General News

From Friday October 19 2012, to Sunday October 21, 2012 members of Chemistry will be able to communicate for free.

Along with communication, this free weekend allows members to create a profile, take the personality test and to receive matches. Once you have decided which matches you wish to contact by viewing their profiles and photos, you can then use Chemistry Starters to initiate communication with that member. Chemistry Starters are fun online activities designed to help you break the ice and get to know your matches better. If you wish to skip the Chemistry Starters, no problem as you can also send emails right away. This 72 hour promotion is completely free and no credit card is required.

It looks like Chemistry had their last free communication weekend in July. To find out more about this dating site which matches members for long-term relationships you can read our Chemistry review.

We have added a new review to the Ethnic dating category for the site LatinAmericanCupid.com.

For some reason this dating site has flown under our radar for a few years. This site by far is the largest niche dating service for singles looking for Latino partners. It is at least 3 times larger than its nearest competitor (according to Alexa) in the Latin niche market. Our review team found the site easy to use and not too expensive. LatinAmericanCupid.com offers all of the features needed to make online dating an enjoyable and rewarding experience. The one recommendation we would make to improve the service is to include message boards. This would encourage community interaction between members. If you disagree with our review, you are more than welcome to include your own comment and/or review. This functionality is available on all of our review pages.

To find out more about this popular Latin singles dating site you can read our new LatinAmericanCupid.com review now.

It's a question we've all asked at one point or another: "Why has no one 'liked' my Facebook pic?!"

Sure, none of us want to admit it, but it's a universal truth...we're all just a touch vain, and we all want to know that the profile photo we spent hours choosing is catching a few eyes and setting a few hearts a-flutter. It's just human nature.

A new report in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking offers insight into how to do exactly that. The report examined "the role of visual cues and comment congruence in perceptions of social attractiveness from Facebook profiles" and found - in less confusing English - that people with profile photos that include social cues are perceived as more physically and socially attractive than people with simple headshot-style profile pictures.

So what's a social cue?

A social cue is provides extra information about who you are and what you like to do. If you're an artist, a picture with a social cue would be a shot of you in front of your favorite piece at your first gallery show. If you're an athlete, a picture with a social cue would be a shot of you scoring the winning point from last week's game. If you're a poet or a musician, a picture with a social cue would show you performing at an open mic night.

Get it?

"These findings show how important it is to present yourself strategically on Facebook," says study co-author Seoyeon Hong. "If you want to be perceived positively by people who view your profile page, including friends and potential employers, it is important to include profile pictures with positive social cues.

That picture of you passed out in the bathtub after a night of binge drinking? Yeah, you might want to delete that.

But that shot of you accepting an award for your work with your favorite charity? Make it a profile picture, because it says something positive and meaningful about you.

The study also found that the comments left on profile pictures affect a person's perceived attractiveness. "People tend to rely more on other-generated information than self-generated information when forming impressions," explains Hong. When someone views your profile on Facebook, they are more likely to form an opinion of you based on what other say about you than on the way you present yourself.

If the goal is to produce a desired impression, it's not only important to choose your photos wisely, it's also important to monitor your friends' comments. Positive comments are helpful, and negative comments - even sarcastic ones - can be damaging.

To maximize the effects of positive self-presentation on Facebook, Hong recommends "using profile pictures with extensive social cues to show who and what you are in a positive way while also keeping track of what others say about you."

To find out more on how to use this social network to meet singles, please read our Facebook review.

When there's something we don't understand, we turn to science for an explanation...and there are few things we find more confusing than sex, love, and relationships. Science hasn't cracked all their secrets yet but it's certainly making headway, most recently in a study published in the Journal of Sex Research.

The study, "Sexual Transformations and Intimate Behaviors in Romantic Relationships," sought to examine the connections between sexual transformations (changes in sexual behavior for a partner), intimate behaviors, and relationship quality among couples in romantic relationships.

The findings indicate that relationship satisfaction is positively associated with three things:

• Your partner's frequent sexual transformations
• Your positive feelings about your own sexual transformations
• Intimate behavior between partners

The study also found that, in less intimate relationships, relationship satisfaction is greater when partners undergo more sexual transformations.

Let's break it down.

Dan Savage says that the ideal partner is GGG - Good (in bed), Giving (of equal time and pleasure), and Game (for anything - within reason). Although the sexual transformations study wasn't specifically testing Savage's claim, it seems to have proved that being "game for anything - within reason" is an important way to contribute to intimacy and satisfaction in a relationship.

To study sexual transformations, researchers asked 96 heterosexual couples about changes they had made for their partners regarding often they have sex, the kinds of sexual activities they engage in, and how they communicate about sex and intimacy. Participants also shared their feelings about these changes and discussed the frequency with which they engaged in affectionate behaviors, like cuddling and kissing, with their partners.

The highest levels of satisfaction weren't linked to an individual's sexual transformations, but rather with the sexual transformations of an individual's partner. In other words, it's not your sexual transformations that make you happy - it's your partner's.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. When you observe your partner making adjustments in order to adapt to your needs - like switching up the frequency of sexual activity - you feel heard, respected, and rewarded in your relationship. What's not to love about that?

The study also found that participants who felt most positive about the changes they made reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Again, it all makes perfect sense - when we see that the changes we've made have made our partner happy, we become happier in return. It's a beautiful thing!

The bottom line is that we should all approach relationships and sexuality with an open mind and an open heart. Communicate your interests, explore your partner's needs, and be willing to be a little game.

JDate.com is a popular Jewish dating site that has been in business since 1997. We have just finished updating our JDate review with the latest information about what the service offers to its members, and the features it provides which will make your online dating experience not only eventful but exciting. The last major update to this review happened just over 2 years ago. So what has changed since 2010 with JDate.com? Here is a list of the major changes we found:

• JDate now offers a mobile website and iPhone dating app
• For most subscription terms it is now much cheaper to use JDate
• No more audio or video chatting
• Kibitz Corner - Tell members more about yourself and catch someone’s eye with your witty or profound response
• Redesigned member dashboard that allows for easier navigation and searching
• Updated dating profile and color code personality test questions
• Revamped Likes & Interests
• JMag and JBlog are updated much more frequently. A lot more JDate Videos are now available

To find out more about this popular Jewish dating site and the changes please read our updated JDate.com review.

If you've tuned into any sitcoms lately, you probably think the male breakup looks something like this: dump/get dumped, shrug shoulders, get drunk, go home with as many new women as possible.

Sure, that's the story for some men, but is it the story for all men? Or even the majority of men?

If you ask Brian Alexander, co-author of The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction, the answer is a definite no. According to Brian, breakups are actually tougher for men than they are for women.

He cites a neurochemical called vasopressin as the reason men have more trouble moving on. Thanks to vasopressin, Alexander explains in a Glamour article, "men in crisis are more likely to see other men as less approachable." On the other hand, "that same chemical cues women to see other women as more approachable."

What that means is that when a woman is at her most vulnerable, other women are moved to engage in "tend-and-befriend behavior." Women console other women after a breakup ("You deserve so much better," "He was a jerk," "You're way too hot for him," etc.), making it much easier to deal with the end of the relationship. Men lack that kind of social support from their male friends, forcing them to deal with the breakup alone.

Another reason breakups are more difficult for men, says Alexander, is that they regard their lover as their emotional home. The release of vasopressin and oxytocin during sex connects a man with his partner, causing him to form "a bond with [her] that's kind of like an animal claiming a home; [her] scent, [her] eye color, even [her] apartment all become cues that make him crave [her]."

The release of vasopressin also causes men to view their partners as their "territory." It's certainly not PC, but it's a biologically-rooted instinct that men can't suppress. Add the effects of vasopressin together and it's no wonder so many men have a hard time letting go!

With their emotional anchors gone, Alexander writes, men can become "emotionally homeless." It can be so bad, in fact, that some men suffer severe health consequences after a split. Studies have shown that divorced men have lower immune function than married men. Divorced men are also are statistically more likely than divorced women to be hospitalized or die at a younger age.

So do men have it harder than women when it comes to breakups? They just might.