Dating Services

Have you been told to keep your shirt on/button it up/have someone else take your photo/look away from the camera?

In all of the instances above, OKCupid is shutting you down. The popular online dating site decided to dig into its members' profile pictures and see if there was a story to be told. Indeed, there was, but certainly not the story the folks at OKCupid expected. The study's data covers 18 to 31-year-old only and reviewed over 7,000 photographs to come to a few conclusions. Grab a coffee (and maybe a note pad) so you can soak-up everything OKCupid shares and maybe make some meaningful changes to your own online dating profile.

Smiling is Good, but There's Something Better

We all get that smiling is the key for any happy photo, but OKCupid discovered that there's one more thing that takes a smiling photo to the next level: the flirty look. The ideal look for profile pictures that work is a smiling, flirty face looking directly into the camera...for ladies. Eye contact is important and enhances a woman's attractiveness, while the flirty look seems to send things over the top. On the contrary, men were found to be most attractive in photos where they look away from the camera and do not smile.

Self-Portraits Sell

Who knew that the "MySpace" style profile picture would be successful? Certainly not OKCupid. But according to their study, these pictures pull more weight than one might think. The self-shot photos for both men and women garnered more bites (new contacts) per month than regular photos taken by someone else. They initially thought these surprising results (for women, at least) were purely a product of self-shots being more revealing (i.e. cleavage). Then again, men don't have (or should not have) cleavage, so that was out. Perhaps it's simply a factor of self-shots being honest. They're not edited or photoshopped and you know they're probably current photos. Oh - and an interesting tidbit: guys, you can take your shirts off, but the ladies start losing interest (sharply) after they turn 19.

Beauty May Be Only Skin-Deep?

"Keep your clothes on." We ladies have heard that repeatedly when it comes to out online dating profile pictures, right? Have a seat. Get ready for convention to be challenged. OKCupid says that profiles that include a cleavage shot, regardless of the member's age, get more pings than those profiles without. Shocking! Be sure to check out the charts in this section of the report, as a woman who always thought that showing a little "down there" always meant I didn't value myself "up there," I'm going through a paradigm shift here.

But wait - the report dup a little deeper with the "cleavers." They modeled potential conversations held the keepers of the cleavage shot (in comparison to those with other types of photos and discovered...those members with "more interesting" photos were more likely to have enduring conversations (information based on the number of back and forth messages and the type of photos in a member's profile).

OK, so all may not be lost below or above the chest, but maybe a little more skin can't hurt?

OK - Show Your Face. Or Not?

We've been forever told to show our faces in our online dating profile photos. Let people see what you look like. Make sure they know it's YOU. But OKCupid discovered a very interesting tangent in their recent study: no face can be great if you give them something else to look at. An intriguing photo that's a bit quirky can beg conversation and in the long run, prove itself just as powerful as a full-face profile picture. Who knew, right? Maybe that odd little picture your friend snapped of your next or your series of self-portrait in shoe...potential online dating profile pictures, all of them!

To read the complete report, OKCupid's blog and to find out more about this dating site, read our review of OKCupid.

In 2005 Great Hill Partners bought about 25 percent stake in Spark Networks. Just recently we learned that the PE firm offered to take Spark Networks private and buy all the shares it does not own. This would cost them about $64 million USD. Spark Networks announced their intentions to evaluate the acquisition proposal.

Spark Networks stock in 2008 was worth about $131 million. Since then they have struggled and seen their value drop to about $84 million. Spark Networks flagship dating site AmericanSingles.com during this time saw a huge drop in membership numbers (it has since been renamed Spark.com). Other dating sites they own like JDate.com have remained strong though.

Great Hill Partners stated that if they took Spark Networks private, the company could then focus on long term growth without worrying about pleasing stock holders with short term profits.

For the full story read Gigaom.

The Editor's choice for the Top Pick - Sexy Award goes to Passion.com. This intimate encounters website community continues to be popular with the singles crowd, thanks in large part to how easy it is to meet and interact with new people. Members can email, instant message, text chat and webcam chat (as a group or one on one). There are special interest groups to join and blogs to read. With these features and tools, Passion.com makes it is easy to expand your network of friends and partners.

Passion.com is an international adult dating site which has many men and women actively meeting and communicating with each other. They now have over 33 million members with at least 100,000 members logged in at any one time. This interactive dating service even has a guarantee. If you do not meet up with someone in 3 months, your membership will be extended an additional 3 months for free.

Read our review of Passion.com for more information about this dating service or visit Passion.com directly.

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: Lavalife.

With OKCupid's recent media buzz over their statistic filled blog posts, it seems to have garnered them some more attention and not all of it is good. One college aged woman wrote about her experience on OKCupid and said:

Stupid, stupid Cupid. This addictive, pixelated piece of crap has robbed too much of my time; time spent reading incoherent, innuendo-ridden messages ...

She wrapped up her post by stating "Don't join OKCupid.com". Her main complaint seems to be that all the guys on the dating site just want to have sex.

Was she being fair to OKCupid? I don't think so. For one thing, I think her expectations were off, especially because of the signals she was sending out. For example, after joining OKCupid and creating a profile she states:

Then, we moved on to uploading pictures. These pictures had to be HOT. We’re talking steamy.

Just like at a club or bar if you dress hot and steamy you're going to attract a certain type of guy, online dating is no different. I'm not saying your profile photo shouldn't be attractive or even a little sexy; it's just if you dial it up too much you should realize the type of guys you are going to attract, the ones looking for a one night stand and not necessary a relationship.

To find out further details about this dating site, read our review of OKCupid.

After careful review, we have determined that Plentyoffish.com is the winner of the Editor's Top Pick - Free Award. This service is by far the largest of the free dating sites on the internet. While PlentyofFish.com (POF) does offer a paid component now, most features of the dating site continue to be free, including all communication between members.

So why did we decide on POF? The answer is easy, members! This dating site has many active users; no other free dating site even comes close. Part of the reason why PlentyofFish.com is so popular is they offer all the tools needed for online dating. When user's signup you get to fill out a typical profile for yourself that contains most attributes people consider when dating someone. When searching for singles comes into play you will have a number of options available to you, from the basic search which is quick and easy, to the advance search which allows you to search on any attribute in a profile. With members you like, communication is a breeze with the built in and easy to use private messaging system. Privacy and safety is also important on POF, for example you can specify the types of members you do not want contacting you.

PlentyofFish.com also has a few other free relationship services for members. You can take the Relationship Chemistry Predictor which contains 48 questions about yourself and your personality. Once completed POF will then match you with other members based on the answers you have given. There is also a Relationship Needs Assessment which better helps you understand what you require in a relationship. Once you have taken the assessment you are given an action plan to help you discover if your potential partners will meet your needs.

If you are looking for a dating site which is free to use then PlentyofFish.com should be the first service on your list. Chances are they will have plenty of members actively seeking a relationship living in your area.

Read our review of Plentyoffish.com for more information about this online dating service or visit Plentyoffish.com directly.

This Year's Runner Up for this award is: OkCupid.com.

I found a news item on the eHarmony blog that was interesting. Researchers at UC Berkeley teamed up with a dating site to find out how important the photo headshot is for a dating profile. For both genders, researchers found that a photo in a profile was necessary for a member to be deemed attractive. Researchers also found that participants of the study said that the actual content of the profile was then used to determine if the member in the profile was a possible match and deserved to be contacted. The photo is the hook, but it is the content in the profile and how the person portrayed themselves that is the deciding factor for communication.

Finally, once the two online daters met face to face, looks became the least important predictor of a long term relationship. The overall attraction and the "connection" were deemed most important.

Find out more on the eHarmony Blog. For further info about this matchmaking service, read our eHarmony review.