Dating Services

MillionaireMatch.com has added a few updates to their dating service. Searching has seen the most changes with some of them being, the ability to search for new members and, searching for members whose birthday is coming up. You can also now specify a lot more information about your ideal match. This makes the "My Match" search much more useful. Along with "My Match" members can now also specify a few questions that members can answer when first contacting you. This not only gives you the information you want (without asking directly) it also acts as an ice breaker and helps get the conversation started.

When replying to emails now, Gold Members can now select from 8 prewritten replies. This makes it easy if you have a quick question to ask the member or if you want to let the person know that you currently are not interested.

Customer email support at Millionaire Match is good with most members only waiting an hour or so for a response. The dating sites Help and FAQ section is only okay. This section could still contain a lot more useful information. What MillionaireMatch.com did add (for Gold Members only) was live chat customer support. This means no more wait times for messages since you now can ask someone directly.

For more information on this dating site, read our updated review of MillionaireMatch.com.

We're back to dissect the remaining two myths in OkCupid's "4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures". While their conclusions are unquestionably food for thought, it's important to remember that OkCupid is just one dating site, with its own personality and etiquette. These results might not apply at any other dating site. Still, let's figure out the basic tips we can learn from these last two myths:

Myth 3 - Guys should keep their shirts on Though shirtless "ab shots" are somewhat of a cliché, apparently it's a cliché that works: people respond to a good set of abs. Interestingly, the effectiveness of the "ab shot" decreases with age. Unclear whether that's because the abs themselves are less impressive, or whether those who are older are looking for more than just a pretty package. Conversely, posting a cleavage shot if you're a woman can apparently help keep the messages flowing even as you age. There's no doubt that cleavage will bring you attention at any stage in life, and probably men of all ages will always appreciate a busty woman, but is it the "right" kind of attention? Considering that women tend to post more outdoor shots of themselves as they age, and respond less to the "ab shot," it sure seems like they're looking for more. A related study determined that the skin might bring attention, but actual conversations tend to occur more for people who are doing "something interesting" in their picture.

• What we can take away: If you want attention, flaunting your body will bring it - online or in the real world. It's up to you to decide if it's the kind of attention you want.

Myth 4 - Make sure your face is showing Essentially, it's okay to have a picture that doesn't clearly show your face, as long as it's an interesting photo - enticing or artistic, something that draws the viewer in regardless. This is probably an ultimate example of, "It's okay to break the rules, as long as you really know what you're doing."

• What we can take away: It's definitely a gamble to use an unusual picture. If you're new at this, it's best to stick to the simple and effective, and mix it up later.

And thus, we come to the end of the OkCupid study. Have our perceptions of online photos been dramatically altered? Maybe not - but they've certainly given us more to think about.

For part 1 of this story, read this article and for more about this dating site, read our review of OKCupid.com.

The folks from OkCupid are back again to blow our minds - and the lids off some of the common, as they call it, "Myths of Profile Pictures". While, of course, it's best to view any set of data with a critical eye and place it in the proper context (uhoh, I'm channeling my Statistics professor), let's see what we can take away from this study. One thing I'd like you to bear in mind, before we begin: OkCupid is just one dating site, and might have a different ratio of people looking for "hookups" or relationships. Also, success is measured in messages - no clue if those messages were worthwhile, or simply leering. You might get attention, but there's no guarantee it's the kind of attention you want. Now, the "Myths of Profile Pictures":

Myth 1 - It's better to smile This "myth" is somewhat misleading. In general, you can't really go wrong with smiling; what is supposedly shocking is that women also get positive responses by "flirting" directly into the camera, and men get positive responses by brooding at something off-camera. Now, is this really all that surprising? That men respond to a bit of pouty eye contact and women like that tall, dark and mysterious persona?

• What we can take away: Smiling is a still a safe bet. If you really think your best pictures fall into one of the other two categories, you can gamble and see how it pans out. Also remember that smiling sends a host of other messages, like honesty, openness, kindness, that are harder to convey in other types of photos.

Myth 2 - You shouldn't take a picture with your phone or webcam The study found that self-shot photos are marginally more successful, possibly due to the "intimate" feel these pictures have. I say this makes sense; "casual" or "natural" is almost always better than stilted and posed. And today, webcams and phones are much better than they were even five years ago.

A related find in this "myth" is that the "Myspace" shot (taken from above) is incredibly successful for women (even when you remove shots that include cleavage). While this is more surprising, it hints at how we've been changed by social media. OkCupid has a pretty large late-teen, early-twenties demographic, thanks to their quizzes, and these are kids who came of age with Myspace and digital cameras. Undoubtedly their perception of what they find attractive has been shaped by the prevalence of social media. Perhaps in days past, pinups and magazines shaped the most "alluring" poses; now, it's the Internet.

• What we can take away: Go for natural rather than posed pictures, and if you have to do the Myspace thing, you'll be just as successful without featuring the cleavage.

Join me next time to dissect the last two myths, Guys should keep their shirts on and Make sure your face is showing (see Story) .

For more about this dating site, read our review of OKCupid.com.

Our new review for the free dating site Mingle2 is up now.

When I was creating a membership on the site for the purpose of doing a review, at the end of the process Mingle 2 asked an interesting question. They asked me if I wanted to automatically register for free on FriendFinder without filling out additional information. All I had to do was just click YES and FriendFinder would email me the log in information.

I thought this was an interesting way for a mostly free dating site to make some extra money (because the 2 sites shared profile information), but I was a little surprised. I had not even reached the dating service homepage yet and I was already prompted about another matchmaking service. This cannot really instill confidence in Mingle2 for new members. I wonder how many people actually click yes.

To find out more about this dating site, check out our new Mingle2 review.

"My Match" is a suite of tools in which Match.com recently launched to help complement their existing search capabilities. This personalized matching channel is accessible from the tool menu at the top of most Match.com pages (may be called "Matches").

Here is the list of Matching Tools:

• Daily 5 - Daily introductions to people based on how likely you are to strike up a conversation together.
• Mutual Match - Daily introductions to a handful of people based on your stated preferences and their stated preferences.
• Singled Out - Introductions we only make when we believe there is an especially high likelihood that you will hit it off with the person.
• Like At First Sight - Introductions to people who we think you'll find immediately appealing based on your responses to a fun online quiz regarding first impressions.

We have seen the other features before this but, "Like At First Sight" is new and currently in Beta. "Like at First Sight" matches are based on a quiz you take. The quiz consists of 15 questions where you have to pick the best choice from 15 different answers (most questions). The difference here is all questions are answered by picking from images. For example the first question asks "Of these celebrities, I think she is most attractive:", from here you are presented with 15 different pictures of actors or actresses (depending on the gender you are interested in). The only questions which followed a different format was the one where you had to pick the voice which was most attractive to you. Other questions from the quiz include:

• The SHAPE of this face most resembles my dream woman:
• I find this hairstyle most attractive.
• Which of these figures always turns your head?

The" Like At First Sight" quiz definitely is designed to figure out what your ideal man or woman looks like. Once you complete the quiz you are then presented with a number of matches. I am curious to know how Match.com figures out some of the matches since questions about hair styles and the shape of your face are not included in ones profile. I wonder if Match.com has software to analyze profile pictures to produce these answers.

For more on the story, read the press release and to get further details on this dating service, read our review of Match.com.

 

Our Australian visitors have become a important part of our community, so this year we decided to offer the Editor's Top Pick - Australian Award. The recipient of this Award is the most visited dating site in Australia, RSVP. In business for 13 years and with over 1.5 million carefully screened profiles this is an Australian singles best choice for an online dating service.

As with most countries, Australia has plenty of dating sites which can make it confusing for first time online daters, which one do you join? Well, we found RSVP has several reasons why, which made it our pick for Editor's Choice.

• They have over 1000 new Aussie singles joining the site every day. RSVP is very popular in cities like Sydney, Perth and Melbourne (just to name a few).
• Profiles need to be mostly completed before a member can communicate or be viewable by other members.
• New members can reply to subscribed members messages. This means members who buy stamps can communicate with all users on the dating site.
• Easy to filter profiles of members who have not logged in recently. When searching you can specify to filter out members who have not been active within a certain time period.
• One of the few dating sites to offer single events and parties in all States of Australia.

RSVP is dating site for all types of single people. It doesn't matter if you are gay or straight, young or old, or if you are looking for a casual relationship or something long-term, there will be someone on RSVP that meets your match criteria. RSVP makes it easy to find these people by offering excellent search tools and once you have found them, you can use email or instant messaging to get to know them better. If you are looking for love in Australia, then RSVP is the dating site to try out first.

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

There was no Runner Up this year for the award.