General News

It seems like we have had an influx of dating TV shows lately. Let's see what America has been watching.

There is the The Newlywed Game which we have blogged a bit about. It is sponsored by the popular dating site eHarmony (see Story). While not a dating show, it does deal with relationships.

One of the more popular dating shows and the number one TV show on Monday nights is, The Bachelorette. It just had the season finale last week where Jillian Harris finally picked her man, Ed Swiderski.

Dating in the Dark is a new show by ABC which has become popular. For each episode, 6 singles spend time in a house where they meet and talk with each other in the dark. No one in the house has any idea on what the other persons physical attributes are. At the end of the show the contestants must pick their match and then each person is unveiled. It is the ultimate experiment in, does looks really matter?

Another new dating show that just started on the Fox Network is called More to Love. It is from the creator of The Bachelor. More to Love works very similar to The Bachelor except, the "real world" guy, gets to pick from a group of women who come in "all shapes and sizes".

Here is a list (in no particular order) by EW.com of more new and old Dating/Relationship shows:

• Change of Heart
• A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila
• Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire
• Temptation Island
• Flavor of Love
• The Littlest Groom
• Playing It Straight
• Blind Date: Uncensored
• Mr. Personality
• Married By America
• Rock of Love
• Joe Millionaire

It's Just Lunch has recently expanded and opened a physical location in the St. Cloud area. Over the last 3 years at the Minneapolis headquarters, the director, had noticed an increasing number of singles from the St. Cloud using their matchmaking services. Since It's Just Lunch requires an in-person interview it was decided back in April that a additional location which was closer to these clients was required in Waite Park.

The Minneapolis headquarters has 10 employees. When someone becomes a client of It's Just Lunch, there is a personal hour long interview which you talk more about yourself and what you want in a match. Matches are then hand selected and the staff coordinates the dates between the two clients. After each date, the client provides feedback which is then used to help further narrow a match for them. Memberships can be put on hold anytime if a couple want to explore a relationship further.

To find out what this matchmaking service is all about, read our detailed review of It's Just Lunch.

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.

Are you someone who signed up to ChristianCafe and are still not sure if they are the right online dating site for you? To help you decide, check out their member testimonials. They are listed by year and month, and go as far back as 2002. Each testimonial contains a message from the happy couple along with a few photos (usually from the wedding).

If you haven't become a member yet of this dating site, read our review of ChristianCafe for more information and to find out how to receive a 10 day free trial that gives you complete access to the service (communication included). No credit card is required for the free trial.

Dr. Pepper Schwartz, the lead relationship guru behind Perfectmatch.com's matchmaking system is a sociologist at the University of Washington. Dr. Schwartz is finding more and more seniors are going online looking for love and companionship. She recently helped an 80 year friend join a dating site. The over 50 segment of the population has been the fastest growing group of online daters since 2007. Dr. Schwartz is happy to see the trend continue. She explains that 20 years ago, when a person in their 60s, 70s or 80s lost a spouse, they had a much smaller chance of finding a partner again. Meeting new people for seniors was hard because the chances of this happening beyond their current circle of relationships with the people at church, the senior center and through friends was small. With the rise of internet dating, this has all changed. Now single seniors can go online and meet thousands of other local singles in their age group, looking to meet new people.

For the full article, read the Washington Post and to find out more about the dating service Dr. Schwartz is involved with, read our review of Perfectmatch.com.

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