Dating Services

Here are some dating statistics from the POF Blog. I believe these numbers are for 2011 and just concern the United States.

• There are 54 million singles
• Of those 10 percent (5.5 million) are currently using a dating service
• 2.6 million pay for the service leaving 2.9 million that do not.
• Overall 8.8 million have tried online dating

According to the US Census in 2009 there were 95.9 million unmarried people in the US. So I guess about 40 percent of those must be in some sort of common law relationship and just have not married. I believe that the 10 percent figure of people who use dating sites probably has not changed much over the last 5 years. The trick now for dating sites is to get the other 49 million to try online dating.

Last month It's Just Lunch celebrated their 20 year anniversary. Since 1991 they have not only been matching singles in the United States but in a number of countries around the world. It's Just Lunch is not an online dating site, they are a service run by matchmakers who help busy business people to meet other singles. Everything has the personal touch from meeting with clients face-to-face for the important first interview, to setting up the dates between matched clients.

To find out more about this matchmaking service please check out our It's Just Lunch review.

What effects does Facebook have on our romantic lives?

Online Dating University set out to find the answer, and produced a colorful infographic that shows us exactly what happens to our relationships when we live in public. Check it out here, via All Facebook.

Some interesting facts include:

• Approximately 60% of all Facebook users report a relationship status on their profile.
• The United States, South Africa, Iceland, the UK, and Canada are the five countries with the highest percentage of users reporting a relationship status.
• The average percentage of single Facebook users, by country, is 39%.
• Jordan is home to the largest percentage of Facebook users who list themselves as single on the site.
• The highest percentage of Facebook users who state that they're in a relationship of any kind (from "it's complicated" to "married") reside in Finland.
• Ghana has the greatest percentage of single male Facebook users, but women make up a greater percentage of Facebook's user base at large.
• As of December 2010, women outnumbered men on the site at a rate of 1.28 to 1.

2010, as it turns out, might not have been a great year for relationships. 37% of Facebook users changed their relationship status to "single" during the year, and 3% found themselves in relationships that were "complicated." 24% listed themselves as "in a relationship," while 5% became "engaged" and 31% were "married."

According to the infographic, documenting your love life on Facebook can have the following effects:

1. Overanalyzing. When you spend too much time on Facebook, you run the risk of becoming intensely aware of the activity on your love interest's profile. Over analyzing everything you see him or her post is likely to lead to feelings of insecurity.
2. Oversharing. What happens if you change your relationship status on Facebook but your partner doesn't? Publically recording every detail of your relationship can lead to unwanted confrontations and awkward moments, as well as public heartbreak if the relationship ends. Plus, future partners might not appreciate being privy to every detail of your past love affairs.
3. Unhealthy concern with the remarks of others. It's easy to become excessively concerned with the comments left by other people, and equally as easy to misinterpret harmless comments as competition. Unwarranted jealousy is a side effect of social networking for many Facebook users.
4. Constant reminders of lost love. Break ups are challenging at the best of times, but the access Facebook provides to your ex, and the constant reminders of his or her new life without you, makes the end of a relationship even more difficult.

How do you deal with these problems? Continue to Part II for Online Dating University's suggestions.

To find out more on how to use this social network as an online dating tool please read our review of Facebook.com.

Syphilis is not generally the first thing that comes to mind when I think of things that make me laugh, but a new faux-dating site, part of a government campaign in Alberta, is doing its best to help Canadian citizens giggle their way to good health.

Alberta Health Services, in conjunction with Alberta Health and Wellness, recently unveiled a $2-million campaign to raise awareness about the rising syphilis rate in the province. Alberta's rates of sexually transmitted infections are the highest in Canada, and syphilis in particular has spiked in recent years. The campaign includes radio and television advertisements, as well as a parody of the online dating site Plenty Of Fish - PlentyOfSyph.com.

With witty catch phrases like "Spread the love!" and "be a part of something infectious today," PlentyOfSyph.com is garnering plenty of attention. The faux-dating site features imaginary profiles like that of beardedclam_69, who says "Let's not waste time. I like doing things in person;-) msg me now and I'll show you my 4 sexy tattoos, 2 hot piercings, and 50 small bumpy rashes on my body - and if your lucky I'll let you graze your tongue over each and every 1!!!" Another fictional user, Sapphic4syph, says she's looking for someone with whom to walk "rash-covered hand in hand through the forest."

But PlentyOfSyph.com is not all about stomach-turning profiles and graphic photos - the site also offers information on where to get tested in Alberta, and includes links to general information on STIs.

While some, like Angela Mulholland of CTV news, are calling their approach a "refreshingly funny take on a serious health problem," others, like the CEO of PlentyOfFish.com, Marcus Frind, are less amused. "You'd think the government of Alberta would have better things to do than spend millions of dollars creating a parody of Plentyoffish.com and than flood the Print/ TV/Radio with it," he wrote on the Plenty Of Fish blog. "Yes syphilis is a serious issue, effecting ~200 people a year in Alberta. What I don't get is why parody a mainstream dating site? It's completely the wrong demographic in many, many ways. The average age of Plentyoffish is 39 years old not 19."

Alberta officials are sticking by their campaign. "Alberta Health Services has not been contacted by, nor received correspondence from, Plenty of Fish," Shannon Evans, spokeswoman for AHS, wrote to the Calgary Herald.

So far, the eye-catching campaign seems to be working: the site has had 14,000 visitors since going live a week ago.

For more information on the dating site spoofed by Alberta Health Services please read our review of Plenty Of Fish.

Late last month eHarmony announced a new feature for their dating service. Members can now tell when their matches were last on the site by checking out the "Active Within" enhancement that is visible (or will be soon) next to the matches name. The activity is broken down into 5 increments with "Today" being the shortest and "Over three weeks ago" being the longest.

This feature has been requested for a long time as it helps members to prioritize which of their matches they should contact first. You have a better chance of contacting someone who was just on the site as opposed to over 3 weeks ago.

For more on this story you can read the eHarmony blog and to find out more about this dating site, please read our review of eHarmony.

Shaadi.com made Fast Company's "The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies" list. The online matrimonial service came in at number 39 and is the only dating site to make the list. Other companies on the list they beat include GE, Samsung and Cisco.

The write-up indicates that the goal of the site being marriage for its members, along with their résumé like profiles, and the fact that they plan to go mobile in 2011 as well as opening retail sites for marriage counselling as the reasons it made the list.

For more on this story you can read number 39 on the list. To find out more about this matrimonial service you can read our Shaadi.com review.