General News

It has often been said that the Internet would be nothing without funny pictures of cats.

It sounds ridiculous, but as far as I'm concerned, it isn't far from the truth (or should I say "teh truth?"). Cats have become such an integral part of the World Wide Web experience that they can now determine your next date.

Yep, that's right...lolcats, and your other favorite Internet phenomena, can now be responsible for the future of your love life. Allow me to introduce you to your new favorite dating sites, all of which base your dates on your favorite subreddits and taste in Internet humor.

Reddit has spawned a wealth of redditor-created dating sites, like LaughMatch.com and 4.EverAlone.com. On LaughMatch, users watch a series of funny videos upon registering. After giving their reviews of humorous clips like a bad lip read of Twilight, the site matches members with dates based on where they placed the slider to rate the videos. A similar sense of humor is a solid foundation for any relationship, right?

4.everalone promises to match users based on their favorite subreddits. All new members provide an e-mail address, their reddit login info, and a list of their 5 favorite subreddits. The site's creator then searches the database to find another redditor with the same subreddit interests.

Another great idea came from yet another redditor, though the site is now no more. TalkOverTea eliminated one of online dating's biggest problems by implementing a very simple solution. The dating profile formula means that we all judge our dates long before we've ever even spoken to them - often solely by their pictures, because we never make it to the text.

TalkOverTea eradicated harmful and unfair prejudgments by turning the typical online dating process on its head. Instead of viewing a profile first and messaging later, TalkOverTea members began communicating first. The site engaged two users in conversation and then, over time, revealed tidbits of their profiles as the conversation continued. It's a refreshing approach to online dating that I wish had stuck around...perhaps one day it will return.

So far, it seems that the giant online dating sites are winning the battle for Web dominance, but I still hold out hope for the smaller, niche sites. In some ways they do a better job of replicating the way we connect in real life, since we often meet new people in locations or during activities based around a specific, shared interest.

What has your experience been? Have you had more success on small sites like these, or big sites like Match?

The Business Insider did an interview with Aaron Schildkrout and Brian Schechter who co-founded the dating site HowAboutWe. The business was launched in Dumbo which is an up-and-coming area for startups in Brooklyn, New York. The dating site launched in April of 2010 with the slogan "Go online to get offline".

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

To find out more about how this online dating site works you can read our HowAboutWe review.

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.