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I am sometimes prone to hyperbole - the curse of writers, artists, and other creative folks everywhere - but it's barely an exaggeration when I say that dating is one of the most mystifying and challenging things on the planet. Matisse may actually have spent less time agonizing over his canvases than people spend agonizing over their love lives.

If you're hoping to paint the next Woman With A Hat, 'fraid there's not much I can do to help - I'm lucky if I can draw a stick figure that actually resembles a stick figure - but if you're hoping to expand your artistry when it comes to your love life, you're in luck. WeLoveDates.com, a UK-based dating site and advice blog, recently published the results of a survey called "Interesting Online Dating Facts." And best of all, they've released the results in the form of an infographic, so it's art and advice all in one.

Lesson One: Online dating isn't really as popular as people say it is, right? Isn't it just a ploy to boost the online dating business? Nope...people actually are logging on to find love. 19% are members of one dating site, 19% have joined two, and 9% are trying their luck on three different dating sites.

Lesson Two: Creativity can be fun, but the classics are always an option if you're not feeling particularly inspired. Meeting up for coffee or drinks are, hands-down, the favorites for best first date idea. 42% of respondents favored the coffee route, while 46% preferred the bar atmosphere. Rounding out the bottom of the list, at 4% each, were "comedy show," "crowded bar club," and "something active, e.g. hiking."

Lesson Three: Yes, your profile picture is a major component of your online dating profile, but it's what you say about yourself that really matters. 55% said that the "About Me" section is what makes them fall in love, compared to 45% who said that the photo is what attracts their attention.

Lesson Four: Online dating is just for people who are looking for dates, right? Wrong! 21% of online daters are single, but 51% of dating site members are in a relationship and 11% are married. Online dating is for everyone.

Lesson Five: Online love is just as real as real-life love. A massive 80% of survey takers claimed to have found love on the Internet.

To see it all for yourself, check out the infographic here.

eHarmony in Canada is offering free communication this weekend. It starts today, Friday May 18th and runs straight until Monday May 21st, 2012. This weekend is also a long weekend for Canadians since Monday is the Victoria Day holiday. This is also the first holiday of the season which marks the beginning of summer for most Canadians.

As with other free communication weekends at eHarmony, all you need to do to participate is become a member. You can join for free and create a profile. Once this is complete you will receive your first matches and then be able to begin the communication process with your selections. No credit card is required. This promotion does not include viewing photos, Secure Call or Skip to Email.

For more about this popular North American dating service for singles looking to find a long-term relationship you can read our review of eHarmony.

It's an interesting turn of events when one of the largest most well-known online dating sites decides to create a more "real-life" experience for singles to connect.

Match.com plans to offer a new service called "The Stir" which will host 3,000 singles events over 40 different countries so their members can get to know each other face-to-face first, without all the back and forth emails and profile searches. But they're not just announcing events for people who live in the same area, they are matching members using their traditional algorithms to make the perfect singles mixer for their members' preferences, mostly based on ages and interests. So, not every member will be able to attend any event they want. They will have to be selected.

The events will be centered around specific interests and activities, like rock climbing, cooking classes, tequila tastings, or bowling nights, depending on your hobbies or what you typically like to do for fun (according to your profile of course).

Match.com claims the parties address some of the 'fundamental pitfalls of a typical night out for single people' - like meeting people you don't get along with. It also takes the pressure off the first face-to-face coffee date. Some members are reluctant to put a lot of time and energy into online dating, and have a hard time getting past the communication to have the first meeting. By getting members in a room together, the likelihood of two people connecting increases.

Match.com also plans to make two types of event offerings: more casual meet-ups at bars will be free, whereas more involved events like rock climbing will have a cost attached.

It's interesting that other online dating services which offer offline meet-ups like HowAboutWe are influencing online dating. Match.com's goal seems to be figuring out new ways to get people together, along with ways to attract new members who might still be weary of trying online dating. The Stir is a way to overcome that hurdle - by offering the traditional appeal of meeting face-to-face in an informal setting instead of the sometimes elusive process of online dating: looking through profiles, emailing, and setting up a much-anticipated coffee date.

This move will likely boost Match.com's mobile app, too. For the 60 pilot events they hosted, they offered members promotions for those who checked in online, and plan to offer these in future gatherings. There's nothing like incentives to encourage people to attend.

For more information on this popular dating site, you can read our recently updated Match.com review.

FriendFinder Networks just released their first quarter 2012 financial results. For the first 3 months of 2012 (ended March 31) FriendFinder earned $81.1 million in net revenue. This is a slight decrease when compared to the same time last year due to a decrease in overall traffic. From this quarter, FFN continued operations experienced a net loss of $13.4 million and from discontinued opertations a net loss of $8.1 million (closing of JigoCity) which is a total of almost $21 million.

As of March 31, 2012 FriendFinder Networks had a total of 9.5 million new members of their adult websites and just over 1 million new members of their general audience websites. This is about a 12 percent drop when compared to the same period last year. Conversion of members to subscribers is up though. For adult sites it is 4.6 percent (was 4.2) and for general audience sites it is 2.3 percent (was 1.3). This gave FFN a total of 840,984 subscribers to their adult services and 43,275 subscribers for their general services. On average FriendFinder Networks experiences about a 17 percent churn rate of their members during the first quarter of 2012.

For more information on the 2012 Q1 financial report please read the news release. For more information on some of FFN dating sites you can read our review of Asia FriendFinder and our review of FriendFinder.

Related Story: FriendFinder Networks Fourth Quarter 2011 Financials

Spreadsheets are boring, right? They're all just facts, figures, and formulas...soulless numbers that will bore all but the most dedicated of mathematicians...

Except for this spreadsheet, which is making quite a splash in cyberspace. This is the spreadsheet of David Merkur, a 28-year-old New Yorker who works for a real estate finance firm and dabbles in online dating. Well...more than dabbles, by the looks of it.

This cautionary tale of dating-gone-wrong began as a way for Merkur to keep track of his interactions with online dates. The detailed spreadsheet included each woman's name, a photo, his initial impression of her profile, the dates on which they'd exchanged winks and emails, and notes on their first date.

Then it gets even more complex. Merkur color-coded the entries to indicate which women he wanted to "monitor closely ASAP" and which women he planned to "monitor casually." Finally, each woman was awarded a numerical score based on her appearance.

On a date with one of these women - described in her entry as "very pretty; sweet & down to earth/great personality" - Merkur revealed the existence of his tracking system. Intrigued, his date asked to see the spreadsheet and he complied, sending it in an email that included the message "Well...this could be a mistake, but what the hell. I hope this e-mail doesn't backfire, because I really had a great time and hope to hang again soon :) ."

Backfire it certainly did. The woman forwarded it to a few friends, who then forwarded it to a few friends, who then forwarded it to a few friends, and....well...you can guess what happened from there. Pretty soon it was all over the Web, and cyberspace was abuzz with the story. Merkur apologized after becoming an accidental Internet celebrity, calling the Excel spreadsheet a "serious lapse in judgment" and saying he is "deeply remorseful."

Some have defended the spreadsheet, calling it an effective way to "break down a daunting problem (finding a partner) into a series of manageable steps" and noting that "There is nothing inherently creepy or misogynistic about using a tool to help remember what you did or didn't like about another person."

Others are firm in their criticism. "Here is why the spread-sheeting rubs me and so many others the wrong way," writes a Huffington Post contributor. "Love is not about comparison shopping. It's more like being a bowling pin with a marbleized ball careening toward you. It's easier to be knocked down if you don't have things propping you up."

Either way you look at it, I don't think Merkur will be going on more dates any time soon.

Spark Networks just released their first quarter financial results for 2012. Their revenue of $14.6 million for the quarter is up 25 percent when compared to last year. Unfortunately they still had a net loss which was $1.7 million (due to marketing costs). Jewish Networks posted $6.6 million in revenue with for the first time the Christian Networks beating them by having almost $6.9 million in revenue.

The average paying subscriber as a whole was up 36 percent when compared to Q1 in 2010. Spark Networks in quarter 1, 2011 had 240,706 subscribers. Jewish Networks was down 6 percent with 86,433 subscribers and Christian Networks was up 163 percent with 124,158 subscribers. The Other Networks saw subscribers decline by 23 percent to 30,115.

For the full 2012 Q1 release visit the Spark Networks News Room.

Related Story: Spark Networks Fourth Quarter 2011 Financials