We’d like to think that online dating has lost its taboo, but that’s not completely true. Folks who have always been successful meeting people offline have a hard time not thinking that online dating is for socially-dysfunctional singles. We hope that as the years pass, everyone will finally embrace the truth – that meeting online is just as legitimate as meeting in a bar.

And this new study should do just that. According to the Huffington Post, research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that 35% of couple married between the years 2005 and 2012 met online, and that those relationships created online have a 2% less chance of ending in divorce. Sure it’s not much, but they also reported slightly higher marital satisfaction than those that met offline.

“It is possible that individuals who met their spouse online may be different in personality, motivation to form a long-term marital relationship, or some other factor,” lead author John Cacioppo said in a press release.

Online dating may not reach its full, accepted potential for years to come, but it will happen. And as people find that their friends are in healthy, long term relationships with people they met online, we hope more singles will turn to the online dating world and will see that it’s a smart, safe, and convenient way to find their soul mate.

It seems like celebs are coming out all over the place in favor of online dating, huh? Everyone from Eva Longoria to an ex-Bachelor are seeing the benefits of expanding your horizons, and now even multi-millionaire mogul Martha Stewart says she sees the benefits in trying her luck in the online dating world!

According to Time magazine, Martha has decided to join Match (although it most certainly appears she’s been paid to do so), and has a profile not like most women her age:

“So while I’m open to all kinds of people, and love to be surprised, here’s what I know I appreciate in a man: Someone who’s intelligent, established, and curious; and who relishes adventure and new experiences as much as I do. Someone who can teach me new things. A lover of animals, grandchildren, and the outdoors. Young at heart.”

Martha says she was inspired to join the site after several of her employees were successful in finding dates (and even love) on the web.

I think we’ve officially hit the mainstream, everyone!

If you were to go on the dating site AshleyMadison.com, you’d probably find that a large majority of the members are okay with extra-marital affairs. And if you were to survey the members of the dating site OnlineBootyCall.com, you’d probably notice that most of them would prefer casual dating than long-term relationships. However, these two statements would not make the same true for the general population.

The same could be said for the inaccuracy of this survey’s “findings” from SugarDaddyForMe.com. They claim that “52% of the women who completed the survey said they would be comfortable dating a man who was 30 years older than them”.

I think we can all join together for a hearty “DUHHHHH.” Of COURSE the “sugar baby” members of a sugar daddy dating site would say that. I can make a wild assumption that the same survey would show that 100% of men would be comfortable dating a woman 30 years younger than them.

While we understand the point of these surveys is to bring attention to the fact that there are like-minded people looking to date in the world, we’d still say that they are a false display of statistical data. Come on, dating sites. Be more creative ;)

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Every day, online dating is becoming more and more mainstream, and we couldn’t be more glad to hear it. When you think about it, 10 years ago people probably would’ve thought it weird that people would primarily talk via tet message, but here we are in 2013 and I use no more than 50 minutes of talk on my phone per month.

Talk about a sign of online dating losing its stigma: A-list actress Eva Longoria has begun to sing its praises! According to Perez Hilton, the Latina bombshell was asked her thoughts on online dating, and had nothing but positive things to say:

‘My girlfriend went on Match.com, [and] she’s getting married this year… They’re perfectly matched for each other; they’re really a great couple.”

As the Desperate Housewives recently broke up with her boyfriend (Penelope Cruz’s younger brother Eduardo), we wonder if she’ll be signing up on a dating site any time soon!

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With a billion members and counting, it’s not surprising that Facebook is the web’s most active social network. But will it become the new one stop dating platform too? According to a report at The Daily Mail, the Facebook team is in the end stages of developing Facebook Graph, a simple way to search for local singles in your area based on age, location, and any of their interests, among other traits.

Via the source:

“Instead of sending a list of links, it scours data from friends and friends of friends including posts, check-ins and recommendations to get an exact answer.

Zuckerberg says that new feature will evolve based on people use it.”

And considering reports that people log onto Facebook an average of fourteen times a day (as opposed to maybe once or twice on a dating site), it’s very possible that Facebook Graph could take a serious toll on dating sites as a whole.

It’s just surprising they didn’t get to this sooner!

One of the drawbacks of the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of dating sites around today is that it’s hard to know who has the most credibility – the most members in your area, most success in joining couples, etc, without actually just joining them all and seeing what works for you.

Seniors, especially, who don’t have the benefit of being raised on technology, may be more worried than most that they will join a scammy website, one that attracts fake profiles or hasn’t been around long enough to garner a solid member base. However, a big name like AARP getting behind a website is a great way to gain some confidence in the online dating world. That’s just what they did – teaming with HowAboutWe.com to provide a casual, safe way for seniors to meet, date, and potentially make a connection.

Dating.AARP.com provides dating services for singles 50 and older, and has seen quite some success, likely from members who have trusted the AARP name for years. We’re glad to see a dating site that provides a trustworthy platform for older singles – we’re tired of hearing about the elderly getting scammed. Keep it up, AARP – and keep giving online dating a good name!

image via Elite Daily

Everyone fudges a little on their online dating profile. If we were all 100% honest about our flaws, no one would EVER get a date. However, some are more honest than others, and according to WhatsYourPrice.com (one of our least favorite dating sites, we should note) polled their male members to ask how many, er… “fibs” they let slide in their dating profiles.

Here are the top five:

1. Washington, DC – 37% of their men say they lie in their dating profiles, mostly about education level and career

2. San Francisco, CA – 35% lie about their career and money

3. New York City, NY – 34% lie – about just about everything

4. Philadelphia, PA – 33% lie – mostly about height and income

5. Miami, FL – 31% lie, mostly about their relationship status and height

So there you have it. When trolling dating sites for men in those cities, be sure to prepare yourself. They might be way shorter, way less educated, less wealthy, and might actually be married. GREAT!

Via HuffPo

In an age where communication moves at the speed of light (and about anything else – I can order a book right now and be reading it tomorrow afternoon, all without leaving my couch!), it’s hard to keep up with new trends, rules, and standards in the online world. Nowhere is this more true than in online dating. Luckily, experts are constantly monitoring the online dating world to find out the dos and don’ts of e-dating in the 21st century.

Although it may seem strange to use a book to learn the rules of the internet, it appears as though two new volumes may have the real, researched answers about all our strangest online dating questions. c

1. Data, A Love Story

In this book, Amy Webb, a digital-strategy expert, realized that she needed to be more specific in her online dating profile. After all, that’s one of the major benefits of online dating: you have a platform (your profile/bio) to share exactly what you’re looking for (and not looking for) in a potential mate. Sure, some might say her 72-point profile was exhaustive, but it worked – she met her husband and father of her child. In her case, honesty (brutal, highly-specific honesty) was the best policy.

2. Love in the Time of Algorithms

In Dan Slater’s book, he claims that the age of “bookend” dating websites (ones that try and cater to everyone, i.e. Match.com) is over, and that niche dating sites are the new best way to find your perfect match. Whether it’s a religious site, a hobby-related site, or a yeha-I’m-into-bigger-chicks-so-what site, Slater believes that these platforms are the most honest way to meet someone you with whom you have a lot in common.

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The Bachelor is a strange show, isn’t it? It garners millions of viewers every season, despite an almost 100% fail rate for the “proposals” that happen on the show! Every season is chock full of drama and stereotypical female attitudes, and basically appears to be an entertainment program like any other, wherein young men and women try to get as much screen time as possible with the hope of a future spin-off. And yet, women watch the show religiously, genuinely believing it shows true love in the making.

Here’s the funny news: Ben Flajnik, Bachelor of season 16 (SEASON !) has seen the light and has decided to try online dating, a platform WILDLY more successful than that crummy TV show! According to US Weekly, the controversial ex-reality star is using tinder, an online dating app for smart phones. When a Texas coed tweeted that Ben had “her her up” on the app, he didn’t deny it – instead replying “tinder is hilarious.”

So he might be a little shy about it, but if a rich, famous, attractive winemaker is down with online dating… why aren’t you?

img via indieobserver

We’re all pretty sure that the Earth isn’t going to end today, but of course, there’s that tiny shred of worry in us all that says, “okay, well it’s definitely not, but what if it does?” that maybe incites us to call our mothers or grab a couple extra bottles of water at the store. Dating site Cupid.com decided to ask its members what they’d be doing on this potentially-last-day-on-the-planet, and they had some interesting (boring) answers:

What will you be doing on your last day on Earth?

■ 48 percent of women have arranged to spend December 21 with their loved ones
■ 68 percent of men haven’t really thought about how they’ll spend the day
■ 43 percent of women will most likely be chatting online all day
■ 19 percent of men will be spending the day with family and friends

Peoples’ answers to “have you prepared for the end” were a little more revealing, showing that both men and women expect other people to take care of them:

Most people haven’t prepared for the end of the world
■ 29 percent of women said they would play “the damsel in distress” act
■ 19 percent of men have food and supplies prepared
■ 14 percent of women have a survival pack ready
■ 21 percent of men said they would get someone else to look after them

What about you? How will you be spending this “last day on Earth”?