Online Dating

Almost 2 months ago Zoosk reported that their Facebook Fan page had over 1 million fans. I checked today and they currently have 1,612,923 Facebook Fans. Here is a YouTube video that Zoosk put together to mark the milestone.

That certainly is a large number of fans and the increase of 600 thousand fans in under 2 months is an achievement itself (that is roughly 10,000 Facebook Fans a day). This is by far the largest number of Fans any dating site has on Facebook. Two other popular online dating sites only have about 6,000 each.

For more information on this popular dating site, read our review of Zoosk.com.

JetPlace, the owners of the Australian dating and swinger site Red Hot Pie, was ordered by the federal court to remove 1,371 fake profiles that they had on their website. Jetplace must also disclose to its Red Hot Pie members that they had misrepresented the number of users on the dating site. Members who registered between December 2004 and November 26, 2008 will also receive notices via email of this information. These same users can also apply for a refund if they can show that they were mislead by these fake profiles.

These fake profiles created by Jetplace contravened the Australian Trade Practices Act of 1974 since the dating site engaged in misleading conduct. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said they would have gone after Red Hot Pie in civil court where penalties are more severe but the conduct of the dating site happened before the new Australian Consumer Law. In their defence, Red Hot Pie said these profiles were created over a 4 year period and only a small number were active at any one time. They were used by the dating site's User Security Suite.

For more information on this story, read The Sydney Morning Herald.

Instead of a Free Communication Weekend (FCW), eHarmony has decided to have a 10 day long Free Communication Event! As far as I know this is the first time eHarmony has had a 10 day event. Most Free Communication promotions are less than half the length of time at 4 days. Free communication for this event starts this Friday July 23, 2010 and runs straight through to Sunday August 1, 2010. As with the Free Communication Weekends, members during this time period will be able to create a profile, take the eHarmony Questionnaire, receive matches and then communicate with them all at no cost and with no credit card required. Features available only to paid members during this promotion are viewing profile pictures, eHarmony Mail and Fasttracking the guided communication process.

If you are thinking about trying out eHarmony, this weekend would be a good time to start. The next 10 days will certainly be busy as old and new members take advantage of this event. For new members this is a great way to learn how to use eHarmony and it will give you a good idea on how eHarmony's matching system works. This will probably be one of the busiest weeks on eHarmony this summer thanks to it being prime vacation time, and this event.

This Free Communication Event/Weekend will be eHarmony's 27th. The last FCW was held on the Independence Day Holiday Weekend only 3 weeks ago (see Story).

For more information on this popular online matchmaking service, you can check out our review of eHarmony.

Chemistry.com is planning a Free Weekend starting Friday July 23rd, 2010 and ending Sunday, July 25th, 2010. During this weekend no Credit Card is required to use almost all the functions of this popular matchmaking dating site. This includes creating a profile, taking the personality test, receiving highly targeted matches and communicating with them as well.

Chemistry works because of the match system behind their fun and interactive personality test. You not only answer unique and thought provoking multiple choice questions, you will be asked to analysis situations and images. All this information is then used to determine your personality type, and is then compared and matched with other Chemistry members. On this dating site you will only be contacted by members who are determined to be a good match for you and not by people just searching through a long list of members. This makes Chemistry the ideal choice for singles who are only interested in a long-term relationship.

This Flirtathon is the 8th time Chemistry has offered a free weekend for members. The last Chemistry.com free weekend for communication happened at the end of April (see Story). To find out more information on this dating service which does the matching for you, read our Chemistry.com review.

Here are the Canadian eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on December 31, 2010.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in Canada (eHarmony.ca).

For US singles, go here for our eHarmony USA (eHarmony.com) coupons.

For UK singles, go here for our eHarmony United Kingdom (eHarmony.co.uk) vouchers.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.

Improving views on your dating profile is mostly dependent on your headline, profile photo, and any miscellaneous content available at first glance.

Your headline: your headline should represent you in some way. If brevity is not your forte, try to find a way to summarize the content of your profile. Are you an edgy movie buff? A concert pianist with an eye for fashion? By picking out a few key aspects of your profile, you can give users a quick glimpse into your life.

Warning: Avoid words like “normal” and “ordinary” -- both in your headline and profile in general. “I’m just a normal guy/girl” doesn’t tell the reader anything relevant about you. If you’re anything other than normal, it’s sure to come across in your profile without your disclaimer. Likewise with words like “fun” and “easy going.” Instead of describing yourself in these ways, try to think of concrete examples. Everyone has different ideas of what it means to have fun. Are you fun because you like to play sports? Are you fun because you’re really into board games? Because you like to go to the museum? Or hang out at the beach? By explaining what activities you enjoy, the reader and potential match will be better able to determine what kind of “fun” he or she is interested in having with you.

Profile photo: having a profile picture will increase your profile views exponentially. If you don’t have one on hand, ask a friend to shoot a picture for you, preferably with natural light for a clear shot. Avoid pictures that are blurry or grainy. Headshots usually work best for the profile picture, as they show off your best and most accessible feature: your face!

Depending on the dating website you use, some sites will show miscellaneous parts of your profile in the search results. Use it as an opportunity to put your best foot forward and make sure it counts! If there’s something particularly special or interesting about you, make sure you include it in the space viewable in the search results to pique the interest of viewers.