General News

The popular free dating site OkCupid.com now accepts Bitcoins. If you are like me your first question was:

What is a Bitcoin?

According to Coinbase.com a bitcoin is “A decentralized, digital currency that is changing the world of payments.” Let’s take a look at a Youtube video that explains it in more detail:



Coinbase was found in June of 2012 and has about 102 thousand users who make 98 thousand transactions every month. Bitcoin is the most popular alternative currency in the world. Currently around $4 million US dollars is transacted each day. Some other sites that allow Bitcoin payments include Expensify and Reddit.

You try to be aloof. You try to act confident, mysterious, and detached. Online dating? It's no big deal. Who cares what people say they're looking for? You're not going to worry about it. You're just going to be yourself, and the date offers will roll in.

But secretly (ok, not so secretly), you're dying to know what potential dates are looking for. You're desperate to figure out exactly how to present yourself in your profile to attract the kind of people you're attracted to. Don't worry - you're not alone, and the State Of Dating In America report has a few answers to offer.

ChristianMingle and JDate asked "What do you find most attractive about the opposite sex?" and their users answered. Here's what they had to say...

For men:

• Sense of humor: 19%
• Physical appearance: 33%
• Intelligence: 16%
• Confidence: 12%
• Integrity: 12%
• Professional success: <3%
• Domestic skills: 5%
• Financial success: negligible

For women:

• Sense of humor: 24%
• Physical appearance: 21%
• Intelligence: 16%
• Confidence: 15%
• Integrity: 16%
• Professional success: 3%
• Domestic skills: <5%
• Financial success: negligible

Men and women may disagree about what the most attractive trait in a date is, but they don't disagree when it comes to another important characteristic. Both say that the most important characteristic in someone they did is shared interest. Women believe the next most important characteristics are someone who is funny, someone who is attractive, someone who is successful, and someone who is smart. Men rank the characteristics similarly, but give appearances more weight than women.

The sexes are not only clear on what they want in a mate, they're also clear on what they don't want.

Men say the worst traits in a mate are:

• Greed: 30%
• Sloth: 20%
• Gluttony: 15%
• Pride & Envy: tied at 11%
• Wrath: 9%
• Lust: 5%

Women say the seven deadly sins of dating are:

• Greed: 34%
• Wrath: 17%
• Sloth: 13%
• Pride: 12%
• Gluttony: 10%
• Lust: 8%
• Envy: 6%

Even though men and women agree on many things, they still remain a mystery to each other in many ways. They are both thoroughly puzzled by the opposite sex's feelings on commitment, and confused about matters like their taste in "hot" men or women, how they spend their money, their eating and personal grooming habits, and the way they interact with their friends.

For more information about the dating sites which provided this data you can review our ChristianMingle.com and JDate.com reviews.

"Are You Interested?" has a history of being on the cutting edge of innovation in the online dating industry. It was one of the first dating applications to launch on Facebook in 2007, and now has announced the arrival of several new social features designed to bring online dating and social networking together.

The updated AYI features include:

• The ability to view mutual friends when looking for potential dates
• The ability to search for singles through your friends
• The option to search for singles with mutual or related interests

AYI hopes the new tools will make it easier for singles to connect online. As online dating shifts increasingly towards a "social dating" model, AYI's transition puts the site at the forefront of the movement.

What makes it especially unique is the influence AYI already had on the market: the service already claimed millions of Facebook users with Facebook-connected profiles, who were regularly active before the launch of the new features.

Facebook integration benefits users by creating a more robust experience and generating a significantly larger number of search results. Facebook-connected singles, who represent the majority of AYI users, have a greater chance of meaningful connections because shared interests and friends can be taken into account in the matching process.

SNAP Interactive, owner of AYI, CEO Clifford Lerner says, "AYI has always been a progressive and innovative dating site and we believe these social feature launches really raise the bar in the dating space. Historically, there has been a large disconnect between the way singles meet online versus in the real world. Offline, singles commonly meet through friends and interests. That same experience really hasn't been possible online - until now."

The goal for AYI, like many online dating services, is to revamp the industry so it more accurately replicates the way singles meet in real life. "Our deep integration into Facebook Platform," Lerner continues," coupled with the significant scale of our interest and social graph puts us in the unique position of being able to integrate friends and interests into online dating in a meaningful way. It also provides singles with an online dating experience that more closely mirrors the way singles traditionally meet in the real world."

AYI's new features, combined with the real-time updating of AYI user profiles using Facebook's Real-time API, shows that AYI will continue its history of innovation. With over 65 million installs on Facebook, it looks as though AYI will be a leader in the social dating scene for a long time.

A eHarmony free communication weekend (FCW) is happening right now in the U.S. and Canada. It started today and runs to 11:59pm PST on Tuesday April 16th. No credit card is required and all members can communicate with their matches for free during this 5 day event.

If you want to take eHarmony for a test drive this 5 day FCW is worth checking out. You get to create a profile, review your matches and communicate with them all for free. This allows you to try out most of eHarmony’s services for no cost and it will give you a good idea of the type of matches you will receive and how the whole online dating process works at eHarmony. This dating site calculates your highly-compatible matches based on their algorithm which has years of research invested into it. The only things not included during this event is viewing photos, skip straight to mail and Secure Call.

eHarmony’s last free communication weekend happened in March (see Story). For further facts on this dating site you can read our detailed eHarmony review. Comments and user reviews are also available from this page.

How do American singles view dating and marriage today? Have our values changed much over the years? And do they vary by age and gender?

The State Of Dating In America report is here to answer all of your questions on dating in America in 2013. Up first: What is the greatest societal threat to marriage today?

Nearly half of singles agree that infidelity is the single biggest threat to marriage today. Other pressing threats are:

• Financial problems (18%)
• Lack of family values (13%)
• Acceptance of divorce / Same sex marriage (8%)
• Other (5%)

Some love being single. Some are terrified of it. Which side do you fall on? And would you ever consider going back to an ex to not be single?

• Most people - 53% - say no.
• Women are less likely than men to avoid singlehood by getting back together with an ex.

Faith is an important part of the equation when choosing a long-term partner. How important is it for you to share the same religious background as the person you date/marry, even if their faith is not as strong or is stronger?

• Some singles say they're "Just looking for someone I like," but most take faith into consideration when evaluating a potential date.
• 16% say they would only date someone of the same faith. 19% say they would only marry a partner who shares their faith.
• In general, men are less concerned about dating or marrying someone of the same faith.

When online dating, your options are nearly endless. Dating multiple people is the quickest way to experience as many different dates as possible in order to find the one you really want. Do you believe it is acceptable to date more than one person at a time?

• Almost 2/3 of singles believe it is at least somewhat acceptable to see more than one person at a time, although their comfort levels vary.
• Non-online daters are more likely to feel that nonmonogamy is unacceptable at any time.
• Younger singles are also significantly less likely to believe it is ethical to date multiple people simultaneously.
• Singles over the age of 45 are most likely to feel that nonmonogamy is acceptable.

With all the factors that go into choosing a mate, and the incredible pressures that come along with marriage, it would certainly be simpler to stay single. But would you be disappointed if you remained single the rest of your life? The majority of 18- to 24-year-olds (62%) say they would be disappointed if they remained single for their entire lives. As singles get older, however, they tend to care less about remaining single.

I notice a fact sheet online at Match.com which released some data about their United States members for 2012. Let’s ask a few questions of the fact sheet and see the answers.

Question 1: How old are the members on Match.com?

Answer: We will break this demographic down into 3 age ranges. 25 percent of Match.com members are between 18 and 30, 48.5% are from 30 to 49 years old and 26.5 percent are 50 or older. The 50 and older age group is the fastest growing age group on Match.com.

Question 2: Do Match.com members have any children?

Answer: 45.3 percent of Match.com members have kids but only 23.6 percent have children who live at least sometimes in their home. 46 percent of Match.com members do not have any children. 8.8 percent of members choose not to answer this question on their profile.

Question 3: How many Match.com members smoke?

Answer: 23.6 percent are smokers and 67.% are not. 9.9 percent did not answer this question.

Question 4: How many Match.com members are college educated?

Answer: 74 percent of Match members have a college degree or some college schooling.

These statistics are from data gathered in 2012 by Match.com. For more information on this popular dating site you can read our Match review.