General News

People Media, in association with Chicago market researcher Synovate, released the results of a national wide survey of 1,000 people conducted last month which shows 49% of Americans knows of someone who found a date online. This statistic has almost doubled since a 2006 survey done by Pew Internet & American Life. It was also found, in the age demographic of Americans who goes online the least, people 65 or more, that almost a third (31 percent) knew of someone who had found a date online.

From the survey, it was also found that 28 percent of the respondents knew more than one person who found at least one date online:

• 3.4% knew more than 5 people
• 4% knew 4 or 5 people
• 20.7% knew 2 or 3 people
• 20.6% knew 1 person

A few more interesting details from the results include, singles are more likely to know someone who dated someone they found online, when compared to a person who is married (55% compared to 44%). Similarly Caucasians were more likely than other ethnicities to know someone who found a date on the internet (51% compared to 40%).

To find out more about a few of People Media's dating sites, read our review of BlackPeopleMeet.com and our review of SeniorPeopleMeet.com.

Match.com released a list of the top 25 most affordable cities in America for dating. In each city the average cost of a typical date was compared, which was a casual dinner for two plus two movie tickets. Pittsburgh came out on top, since it was the cheapest at just over $77 for a typical date. Los Angeles rounding off the list at number 25, with a couple needing to spend $126 for the same date. Here is the complete list of the top 25 most affordable cities for dating:

1. Pittsburgh
2. Detroit
3. Sacramento, Calif.
4. Phoenix
5. Indianapolis
6. St. Louis, Mo.
7. Tampa
8. Orlando
9. Houston
10. Charlotte, N.C.
11. Atlanta
12. Denver
13. Cleveland
14. Miami
15. Portland, Ore.
16. Minneapolis
17. Seattle
18. Philadelphia
19. Boston/li>
20. Dallas
21. Washington, D.C.
22. Chicago
23. New York
24. San Francisco
25. Los Angeles

For more information on the topic, read the press release. To find out further details about the dating service, read our Match.com review.

Opps, we made a mistake. Originally this post had stated that eHarmony US and Canada were having a free communication weekend starting today August 28th until August 31st. It looks like we were incorrect. As reported 2 weeks ago the eHarmony Free Communication Weekend is still on (as of right now) for the UK and Australia (see Story). We do expect a free promotion to come soon for the US and Canada, if past experience is any indication. Most likely Canada's will be held on the Labour Day Holiday weekend (Sept. 4th-7th).

Read our review of eHarmony for more information on this popular online matchmaking service in the United Kingdom and Australia.

A press release from Chemistry highlights the fact their chief scientific advisor Dr. Helen Fisher, has determined through research that success in the bedroom may lead to a more rewarding career. In a study she did using data from 40,000 Chemistry members where 56 percent were woman and the average age was 27, Dr. Fisher found:

... increased sexual activity may lead to an improvement in problem-solving, confidence and teamwork.

These skills may see improvements due to the fact of the chemicals which are released in the human body during sexual activities. As example, sex increases testosterone which has been linked to self confidence. The rush some people feel during sex is due to Dopamine, which has been linked to improved creativity. After sex both women and men receive a boost of Oxytocin and Vasopressin. These chemicals generate trust and attachment. These personality traits are all tied to how well you succeed in life, therefore a person who excels in all of these personality traits most likely will have a successful career as well.

To find out more about the dating site Dr. Helen Fisher represents, check out our Chemistry review.

I am glad to see eHarmony responding in their official blog to an article titled "Marriage-Maker Claims Are Tied in Knots " from the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ article examines some of the marriage statistics released by dating sites like eHarmony as well as the methodology used to calculate such statistics. We talked a bit about this topic as well, a couple of weeks ago when the original WSJ article was published (see Story).

The WSJ article didn't look to kindly on the stats released by dating sites, and for the most part I agree with the author. The public does need to know how these statistics are generated. Of all the dating sites mentioned in the WSJ article, "eHarmony stands out as among the more careful ones". This is not exactly a glowing report for eHarmony so, they decided to post a response on their blog.

In the eHarmony blog post they go into further details on how they calculated that their dating site was responsible for 2% of marriages in the United States, from the 12-month period ending March 2007. Most of the information we already knew about from a previously released PDF file titled "eHarmony | Harris Interactive 2007 Marriage Metrics Number of eHarmony Marriages" (see Story), but the post does flush out a few more details. What this blog post does show is, eHarmony is trying to be as open and transparent with their research findings as possible. I think the name "Open Communication" may indeed be a good choice for the official eHarmony blog.

Here is the full eHarmony response to the Wall Street Journal about how they calculate their marriage statistics. For further information about this dating site, read our review of eHarmony.

Muslima.com and a few other Cupid Media dating sites have received new home page designs. The new design includes the registration fields on the home page instead of the standard search fields allowing you to specify gender, location and age range. This new format does allow you to view profiles without creating an account first, but only by using the Men's and Women's galleries. For full search capabilities visitors must create a free members account.

We also got word that Cupid Media's IT team is working to improve the user experience and as a result, they are currently rolling out brand new hardware and databases for the entire Cupid Media dating network. This means the sites will not only load faster and experience less down time but will also offer users additional options for customizations and site features in the near future. The first website software upgrade on the list is the local search feature. When it has been upgraded we will review the changes in another blog post and update our Muslima review.

For more information on the dating site, read our review of Muslima.com.