General News

I'm not a big fan of shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, or even the more tongue-in-cheek show The Choice. Sure, they're fun to watch. But I think people make the mistake of thinking this is how love happens in real life, that gorgeous people just show up and we get to choose. That love will come to us.

I just don't buy into the chance of real love blooming between two people when it involves TV cameras on every date. While it seems romantic to some that twenty or so gorgeous women are vying for the attention of one hot, successful single man, I can't help but cringe.

Is it even possible that all these women have fallen in love with the same guy? Maybe I'm a cynic, but I don't think real love happens in front of the cameras. It happens when we recognize it, deep in our gut - and it doesn't always happen with the person we expect.

That's why I'm intrigued that Oprah has her hand in a new reality love connection show called "Love Town, U.S.A." I've always been a big fan of hers, but I had to admit - I was skeptical. I mean, she is looking for ratings, right?

But this show takes a very different approach from all the roses and evening gowns and flirtations between gorgeous people. For one, it focuses its attention on the people of one small town in Georgia. For another, it involves not only the singles looking for love, but their families, friends, and other members of the town with whom they share a little history - good and bad.

From what I could tell, the show focuses on helping people get past their histories. There is one man who is deemed a player and it's hard for him to be taken seriously by any woman, and another woman who is shy and afraid of putting herself out there. Then of course, there are broken families that need to heal before a young man or woman can find real, lasting love. How does the show tackle all of this?

Oprah hired two prominent matchmakers, Paul Carrick Brunson and Kailen Rosenberg, to help singles in the town "to build love." What this means is guiding them towards mending broken relationships as well as inspiring feelings of kindness, forgiveness and gratitude. This in turn will lead to greater possibilities in romantic love. The matchmakers are firm believers in love - that you have to give it in order to receive it - and that often means making yourself vulnerable so you can let it in.

Regardless of how the show turns out, I'm inspired by its intention - that giving love will help bring love into your own life.

The New York Times dubbed it "the next generation of online dating."

TechCrunch called it "equally creepy and creative."

Forbes branded it "a new, sassy and humorous twist to dating."

Clearly, Cheek'd is doing something right. Business2community.com spoke with Lori Cheek, Founder and CEO of the clever new dating service, to find out what inspired her and why she thinks Cheek'd has been so successful, so quickly.

A lot changes as we get older, so it's no surprise that our dating habits change, too. OurTime.com, a popular dating site for mature singles, knows that the way we date when we're 20 is much different than the way we date when we're 50. And why shouldn't be? That's 30 extra years of experience - 30 more years of learning what you want, 30 more years of discovering what you don't want, 30 more years of heartbreak, and 30 more years of romance.

All that experience adds up to a much more knowledgeable dater, one who has a clear picture of Mr. or Mrs. Right. OurTime.com surveyed 2,200 singles to find out exactly how 50+ singles differed from their younger counterparts. Here's what they found:

• Religion is more important to younger singles. 70% of men and 59% of women over 55 said they're willing to date people of other faiths, compared to only 56% of singles in the 18-34 age range.
• Race is a different story. 2/3 of adults 18-34 said they're happy to date someone of a different race, compared to only 46% of adults 55+. Split by gender, 65% of men and 51% of women said they're open to interracial dating.
• Politics was a much closer race. 60% of mature singles and 66% of younger singles said they'd date outside party lines.
• Younger generations are more willing to snoop. I blame their familiarity with technology! 63% of people 18-34 said they think it's wrong to snoop through a significant others text messages, voicemails, and emails. The percentage rose as age rose: 60% of singles aged 35 to 44 and 75% of singles over 55 agreed that spying on an SO is a no-no.
• Opinion was split on cheating. Older men are more willing to give cheaters a second chance than older women. 53% of women said they wouldn't try to work things out with someone who was unfaithful, compared to just 35% of men. That's compared to 42% of adults overall.
• Appearances become less important with age. 68% of adults over 55 said they'd be willing to date someone they thought was less attractive, versus 59% of adults ages 18 to 34.
• Health, however, becomes more important. 64% of singles over age 55 said they would not date someone with health problems, so eat right, exercise regularly, and take your vitamins!
• Older singles might be more experimental than you think. 65% of the over 55 crowd are in support of dating more than one person at the same time. 41% of younger singles agreed, but the rest preferred to stick to monogamy.

To find out more about the dating site which conducted this survey you can read our OurTime.com review.

According to the Better Business Bureau, online dating complaints are rapidly on the rise. It's easy to get swept up in the romance of looking for love online, but Steve Bernas - Better Business Bureau President and CEO - advises all online daters to think like careful consumers as well.

The BBB received 549 inquiries about online dating services during the last 12-month period, compared to 316 for the previous 12-month period (that's an increase of 73%). During this 12-month period, the BBB has received 50 complaints regarding online dating services, in contrast to the 24 received for the previous 12 month. That's a massive increase of 108%!

Bernas urges singles to read contracts thoroughly before signing up for a dating site, to make sure you fully understand the agreement's scope and limitations before paying the subscription fee. "With matchmaking contracts, it's important to know exactly what you're getting into and what the service offers," he says. "Be sure to read all agreements, guarantees, and instructions before signing and be wary of vaguely worded provisions, exclusions or limitations which could pose a problem later."

To avoid online dating scams, Bernas suggests:

• Familiarizing yourself with common online dating red flags. Be wary of profiles that lack photographs and information in the "About Me" section, as well as individuals who make the following claims: to be in love right away, to be from the U.S. but traveling or working overseas, or to be a member of the military.
• Creating an e-mail account that is used only for online dating. Not only is it an easy way to keep dating emails separate from personal and professional emails, it also keeps your primary email address private.
• Keeping much of your personal information confidential. An online dating profile never needs to include your full name, address, phone number, work information, financial details, or links to your profiles on social networking sites.
• Speaking on the phone before meeting for the first time, and always meeting in a public place. It's easier to spot a fraud over the phone than online, Bernas says.

Choosing is a reputable dating site is also an important part of staying safe online. Bernas offers the following tips for picking a dating service:

• Don't be swayed by advertising. Beware of overblown claims like "For sincere daters only" or "An exclusive network of beautiful singles just like you."
• Know how to end your subscription, and be aware that many dating sites automatically renew memberships.
• Do your homework, and check out the company with BBB at www.bbb.org to review its history.

The social dating site Zoosk announced the other day that they have reached a number of mobile milestones. As part of their mobile strategy Zoosk has released a HTML5 version of the site that makes it much more easily accessible via a mobile phone when using the phone’s browser.

Zoosks daily mobile users now account for 15 percent of the site’s traffic. In the past 12 months mobile traffic on the Zoosk dating apps and HTML5 have increased 148 percent. Android phones make up 55 percent of app usage while the Apple iOS phones account for the other 45 percent. For mobile traffic as a whole from members, 61 percent comes from the apps themselves while 55 percent is done via the phones internet browser. This means that 16 percent of members use both the app and the mobile web. On Sundays and Mondays mobile traffic reaches its peak usually and is on average 10 percent higher. Thursday and Fridays are the low point in the week and mobile traffic can see a drop of 5 percent.

Zoosk also quotes a few mobile online dating statistics from a 2011 Juniper Research finding. They state that the mobile dating market is expected to grow from $1.3 billion in 2011 to $2.3 billion by 2016. User will jump from 650 million in 2011 to 1.3 billion by 2016 (fueled largely by China and then North America).

To find out more about this dating site please read our review of Zoosk.com.

Cupid plc has purchased the niche online dating site called Uniform Dating (UniformDating.com). Reports indicated that they have paid close to £7m for the business. £3.6m will be paid via shares in Cupid now while up to £3.4m will be paid out in the future if Uniform Dating meets a number of financial targets in 2013.

Last year Uniform Dating reported earning £2.5m and claim to have 500,000 registered members. Most of these members are from the United Kingdom but some also come from the United States, Canada and Australia. Subscribers to the service also have doubled in the last 2 years.

For more on this story you can read BBC News. To find out more about one of Cupid plc more popular dating sites you can read our Cupid.com review.