Bad Economy Good for Online Dating
Online dating services like PerfectMatch.com and Match.com say that the bad economy is resulting in increased growth and paid memberships for people looking for love. Match.com announced this month that November was its strongest month for memberships in more than seven years.
"During these trying times, people are looking for hope in their inbox and they are finding it on Match.com," says Thomas Enraght-Moony, CEO of Match.com.
Match.com is one of the largest online dating services, with more than 15 million current members.
During the mid-summer to early fall time of increasingly high gas prices, mass layoffs, and banking scandals, onilne dating service PerfectMatch.com saw a 47% increase in memberships for its dating service.
So what's going on?
According to Dr. Pepper Schwartz, chief relationship expert for Perfectmatch.com, "One of the hardest emotional feelings is being in the midst of bad news by yourself,. We are all generally better as a team and appreciate someone who shares our values, goals and lifestyle, and that's why we've seen increased traffic to top dating sites in the current economic climate."
This is backed up by research from Opinion Research Corp which shows that when young singles get stressed financially, they seek out love more often.
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Patti Novak's First Date Tips
Patti Novak is the acclaimed matchmaker from the former Confessions of a Matchmaker TV series. Online Dating Magazine is interviewing her so that readers can gain more valuable advice and insight. While waiting for the interview to be completed and published, here are some of Patti Novak's First Date Tips:
1) On a first date, never do shots or drink too much alcohol.
2) On a first date, don't interview your date like it's a job interview.
3) If you have a checklist of what Mr. or Mrs. Right is like, burn it. When on a date, don't do comparison's between your date and some checklist you made up...
(click here to read the full story)
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First Date Gift (Dear Dating Advice) Is it appropriate to give a gift on a first date?
The answer to your question is dependent on how long you’ve been communicating with the other person. If you’ve had regular communications (email and phone) for more than a month before meeting and you feel you’ve really gotten to know the other person, then a nice token gift is appropriate. However, if you’ve only been communicating a few days or a week before the first date then it’s more appropriate to not purchase a gift since you haven’t established any type of true “connection” yet.... (click here to read the entire answer)
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Person Stops Communicating- What do You do? (You Make the Call)
You've been emailing someone you met online regularly for several weeks and seem to have hit it off. But suddenly the person "disappears" and you don't hear from him/her for weeks. What do you do? ? (click here to give your answer)
Best Answer From Last Week
Last week the situation was what you would do if you showed up on a first date only to find the person looked 10 years older than their online dating photo. The best answer submitted was by Susan, who said:
"This is a touchy subject because you want to get the point across that what they did was wrong without offending them. Someone said they would just leave. I think that's offensive. I think staying, but saying nothing, only encourages the person to keep lying. I would either bring it up during the date by first asking when the photo they posted was taken or I would send an email once the date was over. But I would not go on another date with the person because deception in a relationship is never good."
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Featured Video of the Week
Mr. Bean's Guide to Dating
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