noticed a fundamental problem: online dating sites don't push people to meet offline and build relationships from there. In fact, the industry's success depends on members sitting in front of their laptops scrolling through endless profiles rather than forming real life relationships.

With this in mind, the founders created an innovative new way to date online - by taking it offline quickly. Members post and view first date ideas, rather than scrolling through dating profiles. An example might be, "How about we...go for a picnic in the park, followed by live music at North Bar?" If someone found that idea enticing, they'd connect with each other and set something up. The focus is not on the dating profiles, but on the real-life meeting.

The problem? It became too successful. Many users of How About We started to couple up, and the company started to lose members. But instead of messing with its success, the founders extended the basic premise of great date ideas to those who are already in relationships.

The How About We editorial team comes up with the date plan, which centers on fun new places to go and creating opportunities for the couples to really connect. If you want to upgrade, you can purchase their concierge service to have How About We plan your date down to the smallest detail, like delivering flowers or hiring car service for the night.

"We're curating the dates for our couple members. The concept is still the same, but we've become the experts," Schildkrout told news magazine Business Insider. "This really filled out the whole vision of the company, which isn't only about helping people fall in love, but also about helping people stay in love."