Dating is a mystery, even for those who have been doing it for a while. Men and women misunderstand each other all the time when they are in relationships, so it’s only natural that communication problems would occur while you are just getting to know each other. Even before the first date!

Texting is a great tool to help us keep in touch, but it’s also created a whole new level of second-guessing and misunderstanding when it comes to dating. How many times have you stared at a text, trying to interpret it – even if it’s only “hey, what’s up?” We might think – is he asking me because he wants to see if I’m busy, or is he just being casual and reaching out to say hello? Then we might wonder: when should I text him back? Should I wait another five minutes, another hour, another day??

We drive ourselves nuts sometimes trying to figure out what’s going on in someone else’s head. But the truth is very simple: we don’t know. We can’t make assumptions. But we should also listen to our intuitions. If we find ourselves wondering too much about his motivations but afraid to ask, we should probably take that as a hint that you're not on the same page romantically speaking.

Following are some typical texts that men send, and what they really mean:

Hey, want to meet for a drink in an hour? [It’s 9:00pm.]

We might think he’s interested in us after all, but chances are, he’s not looking for anything serious and is seeing what you might be up for. Know what you want before agreeing or getting excited about seeing him again - the ball is in your court, so don't settle for less than the relationship you want.

It’s been fun hanging out, but I’m really busy right now with work. Maybe I’ll call you when I’m back in a couple of weeks.

Translation: I’m not really interested, but if I haven’t met anyone else I find attractive in the next two weeks I want to leave my options open. Time to date other people.

I don’t know…where do you want to go tonight?

This might be frustrating if you feel you are always planning the dates, but probably the guy hasn’t put much thought into where to go or what to do. He might spend a few minutes on Yelp before the date, or he might just want you to pick a place because he doesn’t want to take you somewhere you’ll hate. If you feel strongly about planning, then pick the place. If not, just leave it open and see what happens.

I had a nice time with you tonight.

This is a good thing – even if he doesn’t make plans right away for a second date, he’s letting you know he had a good time. Don’t get anxious about the timing, just let him know you had a good time, too. Then if you’re feeling motivated, ask him out instead of waiting for him to make the next move. It’s liberating.

There is quite possibly nothing in this world that perplexes us more than that strange collection of physical and emotional responses we call love. Humans have been trying to understand it since the dawn of…well…humans, in poetry, in art, in music, and in laboratories.

Writer Olga Khazan, in an article for The Atlantic, explores recent research being done into the murky, inexplicable world of online dating. These studies are designed to determine “what makes people desire each other digitally,” she writes, “as well as whether our first impressions of online photos ultimately matter.”

What do social scientists know that you don’t?

First, your face plays an important role in your romantic fate – which means yes, your photos matter. Some evidence suggests that qualities like extraversion, emotional stability, and self-esteem can be read in a person’s physical appearance. For example, writes Khazan, “Hockey players with wider faces, considered a sign of aggression, spend more time in the penalty box.” On a basic level, then, strangers viewing your dating profile may be making judgements about your personality on a subconscious level, solely from your photos.

But pictures are not the end of the process. Nuances of personality are only revealed through interaction, and looks can be deceiving. Personality may supersede looks as we get to know someone – or, explains Khazan, “at the very least, we tend to find people more attractive when we think they have good personalities.”

Frequently, we end up pairing off with partners who match us in level of attractiveness. Which brings up another question: should you date someone who looks like you? Psychologists say the answer is no. Khazan describes another experiment, in which “subjects who thought they were similar to one another were more likely to be attracted to each other, but that wasn’t the case for those who were actually similar to one another.” Where speech is concerned, however, couples with similar speech styles are more likely to remain in a relationship than couples with differing speech styles.

Then there’s the question on everyone’s mind: will online dating actually lead to a relationship? A 2008 study by Eli Finkel and Paul Eastwick at Northwestern University attempted to uncover the answer, and found it to be much more complicated than a simple yes or no. Online dating does give us more options than ever before but, as Finkel and Eastwick discovered, that isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Stay tuned for their discoveries in Part II.

Dating is hard enough when you’re young, childless, and free from responsibilities. Add in a few more years, a child or two, and a whole lot more responsibility, and dating can feel impossible. There's an intense amount of pressure on single parents. When should you mention the kids? How should you bring them up? How long should you talk about them? You love your children, but do they mean you're doomed to be date-less forever?

The dating game is played a little differently after you have kids, but at its heart it's still the same game. You’ll fumble here and there, but if you keep these dating mistakes in mind, you’ll have a much easier time of reaching the goal.

Single Parent Dating Mistake #1: Avoiding the Internet.

Just because it’s what 'the kids are doing these days’ doesn’t mean it can’t be a thing you’re doing. Get with the times and get online. You probably already use the Web to watch movies, order clothes, learn skills, research interests, pay bills, and most anything else you can think of, so why not use it for dating too? More and more single parents are looking for connections on online dating sites, which means your odds of finding someone who’s open to the fact that you’re a single parent are even better than in real life. You could be just a few clicks away from starring in your own version of The Brady Bunch.

Single Parent Dating Mistake #2: ‘Woe is me’ syndrome.

Lots of single parents fear their single parent status means no one will be interested in them. Sure, it may change some minds, but those aren't the minds you want to be with anyway. You'd be surprised at how many people aren’t scared of the idea, so don't be afraid to date someone who isn't a parent themselves. Alternatively, you can look for other single parents like yourself, if that Brady Bunch idea sounded appealing. The only thing that guarantees you won’t find a date is having a bad attitude about it.

Single Parent Dating Mistake #3: Overdoing it.

Your children are the most important thing in your life and you would do anything for them, but they're definitely not asking you to make them your only topic of conversation. Your date should know you're a single parent, which is easily accomplished early on. If you’re using an online dating site, list it on your profile. If you are online dating but prefer to keep that info private, or aren't using a dating site at all, you can break the news via e-mail, text, phone call, or IM. Once you’re on an in-person date, kid talk should be kept to a minimum. Dates are about getting to know each other, not about your children’s little league games. In fact, challenge yourself to make it through at least two full days before sharing the details of your kids’ lives.

Take a look at our list of single parent dating sites to find a related service.

It’s no secret that eHarmony and Match.com are old rivals in the online dating space. Match.com has been building its empire through its parent company IAC, which has bought several successful dating sites and apps, including Tinder. eHarmony has remained focused on its technology and matching success, and has expanded to include matchmaking services for VIP clients who are willing to pay. In December, eHarmony plans to launch a new career-matching site as well.

Now it seems despite the different directions the companies are going, they still remain fierce competitors, especially when it comes to marketing and attracting new users. eHarmony recently ran a “#1” campaign, citing its success in making more long-term matches than any other online dating website. The problem is, without concrete numbers from all sites, it’s a little tough to prove. At least, according to the National Advertising Division (NAD), an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. The unit is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

This week, the National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that eHarmony discontinue using certain “#1” advertising claims for the company’s dating website, including “#1 Most Marriages,” “#1 Most Enduring Marriages,” and “#1 Most Satisfying Marriages.” It seems that Match.com was the first to ask the regulators to look into the matter.

NAD reviewed claims made by eHarmony in broadcast, print and Internet advertising, following a challenge by Match.com, LLC. Match claims that this is advertising is misleading, as the numbers of marriages produced by both sites is extremely close. Also, eHarmony didn’t take into consideration Match’s entire network of sites co-branded under different names. This makes Match.com’s numbers much larger, and perhaps greater than eHarmony’s.

NAD concluded that, although the number of marriages that should have been attributed to Match could not be pinpointed, the actual difference between the number of individuals within the sample who met their spouse on eHarmony versus Match.com was even smaller than reported by eHarmony’s survey, or possibly favored Match.

In addition, eHarmony claimed its study was independent, although its co-authors included a former director of eHarmony Laboratories and a scientific advisor to eHarmony. When NAD informed the company of their findings, eHarmony agreed it would no longer describe the study as “independent.”

eHarmony, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company “respectfully disagrees with much of NAD’s analysis of our specific advertising claims.  However, because eHarmony values the NAD process and appreciates the NAD’s efforts, we will take NAD’s recommendations into consideration in our future advertising.”

It’s been a busy month for Spark Networks. The owner of ChristianMingle, JDate, BlackSingles. and more, has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2014, and will soon be getting a new CEO.

Revenue in Q2 2014 was $15.8 million, a decrease of 10% from the previous year’s $17.6 million. A 9% decrease in average paying subscribers – reflecting an 8% and 7% decline in average paying subscribers for the Christian and Jewish Networks segments, respectively – is the primary reason for the overall drop in revenue.

On the plus side, expenses were down. Direct marketing expenses in the second quarter of 2014 were $7.9 million, a decrease of 43% from Q2 2013. Total cost and expenses dropped 19% from the previous year, to $16.8 million this year. Net loss in the second quarter of 2014 was $1.1 million, or $0.05 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.15 per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2014 was a loss of $363,000, an improvement of 84% compared to the year-ago period.

Much of the good news comes from Christian Networks, which accounted for most of the decreased expenses thanks to improved marketing efficiency and growth in the winback and renewal subscriber bases. Christian Networks was also responsible for bumping contribution up in the second quarter of 2014 to $7.8 million, an increase of 109% from the year before. This is the first time Christian Networks has generated positive contribution in 15 quarters.

All this comes at a time of major change for Spark Networks. President & CEO Greg Liberman has left the company, leaving Michael McConnell – the company’s Chairman of the Board – to serve as Executive Chairman until Liberman’s successor is in place.

“It has been an incredible ten years, and I am honored to have spent more than half of my professional career at such a special company,” said Liberman. “Spark is a relationship business in every sense of the word. Through iconic brands like JDate and ChristianMingle, we create countless relationships for our members every day. But, behind the scenes, it’s the relationships we have in the communities we serve and the relationships within our team that drive everything.

Suffice it to say, I am extremely proud and grateful to have played a role in building and leading such an amazing team, and to have had the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with them to transform this company and business. In their hands, Spark’s future is very bright.”

For more on these two dating sites you can read our reviews of ChristianMingle.com and JDate.com.

Oh boy. Just when you thought online dating couldn’t get any more stressful, you now have to worry about what feedback your date is sharing with the site that connected you.

Zoosk recently announced the launch of Date Feedback, a new feature that will allow members to provide commentary on their online dating experience. When Zoosk’s system recognizes that two users have exchanged a significant number of messages, Date Feedback will ask each to offer their opinions on how the conversation progressed and the likelihood of an off-line meetup. Zoosk hopes the new feature will provide valuable insight into the matchmaking process.

“At Zoosk, we are constantly improving our technology to help our members discover fulfilling relationships, and Date Feedback will be one of the first ways we’re able to add offline dates to the list of signals our algorithm can take into account for matchmaking,” said Shayan Zadeh, Co-Founder and CEO of Zoosk. “With the launch of Date Feedback and the important data points it adds, our platform will have the ability to become that much more adept at understanding how a member’s online dating experience transitions into an in-person meeting, and hopefully, a relationship.”

The goal is to offer each member a more personalized experience. By gathering data on what conditions are most likely to lead to in-person dates (and, afterwards, relationships), Zoosk is hoping to improve its Behavioral Matchmaking engine. The matching system will be better able to predict which introductions will lead to successful offline connections, making the website a more powerful tool than ever before.

It’s no surprise to see Zoosk taking a more technological approach to dating. The company has always espoused a tech-based methodology for matching, rather than a strategy based on self-reported questionnaires. The Behavioral Matchmaking engine works by tracking a user’s actions on the site – like where the user clicks and what messages s/he sends and responds to – in order to deliver better matches. Rather than using a one-size-fits all, static approach to dating (like a quiz or fixed profile), Zoosk constantly updates to accommodate your preferences and adapts its dating experience to your actions.

Now is a particularly good time for Zoosk to bring out the heavy artillery. Though it has yet to turn a profit, revenue continues to grow and the company filed documentation to become a public company in April. Zoosk plans to raise $100 million in its initial public offering later this year.

For more information on this dating site you can read our review of Zoosk.