General News

Plenty of Fish recently announced a wedding contest for previous members of their dating site who were successful in finding love. The winning entry will receive $100,000 USD.

If you are a couple who met on Plenty of Fish all you need to do is upload 4 photos and the story on how you met and fell in love. To enter the contest you can visit this page on POF.com. The contest runs from Dec. 27, 2012 to Jan. 14, 2013 and is open to all members who are living in the US (excl. New York and Florida) and Canada (excl. Quebec).

After the submission portion of the contest closes Plentyoffish Media Inc. will select the entries for the first round of voting by other POF members. Entries will be selected based on originality and creativity. Voting for round 1 will start on Jan. 17,2013 and finishes up on Jan. 23, 2013. The top 6 couples from voting done in round 1 will move on to round 2. The winner of round 2 will be the couple with the highest number of votes. They will win the $100,000 cash prize. Round 2 voting starts on Jan. 28, 2013 and ends on Feb. 7, 2013. Only POF members from Canada, United States, United Kingdom and Australia will be able to vote for their favorite couple. These members must also have belonged to Plenty of Fish before December 20, 2012.

This contest is a great lead up to Valentine’s Day for Plenty of Fish and by the looks of it to jumpstart their new couple’s profiles. On the contest submission page along with your love story and couple questions you are asked to enter information about you and your partner. These details are then used to create a POF Couple’s Profile.

Dating sites have been looking for a way to keep members coming back to visit their service. The problem is once the online dater has met someone they have little need to return. That is until now when sites like Zoosk and Facebook launched their couple profiles which allows them to track the major milestones of their relationships. It is not a large step for POF to do the same so I think we will see a lot more about their couple profiles in the near future.

To find out more about this popular free dating site you can read our [staticpage:PlentyOfFish.com] review.

eHarmony is having a free communication event for the next 6 days! It starts Thursday January 3rd and continues to Tuesday January 8th on both the Canada and United States eHarmony websites.

This is a great time for eHarmony to have one of their famous free communication events. Most people are still off of work and as you found out in one of our posts earlier today that right after the holidays is the best time to join a dating site. Also, did you know that the top resolution for 64 percent of singles this year was to find love in 2013? Well it is and that’s why if you are looking to online dating to help you find your next relationship, eHarmony makes a good choice.

To try it out all you need to do is signup for a free eHarmony membership. No credit card is required and there is no obligation. Once you have signed in you can create your profile and take the eHarmony in-depth relationship questionnaire. It takes a little time to complete but it will be worth it since the more your profile reflects you, the better your matches will be. After your profile and questionnaire is done you will be taken to your main eHarmony member homepage where you will find a set of new matches ready for you to review. Once you have figured out who you would like to contact you can then initiate communication with them by starting with the Guided Communication process and then move on to emailing them. With the free communication event you cannot view photos, use Secure Call (a phone service) or Skip to Mail feature.

In November of 2012 was the last free eHarmony communication weekend (see Story). By our count this free communication event will be #43.

Here are the Canadian eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on December 31, 2013.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in Canada (eHarmony.ca).

For US singles, go here for our eHarmony USA (eHarmony.com) coupons.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.

Here are the eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on December 31, 2013.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in the United States (eHarmony.com).

For Canadian singles, go here for our eHarmony Canada (eHarmony.ca) coupons.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.

Christmas season is over and it's time for a fresh start. Maybe the holidays left you feeling a little lonely and desiring a new relationship. Or maybe you've made a few New Year's resolutions and dating more is one of them.

Whatever the case, it's a great time of the year to join an online dating site and start meeting new people. According to The Daily Mail in the UK, online dating sites are reporting 350 percent more traffic after Christmas, and Match.com expects three million messages to be sent and 500,000 instant messages exchanged the week after Christmas alone.

With all that activity, it's hard to just sit back and wait for someone to show up at your door. It's time to take advantage of the increase in traffic and meet all the new online daters (including those who just split up before the holidays). And this means joining a new online dating site, or perhaps even renewing that old subscription and revamping your profile.

But please take note - just because there are a lot of people who have joined dating sites after the holidays doesn't mean that you can special order your perfect partner. Online dating isn't the same as online shopping. It's good to temper your expectations with a reality check - you aren't perfect, and your dates won't be either. But that doesn't mean you can't find someone special.

It's important to keep a few things in mind when you're online dating to have the most success:

Don't limit yourself. If you have a laundry list of deal breakers, then you won't have much success, or much fun when you're dating. Put that list on hold and try dating outside your type.

Accept invitations. Not sure if you want to date him? Say yes anyway if he asks you out. There's no secret formula to falling in love - for everyone it's different, and often it doesn't start with instant attraction. So accept more dates and engage with each one before you write him off. You never know who you could meet - and end up falling for.

Withhold judgment. This goes along with the first two tips. It's important to go on a first date with a sense of adventure. Sure, it might go horribly wrong, but it also might go incredibly well. If you have a positive attitude, it will rub off on your date and he or she will feel more free to open up. A good attitude changes the dynamic. So before you judge your date for what he might be lacking, give him the benefit of the doubt and see how much better things go.

Try something new! Don't rely on that same old bar or coffee shop for meeting new people. Be a little more creative - go ice skating, walking, or try rock climbing or a cooking class together. That way, you're doing something productive with your time, even if your date doesn't go so well.

Happy dating in 2013!

What's the best part of the end of the year?

Is it the holidays? Is it the time spent with friends and family? Is it the promise of a new year? Is it the resolutions?

No, it's the year-end lists. This year Match.com has compiled one of its very own: The ups & Downs of Dating Behavior of 2012 & How Celebrity Relationships Compare to U.S. Singles.

Match reports that dating was "a whirlwind" for singles this year (isn't it always?) and that finding love in 2013 is a top resolution (isn't it always?) for 64% of singles. Of course, those dating trends aren't just for your average Joe's and Jane's. How did celebrities stack up against the biggest dating trends of 2012?

Match lists the Top 12 Celebrity Shake-Ups of 2012, putting Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in the #1 spot. No word on how they dealt with it, but to bounce back after a breakup most singles turn to friends and family (41%). Breaking it down by gender, men are more likely to go out for a drink (24%) or immerse themselves in hobbies (20%) after a split, while women console themselves with food (22%) or curl up on the couch to watch TV (22%).

Relationship recovery strategies are divided by age:

• In your 20s, you're most likely to work out, talk to your friends, or hit the bar.
• In your 30s, you're most likely to throw yourself into your work after ending a relationship.
• In your 40s and 50s, you're most likely to call friends and family or escape into your favorite TV shows to deal with a breakup.

Recovery times can also be divided by age and gender:

• 37% of men take a month or less to get over a breakup and 55% bounce back in three months or less.
• 32% of women take a year or more to recover, with 1/5 of those surveyed reporting it took 2+ years to move on.
• Singles in their 20s move on fastest, wit 62% saying it took them less than 3 months to get over a breakup. Older singles lament longer, with 30% of daters in their 50s and 60s taking more than a year to rebound.

Some exes can still be friends, and some exes can even become ex-exes:

• Men are more likely to remain friends with an ex after a breakup, while women are more likely to cut off all contact.
• Remaining friends with an ex gets easier with age.
• 50% of women and 43% of men have reconciled with an ex. Men change their mind because they miss her. Women change their mind because they're still in love.

To find out more on this dating site you can read our review which is full of information about Match.com.