About Dating Online

Jean Meyer gets compared to Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, quite a lot these days; and he doesn’t mind one bit. Meyer is a business student at Columbia University and the co-founder of “Date My School” a dating website exclusively for students of certain colleges.

Meyer originally launched “Date My School” at Columbia, but has also launched the site for New York University, Fashion Institute of Technology and UC Berkeley, too. In April the site will go live at Harvard and MIT.

The premise of “Date My School” is slightly different than many other niche dating websites. Meyer’s take on college dating at such competitive schools was that students simply couldn’t find time for love because they were enrolled in competitive programs, focused on good grades and a good career and had little time on their hands. With “Date My School”, they can meet up with students at their own university, which makes it easier for them to spend time together. It also allows them to date people who will be more likely to understand their busy schedule.

“Date My School” doesn’t provide matching algorithms like many popular traditional dating sites, but it does allow students to be very particular about who sees their profile and who they want to date. Many students, for example, prefer not to match with others in their same program of study.

Jean Meyer, along with Balazs Alexa, has successfully pulled of another great niche dating site, meeting the needs of a very specific dating community. Meyer is French; maybe it’s true that the French know a bit more about love than the rest of us. You can read the full article on Jean Meyer and “Date My School” at the New York Times.

HIV and Single, a popular HIV dating site , has announced they will give free lifetime premium memberships to the next 50,000 members that join the site.

In the past, only standard membership has been free. Standard membership allowed members to search and view other members, send flirts, see who's looking at their profile, and participate in the forums. If a member wanted to communicate with other members via email, instant messaging, text, etc, they would need to upgrade to a premium membership for $9.99 per month.

The next 50,000 new members on http://www.hivandsingle.com will be upgraded to a lifetime premium membership for free, provided they upload a photo and follow the site's profile guidelines, which include things like no foul language, no nudity, no spam, etc.

HIV and Single's mission, as stated on their website is to help people living with HIV find friendship, love and companionship without the fear of disclosure, stigmas or judgment.

Founder, Matt Beram says, "Dating for HIV positive singles is very difficult, especially when dating someone who is HIV negative. They face rejection, judgement and having to disclose their HIV status. They don't have to worry about this stuff on our site."

Beram founded HIV and Single seven years ago after an immediate family member was diagnosed HIV positive. This family member told him that since being diagnosed it was very hard to meet people and she felt alone. This was his inspiration to build the site. Beram claims this family member has since met and fallen in love with someone she met on the site.   

"She has met and fallen in love with a man on the site and they are living together and are very happy together. That alone is worth it and fills my heart with joy", Beram states.

There are many other success stories posted on the site. Stories of people falling in love, getting married and finding renewed hope.

There are a number of HIV personals sites online. Many charge a monthly fee for a premium membership. Positivesdatings.com charges $14.95, and Positivesingles.com charges $29.95 per month for premium membership. There are also some 100% free HIV dating sites.

To learn more about HIV and Single and the free lifetime premium membership, you can visit them at http://www.hivandsingle.com.

There may be plenty of fish in the sea, as the saying goes, but when it comes to dating Web sites that are integrated into music video clips, there appears to be only one.

That site is, of course, plentyoffish.com, which has made a name for itself by engaging in one of the more traditional forms of branded entertainment: paying to have itself placed in scenes in music videos.

Viewers have glimpsed the Plenty of Fish Web site on computer screens in scenes in music videos from artists like Jason Derulo, Kesha and Lady Gaga. The brand also makes an appearance in the video for the new song by Britney Spears, “Hold It Against Me.”

The video from Ms. Spears made its debut at 9:55 on Thursday night on MTV, just before this week’s new episode of “Jersey Shore.” The director of the video is Jonas Akerlund, who also directed the Lady Gaga epic “Telephone,” which featured multiple brands in addition to Plenty of Fish.

Ms. Spears’s video also features multiple brands, although not as many as “Telephone.” In addition to plentyoffish.com, viewers can see glimpses of products like Make Up For Ever make-up; Ms. Spears’s fragrance, Radiance; and Sony electronics. Like the other placements for Plenty of Fish, the placement in the Spears clip was arranged by Adam Kluger, chief executive at the Kluger Agency.

Mr. Kluger said that to his knowledge, plentyoffish.com was the only paid placement in the video.

The futuristic theme of Ms. Spears’s video and the appearance of plentyoffish.com on a screen of a computer that she is on suggest that “online dating is the future,” Mr. Kluger said.

Brands are turning up in more music videos — as well as in the lyrics of songs — because of the changing economics of the music business. With revenue from record sales declining, bands, singers and other artists can make money by integrating products into their performances.

The line between what is the right amount of brand integration and what is too much is a fine one. Many discussions of “Telephone” were centered on all the products visible in various scenes, although not all of them were paid placements.

Although “negative feedback is not very good,” Mr. Kluger said, Plenty of Fish enjoyed a spike in traffic after its appearance in “Telephone.”

Online dating sucks.  There is a one in a million chance you might meet someone great so we do it, but to be clear, the other 999,999 people you come across are painful.  When I read a profile I know I am going see something interesting because online dating profiles are fascinating.  By fascinating, of course I mean occasionally weird and scary.

There are a lot of dating sites, so no matter what you are looking for, you can find someone online.  Sadly, I have been on a lot of sites.  I do it because it’s a necessary evil of the dating game, and also for “research”.  I write a blog that includes my dating life so one could argue my daing online is a job requirement.  Pathetic?  Yes it is.  Thanks.

I have been on Match.com for a while and it’s been great.  Statistically, it’s where I have met the most “normal” men.  There are a lot of members so your odds are better, but also people there seem easily separated into two groups.  There are those with potential, and those who are clearly not well.  After reading so many profiles I’m getting good at telling the difference.

If someone writes that they like to “end each day with a few beers to take the edge off”, chances are he’s not a match for me.  One of my personal favorites is the man who wrote, “I prefer a woman who has less than 5% body fat because the only thing that should shake on a date is the earth”.  It’s men like these that make me want to give up on love and get another cat.

I was on and off of JDate for years.  I learned a lot during my dating experience there.  The main lesson being that Jewish men have no idea what their height is.  I don’t think I ever went out with a man on JDate who was the actual height that he listed on his profile.  As a Jewish woman who is looking for a Jewish man, JDate was the most disappointing dating site.

My favorite profile from JDate read as follows, “I was raised Jewish and go to temple for the high holidays, but I am open to dating women who are not Jewish because my tolerance for whining, complaining, and withholding sex is limited.”  His mother must be so proud.  Perhaps she was his teacher in these life lessons. This guy was listed as 5’9”, which means he was 5’6”.  Oy vey.

eHarmony is an interesting site.  In theory, it sounds like it would be the most successful, as it is the most focused.  They talk about honesty, and different levels of compatibility, but there is no guarantee that people are going to tell the truth.  I have seen men on eHarmony that are on other sites, and their profiles are completely different from one to the other.

I like to think people are inherently good, and if they tell small lies while searching for love, it comes from a place of hope, not to hurt someone.  I think it’s easier to lie on eHarmony.  The questionnaire is painfully long and takes thought to fill out.  When you have so much time to fill out a form, you click what you think sounds good, so eHarmony can be misleading.

Then you have Plenty of Fish.  I’m new on this site, but it’s been the most fun.  When you are new on a site it’s like sharks to chum.  People are on their best behavior and compliments are flowing.  I’m sure the novelty will fade, and I will come across a few kooks, but the men who have written have been lovely.  There is a certain honesty on Plenty of Fish that is refreshing.

If someone is looking for something casual, they write that is what they want, not that they are hoping to get married one day, and I dig that.  There are lots of people online who are looking for lots of things, and you can find all of it on Plenty of Fish.  The good news is that people there seem to be clear on what they want and not afraid to be honest about it.

The thing about all these sites is that there are Jews everywhere.  Not only are there Jews, but there are non-Jews who are open and accepting and dating Jews.  I think that is important.  Peace comes when religion is set aside, so even though I like to date Jews, that there are people who are open to all faiths, even in this silly context, I think is a nice thing.

One other part about Plenty of Fish that is worth mentioning, is that it’s totally free.  For everyone.  Putting people on an even playing field.  It’s lovely that anyone can go on and search for love, regardless of what their finances are.  Even the wealthiest of people can get resentful to pay $50 a month to meet a bunch of schmucks.  Searching for free is a good thing.

If you are not paying for something, it takes the pressure off.  You can search comfortably because there is nothing at stake financially.  If you are rushing to meet someone, so you don’t have to pay for another month, you can take your time, be more selective, and not worry about it.  While Plenty of Fish has no track record with me, it makes online dating a little less painful.

Since Prince Charming is clearly not going to ride up to my home, knock on the door, and sweep me off my feet, online dating is a part of my life.  As long as I take it seriously, without taking it too seriously, I will be fine.  I might meet someone great, so even if the chances are slim, I’m willing to try. All it takes patience, a sense of humor, and the ability to keep the faith.

Every year millions of dollars are lost to scammers who use online dating services to find "victims of romance". The scammers will email, chat, and even talk on the phone and once they sense you have fallen in love with them (without meeting) the scam begins.

Usually located in Nigeria, scammers don't use that in their online dating profiles. Many will say they are from the United States, UK, or another country. They don't want you to have any red flags when they begin conversations with you. It is only later that the scam somehow involves Nigeria as they need you to send money there. It could be that they have to go to Nigeria for a "business trip" or "to visit my son who is going to boarding school there". Whatever the excuse, the majority of scams will eventually involve Nigeria since that's where the money will be delivered (usually via a wire transfer service).

Educating yourself about the many elaborate scams is important to avoiding being scammed. So Online Dating Magazine is raising awareness of online dating scams and online dating safety so that online daters can have a more enjoyable and prosperous online dating experience.

Online dating safety isn't just about scams. It's also about protecting your identity and being safety concious when out on a date with someone you met online. It's also about avoiding liars (i.e. married people posing as singles) and making sure you know what to do in a variety of situations that may arise.