General News

An active person is also an attractive person, according to dating site CoffeeMeetsBagel.com, which connects Facebook users to friends of friends to see if there's any romantic interest.

In a recent study of over 68,000 matches who use the service in both Boston and New York, they found that one third of the people who matched mentioned playing a sport in their profiles. And they weren't just people in their twenties - the company found that people in their thirties and forties were equally active and interested in sports when they outlined what they were looking for in a partner. Maybe we're all a bit more inspired because of the recent Olympic games?

Researchers at the company also found that there are gender preferences for what sports are most attractive in a partner. If you are a woman, playing golf makes you 41% more desirable by men vs. those who don't play, followed by skiing (16% more) and working out (14% more). Male football players (or football fans) are 38% more likely to get LIKED than men who are not, followed by cyclists (22% more) and basketball players (19% more).

Even though these sports made the top list of what others found attractive, according to the study the most popular sport for both men and women to participate in was running. After that, their tastes differed - women went for yoga and hiking while men went for tennis and basketball.

Some other interesting findings:

• The more educated you are, the more athletic you are (contradicting the stereotype), with 33% of PhDs mentioning a sport in their profiles compared to 29% with Bachelors degrees and 17% with high school diplomas.
• Men and women mentioned 70% of the same sports in their profiles, including skiing, football, biking, and working out.
• More women mentioned liking football than men.
• Golf wasn't among the top 10 sports that women like.
• Swimming wasn't among the top 10 sports that men like.

While I'm not planning on joining a golfing league any time soon, it might be worth it to give sports a chance. Do you miss those days of playing softball, kickball, swimming, or just going for a hike? Then make a decision to try it out and see how you like it now. It's worth it to stay active by doing something you enjoy, and perhaps something you can share with a future romantic partner (though this isn't a requirement of course). Have fun!

Cupid is based in the United Kingdom and has enjoyed major success in their home country over the last few years. Cupid claims that their dating sites have over 34 million members in 39 countries. Their profits for 2011 was £7m before taxes.

Cupid is now mirroring this success in 2012 overseas. In the first 6 months of this year Cupid reported revenues in countries like the US, Canada, France and Spain to have increased by 122 percent to £22.2m. Overall company revenues have gone up by 51 percent to £38.6m (almost $62 million US). Profits for the first 6 months of 2012 is reported to be £3.6m. The large market growth was fueled in large part by higher marketing spending.

For more on this story you can read the BBC News and to find out about one of their more popular dating services you can read our Cupid.com review.

I have never been the most romantic of gals. I never fantasized about being swept off my feet by Prince Charming or a knight in shining amour. I always found the idea that there's only ONE person out there for each of us - a soulmate - to be a little silly (and, frankly, far too limiting). And the idea of "love at first sight" seems more than a little corny to me.

Now a new dating service is trying to make those of us who are romantic realists change our minds. 1iDreamofU is a new online social dating site that allows members to visually create an image of the person they would like to meet, making "love at first sight" a reality.

So it's like The Sims for my love life? I'm totally in.

After a user creates the image of their perfect match, the IDOU software compares the image, along with responses to questions on demographics and relationships, to other members on the site to make the match. Joe Schwinger, President of eXcelaweb, the company responsible for IDOU's custom software, says "The software associated with IDOU's creation leverages a unique algorithm which allows users to custom select and compile every asset of the person they want to create. The compiled assets, the image of a person, are shared via social networks to crowdsource that perfect match."

New users can create their dream guy or girl from the ground up, customizing every detail - from ethnicity, to facial structure, to eye, nose, mouth, and hair shapes - or chose from "Almost Famous" faces or already-created base faces. After the Dream has been built, users rank their chosen features from most to least important.

Following the creation of the Dream, users answer typical dating site questions about relationship status, religious and political beliefs, occupation, and education. Other questions ask users to describe their "Actual Saturday" and their "Ideal Saturday," and to go into more detail about themselves and the date they're looking for. You can create as many Dreams as you want in search of your perfect match.

Once the Dream is created and your profile has been completed, hit the Search button to receive your matches. You can use advanced search features to filter the results, and can organize matches by adding them to your favorites, connecting with them, or blocking them. To initiate a conversation, send a message (you can even use a pre-made subject headline) and start talking! You can also ask your friends to help you find your Dream by sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.

Karen Howard, President of KLEA, Inc., the owner of the IDOU brand, says this of the new site: "IDOU is fun and entertaining in that you can create a person just for the experience or in the hopes of meeting the person you've built. That you can share the person you created with friends through social media is an added bonus."

Online dating can seem a bit intimidating - meeting a complete stranger and seeing if you click. But what if the potential dates you meet are friends of friends, or people connected to you through a social network? Would that make a difference?

Circl.es is betting on it. This dating app uses Facebook to help you find other single friends of your friends - ones you might not necessarily run into in real life. (Especially if you prefer to spend time interacting with people online rather than in person.)

Even though they just launched in April, Circl.es is already steadily gaining active users. There is no "online dating profile" per se, or a long list of questions to answer before you see your matches, just your basic stats. When you join, you share the basics of what you're looking for - body type, age, etc. and you can scroll through its list of friends of friends in your vicinity. It pulls your basic Facebook information - like birthday, where you live, and general info and likes to match you. It's pretty simple, and it won't match you with your own friends so you don't have to explain that embarrassing situation.

A great feature: there is a disclaimer when you join, stating that Circl.es won't show up in your timeline, and that your information won't be shared with anyone who doesn't fit your criteria. Your information is kept pretty private, as long as you're willing to share some of your Facebook life with potential dates. But keep in mind there isn't the same privacy and anonymity you have with online dating sites.

With Circl.es, your Facebook information isn't visible unless you meet a few criteria, namely that you have a friend in common and that you match each other's basic criteria in a partner (including being single). So, it's not like you're disclosing your Facebook page to just anyone - but keep in mind, you're still putting your information out there for non-friends to see, so be sure to keep the full disclosures and drunken photos to a minimum. (See my previous articles on how to use Facebook as a dating tool for more information.)

Circl.es isn't the first dating app to utilize the vast network of Facebook, and probably won't be the last. I have to admit, social media lends itself to dating, if only because we are addicted to checking in with our friends and followers all day long - social media captures our attention and engages us, so why not find a date while we're updating our status?

On August 31, 2012 Plenty of Fish released a new update for their Android dating app. The new version number is 1.4.1.9627 and it includes a number of new features and bug fixes. The new features include:

• Username search
• Additional search filters on profile attributes
• You can now register on POF through the App (done through web before)
• Auto-refresh for conversations
• Local event notifications
• User interface modifications

I haven't had any problems logging in with the new version but more than a few members have complained about not being able to use the app due to time out issues or notifications that the service is down for scheduled maintenance. A reviewer also mention that the Apps MeetMe feature could use additional search filters so you can have tighter control on which members are displayed.

Check out the Google Play Store on your Android phone and search for POF to download the app. To find out more about this popular free dating site you can read our POF.com review.

I am not sure if this is the right type of publicity a company wants but the Gay dating app called Grindr is being blamed for the rise of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The Christchurch Sexual Health Clinic in New Zealand has been quoted as saying that these type of apps which allow Gay men to find others nearby have been associated with a 50 percent increase in cases of Syphilis in 2012.

Globally Syphilis has been making a comeback in recent years. It is recommended that you always use protection. In fact Grindr has a policy which bans its members from looking for unprotected intimate encounters. If a member violates this regulation their profile will be removed.

For more on this story you can read The New Age.