General News

By now you're familiar with the idea that a formula can help you find love.

Except the formula you're thinking of is an online dating site's algorithm, and the formula I'm talking about is something you can do all on your own.

Rebounding from a bad breakup with a long-term boyfriend, Amy Webb decided to give online dating a try. Her first two dates left something to be desired. The first didn't offer to cover or split the bill, then lit up a joint on a public park bench. The other lied about being a surgeon.

Online dating horror stories are nothing new, but here's what is new about Amy's story: instead of blaming online dating, she realized the problem was her approach to it. Online dating algorithms rely entirely on user-generated data, which means bad data in, bad data out. Even the best algorithms can't match accurately if the profiles they're working with are bad.

Looking at her own profile, much of which was copied from her resume, Amy knew there was significant room for improvement. She designed an experiment to determine exactly what her profile needed to stand out.

First, she created a list of 72 "ideal husband" characteristics. Then, she assigned a weighted score to each characteristic and designed a system to evaluate potential dates based on their scores. Unless a man earned at least 700 points, the date was a no-go.

But that wasn't enough. Amy also wanted to see what life was like on the other side, so she created profiles based on 10 male archetypes and interacted with nearly 100 women over the course of a month. What she found, she wrote for CNN.com, was "astonishing."

For example, although lying about physical characteristics proved to be just as common as you think, most online daters aren't lying about the characteristics you expect them to. 96% of the women Amy interacted with claimed to be 5'1" - 5'3", in spite of the fact that the average height of an American woman is 5'4". Is it possible that everyone was telling the truth? Of course, but it's almost a statistical impossibility.

Amy also found that the most successful women were not afraid to be a little assertive. They responded to her messages with a casual "Hey" or "Hi there," followed by a small detail from her profile.

Armed with the findings from her experiment, Amy revamped her profile and gave online dating another try. More than 60 men responded to her optimized profile, but none earned the minimum score of 700 points. Finally, she met Brian - the man she went on to marry.

Stay tuned for Amy's new formula for finding love...

The How About We dating site has launched a new TV commercial that targets not only singles but couples as well. How About We has been concentrating on marketing their couples services these past few months and in January it paid off with an increase in subscriptions by 2 times when compared to the time period of August to December in 2012.

Here is the new video:



To find out more about this popular New York based dating site you can read our review of How About We.

Match.com has released a number of interesting online dating statistics that can be found on their blog over the last month. Here is a list of what we found most interesting:

• Did you know that 64 percent of singles said that their 2013 New Year’s resolution was related to finding love.
• Match.com’s busiest day of the year is January 2nd. On this day they saw 55 percent increase in members joining their service.
• The week after Valentine’s Day is pretty busy as well when compared to previous weeks. Match.com sees during these 7 days a 20 percent increase in new members.

To find out more about this service and why they are so popular you can read our review of Match.com.

People's Park in Shanghai, China has become something of a legend.

What appears at first glance to be a flea market is in fact something much more unusual: a marriage market. Ageing parents crowd the walkways, examining personal ads, meeting with matchmakers, and hoping to find partners for their unwed children.

There is, of course, another way to find a spouse in 21st century China - a much more familiar one. Online dating has exploded in China, and is expected to break two billion RMB ($318 million USD) in total annual revenue by 2014. Online dating promises to revolutionize the way singles in China meet, and modernize the way China regards relationships.

The primary players in China's online dating scene - Jiayuan, Zhenai, and Baihe - all advertise specifically as marriage websites. The mean age of marriage is rising in the country, but marriage is still nearly universal and competition for partners is fiercer than ever.

Eligible partners are expected to have similar educational backgrounds and economic standing. Age and height are also importance considerations, as is residency. Those who hold a residency permit in a top-tier city have access to public services and employment opportunities that others do not, making them extremely desirable as spouses. Men are also expected to own a car and hold the deed to an apartment.

Thanks to China's infamous One-child Policy, it's becoming increasingly difficult for city dwellers to meet and marry. Fewer children means fewer potential partners. It means more parental attention focused on each child, and the pressure to perform well in school and at work that comes along with it. And it means fewer opportunities for children to socialize and develop their interpersonal skills.

Add all that up and you get a very competitive dating market, one that is well suited to the modern marvel of online dating. Chinese men and women, who are expected to be hugely successful educationally and professionally, have little time left for relationships. Online dating offers the perfect platform for stressed, overworked Chinese singles to connect.

Like any online dating site, the profiles of sites like Jiayuan, Zhenai, and Baihe provide snapshots of users' lives. In China, however, profiles focus on key screening criteria - like height, weight, monthly income, education level, marital history, and home ownership - instead of less the quantifiable characteristics like interests and personality that are commonplace on Western dating sites.

But as the online dating market explodes for entrepreneurs in China, all of whom are hoping to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the industry, major social change is coming along with it. Single men and women in China now have more freedom to choose exactly where, how, and when they find partners, allowing their decisions to be based on love rather than external factors.

For a list of dating sites with Chinese singles you can check out our Asian Dating category.

The Harlem Shake has been sweeping the nation and the world. Everyone from universities to Jimmy Fallon have released a video. So how did these Harlem Shake viral videos become a YouTube craze?

It looks like the first Harlem Shake video was uploaded on Jan. 30, 2013 (see Video). As of today it has over 24 million views. The video that really got the ball rolling and set the format for future videos was this one released on Feb. 2, 2013 by a group of teenagers from Australia calling themselves TheSunnyCoastSkate. Basically a Harlem Shake video is about 30 seconds long with the first 15 seconds of a lone masked person dancing with people around him not paying attention. The video then cuts to the entire group of people doing a crazy dance with most dressed in costumes. During the video samples of the 2011 song "Harlem Shake” released by Baauer are played.

By Feb.11, 2013 approximately 4 thousand Harlem Shake videos where being uploaded to YouTube everyday making 12 thousand total videos with 44 million views. By this time companies had started to take notice and where releasing their own videos. When February 15th rolled around there was a total of 40,000 videos that had been viewed 175 million times. The song “Harlem Shake also reached number 1 on iTunes in America.

Not to be left out a number of dating sites and social networks have also released their own Harlem Shake videos. Here they are:

Match.com does the Harlem Shake

Plenty of Fish does the Harlem Shake

Mate1 does the Harlem Shake

Facebook does the Harlem Shake

For more on the Harlem Shake phenomena you can check out Wikipedia.

In a bit of a marketing stint SugarDaddie.com offered a city in the great state of Texas called Sugar Land $4.65 million to be renamed “SugarDaddie.com, U.S.A.”. The initial offer of $500 thousand was turned down. It is SugarDaddie’s 10 year anniversary and Steven Pasternack, CEO of SugarDaddie.com was looking for a way to celebrate his dating service’s milestone.

If the deal is agreed to not only would the city be renamed but local landmarks as well for up to 10 years. The local Fire Department and Airport would also carry the Sugar Daddie name. The mayor of Sugar Land is expected to tell the media his decision this Tuesday at noon.

For more on this story you can read Time. For more information on this dating site you can read our review of SugarDaddie.com.