Dating Services

eHarmony Australia is having a Free Communication Weekend starting this Thursday, December 31st, 2009 to Sunday, January 3rd, 2010. For some reason it is a day shorter than the North American event (see Story) but it still offers the same great value. All eHarmony members can review their matches and communicate with them for free during this 4 day event. No credit card is required.

The last eHarmony Australia free communication weekend was held at the beginning of October (see Story). By our count this is eHarmony Australia's 3rd event.

To find out why Australian singles have made this a popular online dating destination, read our eHarmony review.

Skout, a mobile phone dating service, recently did a survey of 1000 of its users. The survey participants had an even number of men and women in their 20s. Here are some of the results of the survey:

• 51% have met another single in the real world that they first contacted on their phone.
• 69% of all surveyed are comfortable in meeting up with someone they met online.
• 40% use the Skout service while out at restaurants, bars and clubs.
• 35% have used Skout at work.
• During the holidays 29% would prioritize spending time with their family while 71% would prefer going out on at least one date or hook-up.

It also looks like 20 percent of those surveyed on Skout have a significant other, with half knowing about their partners activities on these social dating sites. I don't know if this is a good statistic to advertise since it means one fifth of all Skout members are cheaters.

For more on the story, read The Washington Post. You can also find other dating sites which offer a mobile phone service here.

Ever since Zoosk received the additional $30 million in funding (see Story) they have received a lot of publicity. Even the famed Reuters Media division took notice and wrote this article. It gives a good overview and history of the company in which we have discussed before here on this site.

The article does mentioned a couple of new pieces of information about Zoosk member demographics. According to Reuters sources, about 65 percent of Zoosk's 40 million user base is under the age of 30. 24 percent of Zooskers are in their 30's and only 11 percent are over 40. This shows how popular social networking sites are for young adults. The Zoosk dating application can be found on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Hi5, and Friendster. The more traditional dating sites, like Match.com and eHarmony, usually attract older singles who are looking for long term relationships, and not necessarily the quick hook-up that Zoosk provides.

If you would like to find out more about this Facebook Dating Application, you can read our Zoosk review.

eHarmony is having a free communication weekend (FCW) starting Wednesday December 30th, 2009 and ending Sunday January 3rd, 2010. This is a special holiday event and it has been extended to 5 days (most FCW are 3 days long).

What does a free communication weekend mean? It allows members from eHarmony to be able to review their matches and communicate with them for free through the 4 stage communication process. All members can be contacted and I would expect eHarmony to be extra busy during this timeframe as most singles will be on vacation for the Holidays. If you join eHarmony during the first day (Wednesday) of the FCW, who knows, maybe you will have enough time to meet your match on New Years Eve.

The last free communication event occurred mid November, just over 4 weeks ago (see [story: eHarmony-is-Free-for-the-next-5-Days Story]). This is Free Communication Weekend number 22 for eHarmony here in the US.

Check out our review of eHarmony for more information on the dating site.

Singles interested in the Australian Free Communication Weekend, read this News Story.

Singles interested in the United Kingdom Free Communication Weekend, read this News Story.

I am not surprised that Facebook is mentioned in divorce cases now days. It can be poison to marriages, as some couples I know spend more time on Facebook everyday than they do talking to each other. I had a laugh when I read that Facebook:

is nothing more than a gigantic catalogue of people you never quite slept with. Some friends, the occasional sibling, but mostly a huge, interactive menu of sexual roads less traveled.

I don't know a single person who has not used Facebook to look up a long lost flame or the one that got away. I am not saying that it is a bad thing but when people in relationships are on Facebook looking through pictures and talking to people from the old High School and/or University days, instead of spending quality time with their partner, you have to start to wonder.

Some people also see Facebook as nothing more than a dating site. Just like on a dating site, most people on Facebook reveal themselves selectively, according to what they think will show them in the best light. On dating sites you know this type of behavior happens, but with Facebook it has the appearance of being an open book, when it really is not.

For more on this story, read the Telegraph. If you are interested in a real dating experience on Facebook, you should check out our Zoosk review.

I found that missing press release I mentioned in a previous post about the new Spark.com dating site (see Story).

A quick read through doesn't really reveal any additional information. It does confirm what we assumed in the previous post that Spark is made up of the members from AmericanSingles.com and Date.ca. Spark Networks hope that the new clean and easy to navigate interface of Spark.com will give it a more global appeal. The release also mentions the new features of Spark.com (when compared to the old dating sites). These features are the free Color Code Personality Test, the Keyword Search and the "Who's Searching for You?" feature. While these features are new at Spark, they can be found on another Spark Networks brand of dating sites called Mingle Match.

To find out more about this dating site and the new features listed here, you can check out our review of Spark.com.