Online Dating

Here is the results from a poll that 1,000 Zoosk members took about Virtual Gifts. This information is probably similar for members of other dating sites.

• Only 15 percent of members have ever sent virtual gifts.
• 76 percent stated they were more likely to respond to a potential match who sent them a virtual gift.
• 71 percent send virtual gifts which reflect their personality.
• Traditional virtual digital gifts (flowers, chocolates) make up 37 percent of all gifts sent. Gifts that show off a person's wild side (martini, etc...) make up 27 percent. 23 percent of all gifts are warm and fuzzy (teddy bear, etc...). Finally, 13 percent of virtual gifts are seasonal.

To find out more information about this online dating service you can read our review of Zoosk

According to researchers, internet dating services are used more by a certain type of person which fits a particular psychological profile. In a 2009 survey of 3,345 US citizens, researchers found the following results:

More likely to use Internet Dating

• People who are more sociable.
• Singles with high self-esteem and who put some value in romantic relationships.
• Men and women with low self-esteem and who consider romantic relationships NOT to be an important part of their life.

Less Likely to use Internet Dating

• People who are more introverted.
• Singles with low self-esteem and who put some value in romantic relationships.

The average age of the participant of the survey was 48 and all were between the ages of 19 and 89. 47.5 percent were men and 52.5 percent were woman.

For the full story and more details on the results of the survey, read PsychCentral.

There are a couple schools of thought regarding online dating profiles for single parents. I’ll present both and let you decide which rings true for you and your situation.

Don’t Mention Your Children

Your online dating profile is about you, not your children. The only place you need to mention your children is in the stats area where you select “Have kids,” how many, and your custody arrangement.

After all, your potential match isn’t going to be dating your children – they’ll be dating YOU. You are more than a mother or father. Think about what makes you unique and cool that has nothing to do with your children. Eventually they’ll be grown and out of the house and you’ll have to relate to your spouse on other levels.

According to the Better Business Bureau, complaints about dating services were up 73 percent in 2008. In my opinion, half the problem is the dating sites themselves, the other half are the expectations of some members. Here are a few points you should consider before joining a dating site to ensure you will not be disappointed with the experience.

1. The love of your life may not be found on a dating site - People do fall in love from meeting each other online but this may not be the case for you. For people who use dating sites, a third find love, a third do not find any long lasting relationships, and a third give up.
2. The cost can add up - You can be expected to pay from $10 to $60 per month on most dating sites over your subscription period. If you find you are not satisfied with the service MAKE SURE to turn off the auto renewal of your dating site membership subscription.
3. Research - Talk to your single friends for their opinions on which dating site is the best, and search for reviews online of dating sites (since you are reading this you are off to a good start). You want to make sure you pick the right dating site for you.
4. Free Trials - Free trial memberships on dating sites usually have a number of limitations. Most of the time, you either have full access for a certain number of days to the dating site, OR you have partial access for an unlimited number of days. On dating sites with partial access this usually means you cannot communicate directly with other members. You can only create a profile, search for members and view profiles.
5. Dating Site Criteria - Before paying your money right away, join as a free member and perform a number of searches to look for your ideal match. If the dating site doesn't allow you to see what type of single members they have then they have something to hide. If you didn't find at least 10 to 20 potential matches in your area, then move on. I recommend joining your 3 top pick dating services using the free trials after you have done your research (Point 3). From there you can pick the best one.
6. Personal e-mail address - When joining any website (not just dating) you may want to use a throw away email address for privacy and safety reasons. These are readily available through Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. This will keep any unwanted email from reaching your personal account.

For more points on how to avoid entering into a bad relationship with a dating site, read the full article at MSNBC.

Our review of BlackPeopleMeet.com (BPM) is finally up. I had originally planned to have this review ready a couple of months ago but things kept getting in the way of me finishing it up (my subscription even ran out). With the recent purchase of People Media (the owners of BPM) by IAC (owners of Match.com), I thought it would be a good time to finish up the review (see Story). Expect to see more reviews coming soon of some other People Media dating sites, including SeniorPeopleMeet.com and SingleParentMeet.com.

If you are interested in meeting African-American singles, check out the full BlackPeopleMeet.com Review now.

Are you a member of BlackPeopleMeet.com? If so, why don't you post your own review.

BlackPeopleMeet.com User Review

In an article on the UK website, The Guardian, author Tanya Gold asks the question, Are Britons who are searching for love online, looking in the wrong place? At the point of writing the article Tanya had been internet dating for 3 weeks. She so far has mixed feelings. On one had she is dazzled by the possibilities but on the other, she feels "sleazy and slightly vulnerable".

Tanya gives four examples of online dating gone wrong. Two are her own dating experiences and all seem to point to men as the ones causing all of the problems 😲. I had a laugh at one of her dates named Clive. Apparently he had broken his dentures the day of the date and asked if he could pick her up toothless. What was he thinking? She also gave 4 positive examples of how online dating worked and created successful matches. One of her examples was Jane, who in 10 years, went on more than 200 internet dates before she met her soul mate.

Lets look at some of the UK stats more closely in which Tanya compiled. According to her information, fifteen million people in Britain are single, and almost five million are looking for love online. 20 percent of married people between the ages of 19 and 25 met their spouse online and a YouGov survey of 2000 people found that, for all age groups, 15 percent of couples met through the internet. The surprising twist here is that according to research at Bath University, a relationship that was started online lasts on average 7 months. I wonder how long an average relationship lasts that was not formed on the internet?

Across the pound and in America, Tanya found that according to the Plenty of Fish dating site, 33 percent of online daters form a relationship, 33 percent do not, and the last 33 percent give up on internet dating altogether. She also discovered a poll from the University of Texas which found 30 percent of women who met men online had sex on their first date. From these encounters, 77 percent of men did not wear condoms (how about other birth protection?) When compared to the information from the Centre of US Disease Control, almost 50 percent of all women required men to wear a condom during their first sexual experience.