General News

Single men and women make up a third of the U.S. adult population, and now Match.com has done its second comprehensive study on how that third is living and thinking in 2012. Over 5,000 unattached Americans participated in the study and sounded off about politics, sex, love, and everything in between. Here's what they had to say:

Is PDA a-ok? Opinion is still divided. Men are more likely to engage in public displays of affection (41%), while women are a little more shy about showing off (31%).

Is the bad economy creating bad love lives? The economy currently ranks as the #1 source of stress for singles, but 60% say that it's had no effect on their dating habits and more than 40% say they would date someone who was unemployed if they were already interested in that person.

Are men just as sick of singlehood as women are? It seems like it...31% of men and 33% of women find loneliness to be "somewhat stressful" or "very stressful." Believe it or not, men are actually more likely to report that loneliness is a difficult side effect of being single (27% of men as compared to 22% of women).

Which political party has a better sex life? The war between liberals and conservatives rages on! Conservative Republicans are 40% more likely to be satisfied with their sex lives than people with other political affiliations, but they also report having the lowest amount of sexual activity in the last 12 months.

Is love at first sight a fantasy or a fact? Women may not be the romantics we think they are. By age 30, 51% of women say they believe in love at first sight and have experienced it, while 58% of men say they have gone ga-ga for a girl at first glance.

Who is more afraid of cohabitation? Contrary to popular belief, women are less likely to expect to move in with a man before they'd been dating for a year. 46% of men say they would move in with a new love they'd been dating for less than a year, but only 26% of women say the same thing.

Does getting old mean getting desperate? Definitely not. Singles over 60 are less likely to settle for a partnership that doesn't have both sex and romance than singles in any other age bracket.

What do singles really want? Single Americans are looking for more than a superficial level of compatibility. Only 11% say they "must have" a partner from the same ethnic background or with similar religious beliefs. Only 23% say marriage is a must-have, and only 26% say their partner must want children. Instead, singles these days are focused on deeper qualities and personal fulfillment - 93% say that what matters most is finding someone they can trust and confide in.

For more results from the singles survey, check out the Match blog here and keep an eye out for break downs of the findings from the likes of Dr. Helen Fisher and Dr. Laura Berman.

To find out more about this dating service who released the survey you can read our review of Match.com.

Do you only fall for people who have the same musical taste as you? If sharing music is a top priority when it comes to love, you're in luck. A new app by Japanese TYO Inc. called Chu Chu Tune assesses a couple's compatibility by comparing their iTunes playlists.

It works like this: once the app is launched (on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod - no Android equivalent exists), you press "play" and then hold it face-to-face with your love interest's Apple device, like they are kissing. (The term "chu chu" in Japanese apparently means "kiss.") Then the apps scroll through each respective partner's playlist looking for matches. When they find a matching song, that tune starts playing on both devices. If multiple matches are found, the app ranks them and indicates to each user a strong compatibility. And if there isn't a matching song? Sad face - you get a message that you should find someone else who better suits your musical tastes.

While this seems like a fun way to flirt if you're a little shy and looking for a conversation starter, it also seems a little awkward. Isn't it easier to just ask your date what he likes to listen to, or even scroll through your playlists together looking for new tunes? Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I prefer to talk. It's kind of creepy that my iPod has to "kiss" another iPod in order to get things going. To me it's like texting when you're on a date - not very engaging with the other person.

Basing matchmaking on similar interests like music isn't a new idea. There are plenty of dating websites dedicated to people who want to narrow the dating pool down to cater to their specific preferences - whether they're vegetarians, Republicans, or dog lovers. There's a UK-based dating website called Tastebuds, which, like Chu Chu Tune, matches its members based on musical compatibility. You simply list your favorite bands or artists and then you're matched based on tastes and location. (You can also search by age or particular artist.)

I can see how Chu Chu Tune might be a good ice-breaker if you can't really find anything to talk about, or if music really is the best indicator of compatibility for you. I encourage an open mind and new ways of dating. Just remember, when you limit your choices you're also limiting yourself from a lot of great candidates. Musical preferences shouldn't be a deal-breaker. Besides, isn't it more interesting to introduce new music to each other?

Here is a short video clip of Sam Moorcroft, the CEO of ChristianCafe.com being interviewed about his dating service and why more Christians are turning to online dating to meet their soul mate.

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

In the video they also talk about other popular dating sites and why there are some disadvantages to using a large generic dating site if you are looking for someone of the same faith.

For more on the story you can read CBN. ChristianCafe.com is a service dedicated to connecting Christian singles together for marriage. If you are interested in this service you can check out our Christian Cafe review for more information.

Plenty Of Fish is reporting that they had over 300 million monthly visits to their Android and iPhone apps last month. I am not sure if they mean they had 300 million visits to their respective app pages on iTunes and Android Market or if members used the apps on their phones a total of 300 million times (probably the latter, but how can you visit an app, I thought you used an app).

Plenty Of Fish is also seeing mobile traffic increasing by 3 percent every week with 40 percent of all United States signups now coming from mobile phones and tablets. iPads saw an increase of usage by 88 percent alone from December 2011 to January 2012 (must be those Holiday presents). All this traffic equals to over 3 billion page views a month coming from mobile apps. Wow, that is a lot! I never expected such a large percentage of signups would come from mobile devices already.

I guess the iTunes PlentyOfFish app description needs an update though, as I write this post it currently states that Plenty Of Fish has over 145 million monthly visitors and 38 million users.

To find out about this dating service and their mobile apps you can read our Plenty Of Fish review.

Every online dating site boasts about their "success stories," hoping to entice new members who are looking for success stories of their own to join up.

But when it comes to online dating, what does "success" actually mean? Does going on dates make your online dating experience a success? Is a long-term relationship the desired successful end result? Is marriage the only measure of online dating success?

Two Ph.D students at Drexel, Rachel Magee and Christopher Mascaro, and their advisor Dr. Sean P. Goggins decided to find out exactly what success means to online daters in a study called "Not Just a Wink and a Smile: An Analysis of User-Defined Success in Online Dating." The team collected success stories dated from 1997 through early 2011from three of cyberspace's most popular dating sites - Match.com, eHarmony.com, and OkCupid.com - then examined the relationship status ("Dating," "Engaged," or "Married") of a random sampling of 20% of the stories.

They found that the definition of "success" varies between the Web sites. eHarmony's success stories are primarily married couples (84%), while the number of married couples on Match and OkCupid are lower (46.7% and 23%, respectively). They also found that the number of success stories on eHarmony and Match increases from "Dating" through "Engaged" to "Married," indicating that they are good options for singles looking for serious, long-term relationships. On the other hand, OkCupid's frequency decreases from "Dating" through "Married."

Success, the researchers determined, is strongly defined as marriage on eHarmony, whereas a successful experience on OkCupid is most commonly defined as dating and the definitions are more evenly distributed on Match. Additional findings showed that most success stories credited the site that brought the couple together in a phrase like "Thank you (site name)," meaning that the dating site chosen to find a partner was a very important part of the story for the couples studied.

So what can other online daters take away from this information? Choose your dating site wisely. All sites are not created equally, and which site you choose is likely to have a significant impact on your online dating experience. Singles who are looking for a relaxed experience and low-key dating should check out OkCupid, while singles who are looking for a serious connection may want to steer clear of it. For long-term relationships and marriage-minded members, Match and eHarmony may be better bets.

For more on the dating sites mentioned you can read our review of Match.com and our review of eHarmony.com.

Valentine's Day will be here soon and the dating site Chemistry will be offering free communication this weekend for members of their service. Starting first thing on Friday February the 10th and running till end of day on Sunday February 12th you will be able to flirt, communicate and connect for free. No credit card is required for this promotion and you will be able to view other members complete profile including photos. Communication includes Chemistry starters and email.

Chemistry is a dating site designed for singles looking for a long-term relationship. Their advanced matching system is based on the work of Dr. Helen Fisher. With the information you provide in your free Chemistry profile you will be matched with other members on not just your location and interests but personality types as well.

Just over a month ago Chemistry had their last free communication weekend. To find out more about this popular dating site you can read our review of Chemistry.