Blog

Intersting online dating stats from South Africa

2009-06-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

WhiteLableDating.com published some intersting stats.
According to thier blog , in just three months the number of members in South Africa has gone up by a huge 83.43% ,Revenue growth has gone up 456.16% in five months.

See full post here

Copenda.com is looking for help

2009-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

The next version of Copenda which is scheduled for August is going to be multilingual / multinational. We ask your help translating the new version to more languages: Spanish, German, French, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese and more. Please send email to info[at]copenda[dot]com or use this form if you can contribute.
Your help is highly appreciated!!!

Make Friends - wikiHow

2009-05-30T00:26:00.000-07:00

How to Make Friends

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

There's a certain beauty in being a lone wolf. You have more time to do things you want to do, like take introspective walks, read books, write poetry, and other solitary endeavors. If you want to diversify your options, though, there are literally billions of potential friends in the world. What's more, many of these people want to make friends just as much as you do. So consider these suggestions to meet people and form strong, lasting friendships.

Steps

Spend more time around people. If you want to make friends, you first need to put yourself out there somehow. Friends seldom come knocking on your door while you sit at home watching TV. If the people you're already around (e.g. at work or school) aren't friend material for whatever reasons, it's not the end of the world.
- Join a club with people who have common interests. You don't necessarily have to have a lot of common interests with people in order to make friends with them. In fact, some of the most rewarding friendships are between two people who don't have much in common at all, but if you have something in common with people, it can make it a lot easier to start a conversation and plan activities together.
- Use the web but get out! Websites like Copenda.com are aiming to bring people together with common interest. You can join any group or just start your own. If you don't know of a specific topic, try searching for just a location. It's a great way to meet new local people!
- Join a sports team. A common misconception about this is that you have to be really good at playing a particular sport in order to make friends with others on the team, but not all teams are so competitive. As long as you enjoy the sport and support your teammates, joining a local team with a laid-back attitude could be a great way to make new friends.
- Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way for people of all ages to meet others. By working together you build bonds with people, and you might meet others who have a passion for changing things the way you do—a common cause.
Always try and talk about stuff that they like and more about them. Get online. In general, the Internet is a great place to make friends, but... it's also easy to invest a lot of time online with someone you think of as a friend, but then you never meet because of time and distance. Expect to have to sift through a lot of people online before you find the one or two great friends, the kind who will be there for you when you really need them. The Internet can also help you find other people around the world who share your interests even if you live in an isolated place. And even though the Internet is a great place in general you still have to be cautious because not every person you meet online are who they say they are.
Talk to people. You can join a club, go to school, or go to church, and you still won't make friends if you don't actually talk to people. By the same token, you don't have to be involved with an organization to talk to people, and any time you talk to someone, you have a chance at making a lasting friend. You can talk to anybody: the clerk at the video store, the person sitting next to you on the bus, or the person in front of you on the lunch line. Don't be too picky. Most conversations will be a dead-end of sorts--when you may never talk to that person again, or you just remain acquaintances--but once in a while you'll actually make a friend.
- Make eye contact and smile. If you have an unfriendly countenance, people are less likely to be receptive to your friendship. Look approachable by not squinting (get some glasses), frowning or appearing blankly deadpan, such expressions may look troubled or disinterested.
- Start a conversation. There are many ways to do this; a comment about your immediate environment (The weather is a classic: "At least it's not raining like last week!"), a request for help ("Can you help me carry a few boxes, if you have a minute?" or "Can you help me decide which one of these is a better gift for my mom?") or a compliment ("That's a nice car." or "I love your shoes."). Follow up immediately with a related question: Do you like this warm weather? What kinds of gifts do you normally buy for your mom? Where did you get shoes like that?
- Make small talk. Keep the conversation light and cheery. Even if you're complaining about something, make sure it's something you're both dissatisfied with, and emphasize the positive—how such a situation can be avoided in the future, or alternatives. Bounce a few words back and forth for a little bit.
Introduce yourself towards the end of the conversation. It can be as simple as saying "Oh, by the way, my name is...". Once you introduce yourself, the other person will typically do the same. Remember his or her name.
Initiate a get-together. You can chat your heart out but it won't get you a friend if you don't open up the opportunity for another conversation or meeting. This is especially important if you meet someone who you aren't otherwise likely to meet again. Seize the day!
- If you've discovered that the person you're talking to has a common interest, ask him or her more about it and, if appropriate, whether they get together with others (in a club, for example) to pursue this interest. If so, this is a perfect opportunity to ask about joining them. If you clearly express interest (when? where? can anyone come?) they'll probably invite you. If you have a club, band, church, etc. that you think they might enjoy, take the opportunity to give them your number or email address and invite them to join you.
- Ask them out for lunch or coffee. That will give you a better opportunity to talk and get to know each other a little bit better. A good way to extend yourself is to say: "Hey, well, I've got to go, but if you ever want to talk over lunch or coffee or anything like that, let me give you my number/e-mail address." This gives the person the opportunity to contact you; they may or may not give you their information in return, but that's fine. Maybe they don't have time for new friends—don't take it personally! Just offer your contact info to whoever seems to be potentially a good friend, and eventually somebody will get in touch.
- Don't do anything to pressure someone into being friends with you. Never chide acquaintances for failing to invite you to a party, for example; don't call someone repeatedly or stop by uninvited (unless you have established that stopping by unannounced is o.k.); and refrain from overstaying your welcome anywhere. In general, take friendship slowly, and don't try to force intimacy to grow quickly; the move from acquaintance to friend can take a long time. It's understandable to want more of a good thing, but try to err on the side of less. If you are not sure about the pace of your new friendship, check in with your friend and ask directly. Too much, too fast can be scary or intimidating, and not everybody is able to say "Slow down..." - instead, they may run the other way!
Be a good friend. Once you've started spending time with potential friends, remember to do your part (i.e. initiating some of the activities, remembering birthdays, asking how the other person is feeling) or else the friendship will become unbalanced and an uneasiness or distance is likely to arise.
- Be reliable. If you and your friend agree to meet somewhere, don't be late, and do not stand them up. If you're not going to make it on time or make it at all, call them as soon as you realize it. Apologize and ask to reschedule. Don't make them wait for you unexpectedly; it's rude, and it is certainly not a good way to launch a potential friendship. When you say you'll do something, do it. Be someone that people know that they can count on.
- Be a good listener. Many people think that in order to be seen as "friend material" they have to appear very interesting. Far more important than this, however, is the ability to show that you're interested in others. Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them (their names, their likes and dislikes), ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them. You don't want to be the guy or girl that always has a better story than anyone else or that changes the subject abruptly instead of continuing the flow of conversation. These people appear too wrapped up in themselves to be good friends--"one-ups-man-ship" is a put down.
- Be trustworthy. One of the best things about having a friend is that you have someone to whom you can talk about anything, even secrets that you hide from the rest of the world. The key to being a good confidante is the ability to keep secrets, so it's no secret that you shouldn't tell other people things that were told to you in confidence. Before people even feel comfortable opening up to you, however, you need to build trust. Be honest about yourself and your beliefs, and don't gossip about others or spread rumors or they will think you like stories better than friends.
- Be there. You've probably heard of fair-weather friends. They're the ones who are happy to be around you when things are going well, but are nowhere to be found when you really need them. Part of being a friend is being prepared to make sacrifices of your time and energy in order to help out your friends. If a friend needs help with an unpleasant chore, or if he or she just needs a shoulder to cry on, be there.
Choose your friends wisely. As you befriend more people, you may find that some are easier to get along with than others. While you always give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes you realize that certain friendships are unhealthy, such as if a person is obsessively needy or controlling towards you, constantly critical, or introducing dangers or threats into your life. If this is the case, ease your way out of the friendship as gracefully as possible. Preoccupy yourself with other things, such as a new volunteer opportunity, so that you can honestly say that you don't have enough time in your schedule to spend time with them (but don't substitute their time for time with other friends; they may notice and become jealous, and more drama will ensue). Cherish those friends you make who are a positive influence in your life, and do your best to be a positive influence in theirs.
Genuinely start listening to your friends. Everyone wants to feel important and loved. Even just nodding your head and showing emotion from what they are saying will help!

Tips

You don't have to be a superstar to be fun. You don't even have to do cartwheels. You do need to be positive and friendly, however, so that people feel good when they're around you.
From the very first conversation you have with someone, you should use body language to convey that you are affable, non-threatening, and approachable. Smile frequently, laugh often, and make eye contact. In your words, be confident, but don't be cocky, condescending, or mean-spirited.

Warnings

Don't try to change yourself in order to fit in to make new friends. A good friend sometimes does things he or she doesn't want to do, such as helping a friend move or going to see a band that you don't really like, but you should never give into pressure to do something you think is wrong.
Don't be untrue to your convictions and beliefs, and if this causes you to lose some friends, you're better off without them. You'll also find that your integrity may help you win better friends, and if you just "be yourself" you'll make friends who like you for who you are.
Never leave old good-friends because you may like someone else more. This is a big, bad mistake. It's great to have different groups of friends, but if you abandon one group for another, you may soon find yourself without any friends at all.
Be careful about getting together with or giving information to people that you've met, such as online. They might not be who they say they are.
Don't try to buy friends by giving people gifts or money. While it's nice to give a friend a gift sometimes, if you go overboard, it's asking for trouble. A person who will "be your friend" without responding with little things in turn, when you buy him or her things, probably just likes the things you gave them--not you.
You need to feel comfortable with who you're talking to. If you know the person you're talking to is making you feel uncomfortable tell them they're making you feel uncomfortable, and if they don't seem to respond to what you said, walk away.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Friends. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Meet New People Using Social People Search Engine Copenda.Com - wikiHow

2009-05-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

How to Meet New People Using Social People Search Engine Copenda.Com

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

More and more people are using the web to meet new people and communicate with their friends. The main places people use to meet new friends or look for dating are social networks and online dating sites.
One of the major problems in meeting new people in social networks is that users need to scan and dive deeply into the profiles to initiate a connection for relationships or dating. Although many users use social networks for dating purposes, the social network user experience is not suited for this purpose. Online dating sites, on the other hand, are designed for this purpose but suffer from low status among the younger generation.

Steps

Go to www.copenda.com
Enter your preferences (man , women , age etc.)
Browse millions of social network profiles that meet your preferences
You can filter the search to only show profiles from your favorite social network
If you found someone intersting you can click on his/her profile and you will redirected to his/her social network profile page

Video

Tips

Try to use the advanced search in order to add additional filter criteria's

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Meet New People Using Social People Search Engine Copenda.Com. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Meet New People Without Being Creepy - wikiHow

2009-05-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

How to Meet New People Without Being Creepy

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Everybody knows that first impressions count. And if the first impression you're giving is on the creepy side, you're probably tired of being misunderstood. This article will go over what makes someone seem creepy, and how you can stop giving off that creepy vibe.

Steps

Understand the stereotype of a creep. To creep is to move slowly and quietly as if sneaking up on someone. A person who's creepy is someone who's perceived to be eerily quiet in some way, as if there's something behind the scenes that could surprise you in an unpleasant way. Think of a cult leader, serial killer, child molester, or stalker. They all have a dark side brewing that they keep tucked away until the right opportunity comes along. And if you're coming off as creepy, it means you're doing some of the things that strange people often do.
Commit to changing your behavior. Those of us who get classified as creeps are often just people who are unapologetically unique. It's easy to feel resentful towards people for labeling you as creepy just because you're not jumping through the same social hoops as everyone else. And this feeling might make you resistant towards changing your behavior. So before you proceed, you have to accept that people judge each other, and sometimes they're off, but that's the way it goes. That's what you have to work with. So don't assume that changing the way you act in order to change people's perception of you is somehow violating your pledge to be yourself. If anything, it increases the likelihood that people can get to know your true self, because you're not warding them off in your first conversation by acting like a sociopath.
- There's an image presented in a lot of media, especially anime and video games, that being standoffish, mysterious, and quiet is "cool". In real life, however, it's more likely to come off as creepy.[1]
- Don't feel that you need to change the way you look or dress. If you can change the way you interact with people, what you look like won't matter.
Become a good conversationalist. Awkward silences can very easily turn into creepiness. So can your babbling on and on about your mother, your cat, or your collection of bugs. A good conversationalist keeps finding things they have in common, and they do it in a casual, non-intrusive way. For example, there's a difference between asking someone "Have you ever held a tarantula?" and saying "Have you ever felt the tiny hairs of a tarantula's legs brush up against the palm of your hand?" The latter is more poetic, but way too intimate for a first conversation for most people (and this article presumes you want to learn how to deal with most people, not that tiny minority who's just as quirky and offbeat as you are and will most certainly appreciate your candor). Learn to start a conversation and keep it flowing in a fun, positive and casual way.
- It's worth repeating that you should not go on and on about unique hobbies or interests unless the person shares them or asks a lot of questions. If they only ask a few questions, that doesn't necessarily mean they're interested; it probably means they're being polite, so don't dominate the conversation with your enthusiasm.
Let go of any neediness you might have. Neediness is a precursor to obsessiveness, and obsessiveness is creepy. Needy people are imbalanced and unstable people, because their happiness hinges too greatly on someone else. If you're projecting a vibe that you'll be devastated if a person doesn't want to be your friend or romantic partner, it's time slow down, be patient, and examine yourself. Read How to Stop Being Needy.
Respect boundaries. This is a key social skill that many mis-labeled creeps are sorely lacking. Think of any kind of relationship as a video game. You start off at the easiest level, and as time goes on and you improve, you go to more difficult levels and achieve a greater sense of satisfaction. When you first meet someone, you're on level 1, and you're not supposed to proceed to level 2 until you get past level 1, and so on. Creeps tend to accidentally skip to level 15. There are a variety of ways in which they do this:
- Staring. Extended, direct eye contact is something lovers usually do. It's something you can do if the person you're talking to is noticeably romantically interested, but even then it's risky because the creep factor is high if you're mistaken. Look someone in the eye while they're talking, but also be sure to pull your gaze away periodically and shift your interest to other things. And check to make sure you don't have a tendency of staring at someone's body (chest, hands, shoes, whatever) even if in admiration or curiosity. In general, you don't want to make someone feel like they're under a microscope.
- Asking personal questions. What's too personal? It depends. Your best bet is to pay attention to other people's conversations. Notice what people feel comfortable talking about when they first meet. See How to Come Up with Good Conversation Topics. Know which topics to steer clear of: romantic experiences, politics, religion, illness or disease, and anything dark like murder or death (this is not the time to explain how the sword you have on your wall was designed to pierce someone's intestines in a particular way).
- Invitations. Don't invite someone into your basement, a cabin in the woods, a warehouse, or to any setting where horror movies often take place. If it's dark and isolated, it can easily become a creepy experience, and the creepy atmosphere might make you seem creepy, too. This kind of invitation also shows that you expect someone to trust you completely, which generally, they shouldn't (no matter how charming you might be; it's just not street smart). If you're going to extend an invitation, make it to a public place where there are plenty of people.
Pay attention to body language. Ultimately, everybody has different "standards" for creepiness. What's creepy to one person might be fascinating to another. The only way you can figure this out on a case-by-case basis is by paying attention to signals that a person's ready to go to the next level, or you're making them feel uncomfortable. And you need to do this without staring! For example, if someone is looking away a lot, or toward an exit, or they appear to be turning or edging away from you, it's probably a sign that they want to end the conversation. It'll take some practice and attentiveness, but once you get a grip on body language, you'll start to account for it subconsciously.

Tips

Creeps are on both ends of the smiling spectrum. You can be creepy for not smiling enough, and you can be creepy for smiling too much. Find a happy medium.
Have friends. Loners are much more likely to come off as creepy. And if you don't have friends because you come off as creepy, then follow these steps and also read How to Make Friends.
Remember that humans are social creatures and instinctively want to meet new people. Just talk, and think to yourself: "What's the worst that can happen?"

Warnings

There are some people who label anything different as weird and creepy. None of these steps will work with them because they're too shallow to appreciate individuality of any kind.
Remember -- someone you perceive as 'creepy' could really have a disorder included in the autism spectrum. Individuals on the autism spectrum usually do not have eye contact, talk constantly about their favorite subjects, are unsure about space. Try to accept someone who is 'creepy' because in their world they are one heck of a person.

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations

↑ http://www.wellcultured.com/questions-and-answers/157/how-not-to-be-creepy

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Meet New People Without Being Creepy. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Internet Dating Industry Weekly News - 5 Mins

2009-04-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Online Personals Watch News Summary #4, April 24th, 2009 from Mark Brooks on Vimeo.

Maintatnance - Copenda

2009-04-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to update you that there will be no new profiles in this week due to database maintatnance.
I'll update you soon after the maintatnance is finished.

2nd Annual Open Web Awards: VOTE NOW!

2008-11-19T11:19:00.000-08:00

Please help us to win , vote for Copenda in the Dating and Romance category

Mashable Open Web Awards - Help us to win

2008-11-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

Mashable announced the 2nd Annual Open Web Awards, a unique opportunity for the most accomplished websites and services to achieve international recognition across scores of influential blogs.
Last year we got to the second place in the social search category and this year we want to finish at the first place.

Please help us to win, you can vote through their web site:

1. Dating and romance

2.Search and social search

Enter "Copenda" in the second text box , a verification email will be sent to you.

You can also vote directly from here:

First Category:

Second Category:

Hello From Italy

2008-09-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a great vaction at North Italy.
Here are some photos:

how to meet people on the internet - new video

2008-08-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Ayelet Noff interviews Copenda

2008-07-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

Orange to open up mobile social net service

2008-07-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Orange is to launch a major push for mobile social networking in the UK, introducing a service which aggregates users' accounts across the major social networks.
Launched as a trial in France last month under the name MySocialPlace, Orange has now partnered with the biggest social networks - Facebook, MySpace and Bebo - to introduce the service in the UK in the autumn under the Orange World branded website.
UK users will also be able to access the chat service Flirtomatic and the photo-sharing site Pikeo, while Orange customers in France can use the Skyrock community, DailyMotion video site and dating service Meetic.

If you are a developer or site owner who wants to develop mobile aplications similar to Orange you will be able to use Copenda's API which will be released soon.
For more information please contact us : info[at]copenda.com.

Read the full article : The Guardian

One company unites millions

2008-05-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

One company unites millions
By Vladimir Shvorin , the jewish Advocate Staff
People often use online dating
and friend-finding services when
they don’t have the time or interest
to meet people the old-fashioned
way. A new website,
www.copenda.com, is improving
on this time-saving idea by providing
a comprehensive search
agent that encompasses many social
websites, and allows users to
avoid the inherent shortcomings
of having to plod through those
sites one-by-one.
But don’t mistake Copenda for
another social network. It’s a social
index search website. Users don’t
upload pictures and manage their
pictures through the site. Instead,
Copenda operates much like
“Google” for example, by searching
through their database of preexisting
profiles of people from various
social networks.
Currently, Copenda users are
able to search for any person on
several networks including: Facebook,
MySpace, Hi5, Plentyoffish,
Match and Friendster.
Copenda is the first search engine
that allows people to view profiles
from multiple social networking
and dating sites in one
place. Members can filter through
general preferences, such as gender,
interests, age, as well as location,
and the profiles are aggregated
into one location.
While Copenda is still in beta
form, the site has gone through numerous
refinements since it was
launched as a novel tool in December
2007 by co-founders David
Kariv, Tal Cohen and Gadi Richman.
The duo of Kariv and Cohen
came up with the idea behind the
website while brainstorming one
day. After their plan was conceived,
they contacted Richman to provide
funding for development.
“Through discussions between
me and Tal [Cohen], the idea of
Copenda was born,” explained
Kariv. “We thought, ‘There is nothing
like this on the Web.’ We decided
that we should create something
to fill this void. Then we
called Gadi, who we thought could
financially support us so we could
get off the ground. He liked the
idea and decided to support us. Before
Copenda, you couldn’t find
anything like it.”
Aside from the large-scale
changes planned for the site,
Copenda has been steadily finetuning
and adding features. The
newly added “Contact me” feature
enables users to connect with social
networking users directly from
Copenda. With the “Claim my profile”
feature, users can manually
add and associate existing profiles
with Copenda’s search engine,
centralizing all of their relevant social
networking accounts in one location
called “My Copenda.” In addition
to these recently added features,
the website is developing
other unique features.
“We’re still looking to incorporate
a mobile device version of
Copenda, which will be very useful
for people that are looking to
search anywhere, anytime,” Kariv
said. “People could use it, not only
in the dating field, but to find
friends, gamers, businesses, etc.
For example, if you wanted to find
somebody to play a videogame online
with you, you could find the
type of gamer you’re searching
for.”
The benefits of Copenda are
especially apparent to those interested
in finding people with certain
features. For instance, if a
person was interested in dating
on the internet, but only wanted
to seek-out Jewish candidates,
they could do so.
“If you wanted to, you could
search strictly by religion to find
people who are just Jewish,” Kariv
explained. “You can search for all
of the Jewish people across the
networks that are included in
Copenda’s index. And you will
find the exact type of person
you’re looking for.”
Copenda is currently looking
for partnerships in the U.S. to better
establish and develop the business.
Still, without any funds budgeted
for marketing or public relations,
the website is growing strictly
through word-of-mouth. Each
week, thousands of users frequent
the site, and this number is rapidly
growing.
“I met somebody in the States
a few months ago, and he actually
started talking to me about
Copenda,” said Kariv. “He didn’t
know I was a founder. He sent me
links to our website, praising it. It
was a funny and special moment
when it happened.”
To visit Copenda, go to
http://www.copenda.com/.
To contact David Kariv, e-mail info[at]copenda.com.

Copenda’s New Features Ease Communication

2008-05-16T02:12:00.000-07:00

At last we are live!!!

New features to the site include:

Contact me – Enables one to contact social networking users directly from Copenda. All messages are flawlessly sent by Copenda through his or her social network account.
Claim my profile – Members can manually add their profiles to Copenda’s search engine and associate existing profiles with their Copenda profile. After “claiming” their social networks and dating sites’ profiles, users will be able to oversee all relevant accounts in one, centralized location called “My Copenda.” Each claimed profile has a link to Copenda’s profile page which contains general information about the Copenda user.
My Copenda – Users have a personal homepage in which they can manage their favorite profiles, edit their personal information and receive notifications.
New filter option – Allows members to only have profiles in the search results from their favorite social networks or dating sites, which the user has identified.
Cool people in this area – Shows people who are in nearby locations with similar interests; this information will appear on the profile page
Invite my friends - Users are able to invite their friends to Copenda; their list of friends can be entered manually, imported from their email or from other social networking sites.

Here are some links for the Media covarge:

Official PR - http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/05/prweb943574.htm

Mashable - http://mashable.com/2008/05/15/copenda-relaunc/

AltSearchEngines - http://altsearchengines.com/2008/05/15/copenda-a-people-search-engine-for-love/

TMCnet - http://hosted-communications.tmcnet.com/topics/broadband-comm/articles/28236-copenda-upgrades-social-search-engine-site.htm

VCCafe - http://www.vccafe.com/5-israeli-products-get-the-spotlight/

Meet us at MashBash Tel Aviv

2008-05-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

We're proud to be one of the sponsors of MashBash Tel Aviv , Mashable's first International MashMeet and it’s in Tel Aviv!

The event will take place on Wednesday June 11th, 7-10pm, at the Galina Beach Club, Hangar 19, Tel Aviv Port, Israel.

With a new version just behind the corner ,the timing is very good for us.

See you in Tel Aviv...

More details here

Recent online dating and social networks statistics

2008-04-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

Mark Brooks the author of online personals watch has recently interviewed ,Alex Burmaster , the Internet dating and social networking specialist for Nielsen Online.

Here are some intersting numbres:

The strongest growing personals sites in the US:

The strongest growing personals sites in the Europe:

The number of people visited dating sites in the USA, and the countries that they cover in the EU, last month

US = 25.8 million
DE = 5.6 million
FR = 4.7 million
UK = 3.6 million
IT = 2.7 million
ES = 2.3 million

The number of people visited social networks in the USA, and the coutries that they cover in the EU, last month?

Member communities category (social networks & blogging)
US = 104 million
UK = 18.9 million
FR = 17.6 million
IT = 15.1 million
DE = 14.6 million
ES = 11.7 million

See full interview here

A sneak peak to the upcoming new version of Copenda - 4, Adding your profile to Copeda

2008-04-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

One of the most frequent question asked by the users is how to add their profiles to Copenda.

Well...

The current answer was: it takes time but eventually our crawler will index all profiles.We knew it was not a good answer and we decided to allow users to manually add their profiles to Copenda. In addition users will be able to associate existing profile (allready in Copenda) with their Copenda profile. By claiming your social networks and dating sites profiles you will be able to Contact other users within the same network directly from Copenda,
Track your profiles and get notification when someone ,add new comment to your profile
Use future functionalities such as presence and more.

A sneak peak to the upcoming new version of Copenda - 3, My Copenda

2008-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

The clock is ticking and the new version is just behind the corner.
Today I will expose one of the most important feature - MyCopenda.
MyCopenda is a personal area which will allow you to:

Edit your personal information
View and manage your favorit profiles
Add your social network profiles to Copenda
Invite your friends

In the future we plan to extend it to show an aggregated data from your social networks.

The future of today social networks

2008-03-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have just read a very interesting article in economist.com about the social networks.

"Social networking will become a ubiquitous feature of online life. That does not mean it is a business"

According to the author "The problem with today's social networks is that they are often closed to the outside web. The big networks have decided to be “open” toward independent programmers, to encourage them to write fun new software for them. But they are reluctant to become equally open towards their users, because the networks' lofty valuations depend on maximising their page views—so they maintain a tight grip on their users' information, to ensure that they keep coming back. As a result, avid Internet users often maintain separate accounts on several social networks, instant-messaging services, photo-sharing and blogging sites, and usually cannot even send simple messages from one to the other. They must invite the same friends to each service separately. It is a drag."

Our vision , in Copenda , is that Copenda will become the platform that will bridge the gap between the social networks.
We started it by enabling cross site people search and will go even further in the upcoming version with a new contact me feature that will allow you to contact any user from any social network without leaving Copenda.

Facebook IM service will debut soon

2008-03-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

Facebook plans to launch an instant-messaging application for members to embed on their profiles as early as next week, TechCrunch reported Friday.
Details are sketchy, but it appears that this will be a Web-based IM service that would allow Facebook users to chat with other people on their friends lists without needing to go through a third-party program. Additionally, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington detailed, the service would likely be based on the Jabber open-source platform, which would mean that third-party "universal IM" clients like Pidgin, Trillian, and Adium would be able to implement it.
Facebook representatives were not immediately available for comment.

One of the things that we are currently evaluating is a web messenger platform to embed in our search results.
There are couple of good options : Live messenger, Yahoo messenger , Google talk and smaller third parties IMs.
I don't think that Facebook IM can currently compete with these IMs but personaly I will use it in Facebook if it will be embedded like gtalk in Gmail.

Source: Webware.com

A sneak peak to the upcoming new version of Copenda - 2

2008-03-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

On my last post I exposed the new "Filter by site" search option , today I want to expose one of the coolest feature of the upcoming version : "Contact me".
The new "Contact me" feature will enable you to contact social networks profiles directly from Copenda without leaving Copenda.
The massage will be sent via Copenda from your social network account. Any response from the user who got the massage will be delivered to your social network inbox.

Podcast: A Conversation with Copenda’s Greg Shverdin

2008-02-27T13:23:00.000-08:00

A sneak peak to the upcoming new version of Copenda

2008-02-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

For the last 3 months since we exposed the first version of Copenda we are working hard on a major upgrade to our platform which will be available very soon.

In the next following weeks until the release I will expose here the new functionalities that will be available in the upcoming version.

The first new functionality wanted to tell you about is a new filtering option.

Many of you asked us to add the ability to have search results only from your favorite social networks or dating sites. We added a new filter option which will enable you to have profiles in the search results only from your favorite social networks or dating sites.

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Challenges of Social Networks

2008-02-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Jeremiah Owyang , Sr Analyst at Forrester , listed in his blog some of the chalenges social networks are faceing these days:

Difficult to Monetize
Members aren’t hunting for information like they do on a search, instead they are communicating with each other, and self-expressing. (We’ve data to back that up too), “Marketers say as few as 4 in 10,000 people who see their ads on social networking sites click on them”

Excess of Players
In the case of the many white label social networks (white label means you can rebrand, and create your own Facebook), there are too many players in the space.

As Marketers Move In, Users Move Out
Remember Friendster? Tribe, or waay back and eCircles? Nothing is new, as communities form, marketers will move in, and in some cases bastardize the experience and the hip, cool, influencers will leave to the next network.

Lack of Metrics Makes Success Hard to Measure
For many marketers who want to deploy a campaign on a social network, access to server metrics isn’t always available. As a result, they have to often visually monitor the interaction on the site, or measure click throughs to their site. In some of the more sophisticated platforms, a crude dashboard is provided.

Stalkers and Other Unwanted Activity Ruins Lives
Child stalkers in MySpace continues to be a problem, and in some cases, masking oneself as someone else is easy, and to readily fool others.

Plateau or Social Network Fatigue?
recent reports show that suggest that the usage of social networks are slowing down, if not reducing perhaps it’s from the endless tasks that occur, or the shinyness has rubbed off.

Successful Networks have hard time scaling
Facebook and Twitter (yes a social network too) are suffering from scaling issues, as a result, their sites have a great deal of downtime or latency. The complicated applications will only increase in intricacy as more users are added.

Loss in workplace productivity “Social not-working”
Companies, organizations, and individuals are concerned about the time wasted in managing social network profiles, in some cases, companies have banned Facebook from their employees, often using Firewalls.

see full post at web-strategist.com

The Social Networking & Internet Personals Industry - Issues from Executives and Management

2008-02-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

Here is another summary of an interesting discussion about "The Social Networking & Internet Personals Industry" from the internet dating confirence.
Panel Members inlude:
6 Panelists:
Penthouse Media – Mark Bell
Meet MOI.com -- Andrew Weinreich
Thunder Road Inc. – Mike McQuown
OKcupid.com
Mate1.com – Elizabeth Wasserman
Plenty Of Fish – Markus Frind
Moderated by Mark Brooks of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com
Differentiators between the sites on the panel:
Plenty of Fish is Free
Mate1: Free for women, overpriced for men (jokingly said)
OKCupid.com focused on community and non-dating
Andrew W. completely mobile
Penthouse: we make money
Q: How big a threat are Social Networking Sites
Largest dating subscription site has less than 1% of all US daters so there is still a lot of growth potential.
Q: Can you start a generic dating site in this environment over?
Yes, most panelists say it’s too late to enter the market as a plain vanilla general site.One alternative view from a panelist was that just when you think there was a winner on the Internet, that winner gets unseated so there is no reason to think that won’t happen in the dating space. Niche sites can convert better and cost less than a general site for marketing.
Another panelist recommended buying an existing site that has a database that’s not innovating rather than innovate but not have a database (unless you have unlimited funds).
Numerous references of how no one could beat Friendster (myspace and facebook rose to do so) and how Yahoo was #1 in search, but then Google overtook, so anything can happen online.
Q: What can you do to add value to online dating subscribers.
Facebook figured out that providing a way for people to give pointless updates about what your friends are doing several times a day generated lots of traffic. As opposed to online dating where you don’t really know the other people on the site. Dating needs to get out of the static experience (except who’s new) of posting a profile / viewing profiles.
User generated content is driving lots of activity online. How often is the average dating profile updated? Add more dynamic elements such as forums, so you can see what an other dater wrote, or areas of the site they interacted with that are related to a particular subject that gets automatically added to their profile.
Q: How does user generated content make you more money.
It isn’t a big factor for Plenty of Fish, as a fraction of a percent of all traffic is forum generated. Penthouse media had a different take in that user generated content enhances the connection of the customer to the site and therefore keeps people staying longer as members.
Q: Question about customer service.
One panelist recommended that dating executives do the customer service to understand the issues. Plenty of Fish jokingly said they don’t believe in customer service. Mate1.com does it in-house and tries to reply within 48 hours. The fewer people who you upset, the better chance you have of referrals. Another panelist talked about there’s a difference between reading customer emails and responding. Biggest issue with one of them was that people were upset they were billed and how to deflect that to more about what got them upset to begin with and correct that.
Q: What about converting more free members to paid?
Not everyone who goes to a dating site want to date. Some are voyeurs. Target your customer service toward those who want to date and not just poke around. Markus from Plenty of Fish postulated that most online daters who pay are tricked within the first minutes of visiting a site/landing page. Slight change of subject, another panelist talked about guarantees, and how Match.com offers one now. If you are large enough, you can maybe offer a guarantee but not so easily for smaller ones. Also tighten the guarantee to if you try to meet people who are close to your age, local to you, (this part somewhat jokingly said:) similar in your appearance (ie, 6’s must contact only 7’s and lowers) you can be pretty sure they will actually meet someone.
Some members will pay, and some will never pay. If you can identify the ones who will never pay, you can try to monetize them or at least get something from them such as requiring them to post a photo or add content. Another idea: get them to refer people over to your site to get free memberships. One audience member said in his experiment fuzziness of benefits generated more conversions than being exact.
Q: What affect would Microsoft’s potential purchase of Yahoo have on buying ads.
Some people feel that yahoo isn’t a huge factor as it is, so things should only improve.
Q: Future of online dating – What could stop the industry from growing to $1B to $2B a year.
Spark is down 15% from 12-18 months ago, Match is down 2%. The sites that are publicly traded are shrinking. One panelist said he’s not public but he’s growing, mainly through launching more niche sites and his contention is they are cannibalizing the big general sites.
Security and fraudsters are a threat, and one panelist recommended the dating sites to share information on the fraudulent users (IP addresses, email addresses, etc.).
There are more choices today than 3 years ago, so even though some sites are showing lower numbers, the belief is that the market is still growing overall.
Q: What about offline coaching and matchmaking integration with online dating?
There’s a lot of opportunity in this area. Revenue per employee for an online web site is significantly higher than offline. One item was that matchmakers are still too fragmented and until there is a central source to connect with.
Q: What are the 3 top things that each panelist would change (long term) to triple revenue.
Penthouse’s response:Expand mobile. China.Technology.
Panelist: AndrewSimilar to Penthouse’s response. Mobile, international expansion and new technologies.
Panelist: Mike M.Niche sites, international members, expand payment options.
Panelist: OKCupidThink outside the profile.
Panelist: Mate1Internationalization. Move dating from static to dynamic environment.
Panelist: Markus.Since I only need to triple, I’ll just go on more vacations as I don’t need to do anything. LOL.

Gay Dating Services Industry

2008-02-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Here is Patrick Perrine, Founder MyPartner.com , presentation at the internet dating conference.

About The Community
According to Kinsey, 1 in 10 people are either gays and lesbians. Is that true? According to Witeck-Combs, its about 7% of the US population. Ahout 15 million adults are in the US, and 77% consider themselves as openly gay. Gays and lesbians live in 99.3% of all US counties. More than 6 million gays and lesbians are estimated to be living in partnered relationships in the US. 1 in 4 gay men and lesbians live in households with choldren under the age of 18. The consumer market is estimated at $690 billion in buying power in 2007. There is an expected rise to $835 million in 2008. 80% of gay men are actively online.
The Market
The average gay online date has 3-5 active profiles as compared to 1-3 for heterosexuals. Users have a higher user engagement for social network. They also report a much higher usage of blogs. eMarketer estimated that there were 12.1 million adult GLBT internet users in the US in 2007.
What does this mean?
The online personals market is estimated at $649 million dollar and is expected to grow 8% a year.The Opportunity87% of gay men and 58% of lesbians use the internet to find a partner. Only 18% of men and 27% of women have had a serious relationship. Research is finally showing that gay men and lesbians do want serious long term relationships. 47% of gay men and 41% of gay women are actively looking for a serious long term relationships. 71% of gay men and women have visited a chat room or registered with an online dating site. However, 87% said they like to flirt, but fear of rejection prevented them from making the first move. Trust issues are big factor.
What are the differences between the gay market and the online market?
The LGBT population is not a homogenous group. There are differences within itself. What works for gay men may not work with lesbians.Traditional dating sites right now are promoting hooking up verses long term relationship. They tend to be XXX and foster quick relationship versus partnerships.What myPartner.com is doing to lead the way --Partner Perfect Compatibility Matching System, an enviroment fostering long-term relationships for gay men, and providing online and offline matchmakingWhere is the industry heading?More mainstream sites are targeting the gay demographic.Offline gay matchmaking servicesPopularity of Gay Niche relationship based sites growing.
What is lacking?
Very few lesbain servicesVery few onlne dating sites for lesbians

Via onlinepersonalswatch

Where's Dating 2.0? Innovations in the Online Dating Industry

2008-02-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a summary of Sam Yagan (CEO & Co-Founder) OKCupid presention at the internet dating confernce.

Sam Yagan is the speaker for Where's Dating 2.0. Here is a little background on him: CEO of www.sparknotes.com (1999-2002), CEO of www.edonkey.com (2002-2005), and CEO of www.okcupid.com (2004- )
We incrementally innovate. Geocities has turned into Livejournal. Friendster is now Facebook. Online dating sites just changes their logo.Do we need to innovate? Yes! Dating sites were among the first to embrace UGC in form of profiles. Dating sites have the deepest and most honest data on its users. We need to leverage the tools that are out there. You need to leverage word of mouth virality and "link love".What is the business model of the future? How many large, growing, consumer subscription industries can you name? If you ask your friends how many subscriptions they have online, most will say none.The top 5 innovations that were discussed this morning (see State of the Internet Dating Industry)--
is this really where online dating is?
Is that going to lead us into the feature.Ok Cupid's Web 2.0 Elements 30,000 user generated personality tests, user driven matching algorithm, dating blogs, collaborative profile ratings, and its free.
What is so exciting about free?
When Ben & Jerry's have free ice cream, there are lines around the block. People do that just to save $3. He can't explain why that is. There is also the thinking that you also don't have to call yourself an "online dater" if its free.
Why aren't dating sites using targeted ads better?
It has a lot to do with the numbers of people to be able to target better.

Via onlinepersonalswatch

Winter is #1 Break-Up Season

2008-01-20T13:08:00.000-08:00

Research conducted by Yahoo! Personals shows that we are now in National Break-Up Season. The survey revealed some major faux pas to avoid when it comes to breaking up: Digital Don'ts – 28% of the respondents selected "sending a text or instant message" or "through e-mail" as the worst methods for breaking up. 19% considered Monday the best day to break up with someone. 37 % selected "a public place" as the worst location to break up. A complete National Break-Up Season survival guide can be found online at:
http://personals.yahoo.com/breakup

Source: Online personals watch

White version of Copenda

2008-01-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hi,
I want to invite you to test our white version of Copenda :
http://www.copenda.com/clean

Just the search engine without the social functionalities - what do you think about it?

Top 10 Worst Pickup Lines

2008-01-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

In general, most pickup lines are lame. But some are a lot worst than others. As a result, Online dating magazine assembled the Top 10 Worst Pickup Lines of All Time.
Starting from number 10:
10... You remind me so much of Pokemon that I just want to pick-at-choo.
9... I’m new in town. Can I have directions to your house?
8... I misplaced my Teddy Bear. Will you sleep with me?
7... Wow, your legs must be really tired because you have been running through my mind all night!
6... What's that in your eye? Oh, it must be a twinkle from when our eyes met!
5... Did you clean your pants with Windex, because I can totally see myself in them.
4... Those must be space pants, because your legs are outta this world.
3... Hi, my name is Justin… Justin Credible.
2... I may not be Fred Flinstone, but can still make your Bedrock.
And now for the worst pickup line of all time:
1... Is your name Visa, because you’re everywhere I want to be.

Lessons From Entrepreneurs: Copenda

2008-01-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Steve Spalding the author of the successful blog How To Split An Atom recently interviewed Tal Cohen , one of the founders of Copenda.
Tal was kind enough to not only give him some insight into what Copenda is all about but also give us a backstage pass into what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in Web 2.o.

Read the full interview here

Few dating tips for the new year

2007-12-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

I gathered few dating tips for the new year:

What should a guy do when a woman tells him “I need time to get to know myself”?

OK, let me do a little translation for you...If a woman says, "I need time to get to know myself" or "I need to find myself" or anyvariation of this common theme, it usually means:"YOU WERE ACTING LIKE A WUSS, BEING CLINGY AND YOU WERE GENERALLY NOT A CHALLENGE ANYMORE. I WANT YOU TO LEAVE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOUR FEELINGS, SO I'M GOING TO TELL YOU THAT I NEED TIME TO ‘FIND MYSELF’ TO GET YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE WITHOUT A HASSLE."I'm harsh, aren't I?Well, here's the deal. In general, if you become too predictable, too involved, too needy, too wuss-ish, and too "head over heels" too early in the relationship, it will drive a woman away.Think about it this way: The REALLY attractive women have guys chasing them FAR more than the average/below average women. You need to do something DIFFERENT, while at the same time being ATTRACTIVE.Probably the best thing you can do when you finally meet a really great girl is call her HALF as much as you normally would, and give her twice the space. Think about it...

(source: AskMen)

Choose those you have a good chance of dating, don't aim low but do aim realistically. In other words, your dating is based on the whole package you present as well as just your personality. If you are looking for a glamour girl or boy and want to date someone trendy and gorgeous then good for you, but be prepared and be realistic about your chances.

(source: topdatingtips)

How to approach a woman and avoid rejection?

Never assume someone is free simply because they do not have their wedding band on their hand. Some women wear them others do not. Not to mention that she may have a boyfriend.

make casual invitation to a cup of coffee , Considering that it is at her work place I would make sure that:
a) It would be someplace that is relatively free off other workmates, or
b) Go for the indirect approach as in giving her a card with a little note

Bottom line: If she accept invitations, then she is interested, if she doesn't then you have nothing to be embarrassed about as the message is just a casual invitation to a cup of coffee.

(source: datingfast)

On a Date, Who Pays?

A simple rule of thumb to follow when wondering who pays on a date is: whoever initiated the date, is expected to pay for it.
Having said that, not everyone knows this rule or abides by it. So what do you do when the person who asked you out on a date hasn't made the move to pay?
Wait. Take some time to see whether or not your date intended to pay and they just hadn't picked up the check yet. If they don't pay within five minutes of the check being placed on the table, point casually to the bill and say, "Can I help you with that?" This should signal to the initiator of the date that they were expected to pay, but you're still willing to go dutch if the question of who pays was assumed.

(source: dating.about)

7 Ideas on How to Dump a Guy Nicely

Meet him
Don’t break the news to him over the phone. Not only it is rude but he’s always going to wonder about what went wrong. Give him a chance to hear it from you directly. Email and SMS is even worse. Invite him home or go for a walk together. Either way, sit him down and explain how you feel. Be honest!
Answer why?
Most men are intelligent. He will want some kind of an explanation. Don’t just say ‘It’s off’ and walk away. This was the guy you fell in love with once. So be kind to him and explain why things didn’t work out for you. You owe him some kind of explanation especially if you’ve been together for a while.
Blame yourself
It’s easier and kinder to blame yourself for the break. You could say ‘It’s me, I’m just not ready for somebody as nice as you’ or something to that effect. Don’t lay all the blame on him or you’ll soon be having a fight rather than a conversation.Let him thinkOnce you’ve told him, don’t expect an answer immediately. If he’s in love with you this will probably be breaking his heart. So respect that and let him be. Don’t shower him with questions or a hundred ‘I’m so sorry’s’. He will need a few minutes to let it sink in. Give him that time to think about what’s happened.
Let him talk
He may want to explain things especially if he did something wrong. Hear him out but don’t have that ‘Oh, I wish I had known’ look on your face. If your mind is really made up then let him now this is the end of the road. Avoid getting trapped into the loop again. A firm yet gentle ‘no’ is the best for both of you.
Just friends?
That’s great if he wants it that way. But make sure you tell him how you want to keep the relationship. If a clean break is what you want, be clear that he understands that. If you want to go on as friends, but he doesn’t, then respect that and move on. Don’t sob uncontrollably on his shoulder as you’re the one breaking up with him! Remember?
Don’t hold on
Let him go. If he wants to leave, then let him. Don’t keep pulling him back into conversation. He probably just needs a good drink and some sleep!

(source: allwomenstalk)

My tip is:

Don't Exhaust Youself searching for your next date , use Copenda , Just type your preferences ...and Copenda will find the match, your next match can be from any site such as Myspace, Facebook, hi5, friendster, match, plentyoffish and more.

Happy new year,

Lizi

Happy holidays

2007-12-24T04:52:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,
I wanted to thank everyone who voted for us in the Open Web Awards contest , hosted by Mashable.com. Copenda succeeded to be among the top 3 in the social search category together with Facebook and Wink.

After the holidays we will expose new functionalities:

You will be able to manually add new profiles and claim existing profiles
My Copenda - personal user page with your favourite profiles , claimed profiles , profile management capabilities and much more.
More filtering capabilities : for example you will be able to have search results only from specific sites.
2 New facebook apps and google gadget (I will be able to give you some more details very soon)

Stay tuned!!!

Happy holidays

From me and all Copenda staff

Please vote for us!!!

2007-12-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

Hi,
We made it!!! thank to you we are on the final three in the "Social Search" category in the Mashable open awards contest.

Please help us and vote for us:
http://mashable.com/2007/12/17/owa-voting-finalists-1/

Thanks!!!

A new feature from Google - Google profiles

2007-12-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

"A Google Profile is simply how you represent yourself on Google products — it lets you tell others a bit more about who you are and what you're all about. You control what goes into your Google Profile, sharing as much (or as little) as you'd like."Until now, you could create profiles in Blogger, orkut, Google Groups, Google Co-op and all of them could contain different information. You could also add photos in Gmail, Google Talk and orkut, so the situation started to become confusing.The new Google profiles are already available in Shared Stuff, Google Maps, Google Reader and will be added to other web applications. For example, in Google Maps you'll find the link to your profile at the top of the page.

This is a very good news , I would recommend them to add some more profile characteristics such as : age,gender,high etc. adding these profile characteristics will enable people search engine such as Copenda integrate these profiles into their search results.

Please vote for us!!!

2007-12-08T03:11:00.000-08:00

Hi,
We need your help , There are very important web contests and we need your help to vote for us.
Please help us to win these contests:

Mashable
http://mashable.com/2007/12/07/owa-voting-social-search/
Choose Copenda.

Techcrunch
Please vote for us in the following categories:

Best new start-up of 2007
Best international start-up
Most likely to succeed

Don't forget to write: copenda.com

Copenda is Live!!!

2007-12-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Finally we launched today.
Here are the first reviews:

Mashable: http://mashable.com/2007/12/03/copenda/
Online dating post http://onlinedatingpost.com/archives/2007/12/dating-site-aggregator-copenda-launches-tomorow/
killerstartups.com http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/Copendacom---Social-and-Dating-Networking-Combine/

Fill free to add your review.

Copenda - Launch date

2007-12-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

After a long development period we finally ready for launch , Copenda will be launched next week on the 4th of December.
Please be patient, It is beta and there might be some bugs.
On the following 4 weeks after the release we will add key functionalities that are currently not ready to the launch date:
My Copenda - a private dashboard which aggregates user personal data.
Ability to Claim a profile and get notification
Users will save profiles as their favorite and track them
Additional major site - we will add Facebook profiles to our search engine - we are currently indexing them.
Online Chat
If you can't wait and want to have a sneak pick into Copenda click here.
I will be more than happy to hear what you think about Copenda - what you like and more important what you didn't like.

A Kiss-Off to Online Dating

2007-11-24T01:51:00.000-08:00

According to Sarah Lacy from BusinessWeek the era of Web 1.0 is over, online dating is dead. Going on sites like Facebook or MySpace it's like going to a bar with your friends, whereas a dating site is like walking past a bunch of animals in cages at the zoo. According to comScore, the number of people visiting online dating sites dropped 6% in September. Unique visitors to Yahoo Personals and eHarmony fell 21%, Match.com had a 16% drop, and True.com's visitors plummeted 46%. ComScore does show some names like Plentyoffish.com growing, but these are new sites with far smaller user bases.

here is her funny fictitious letter to the online dating sites:
"Dear Online Dating Sites,
I am writing to tell you it's over between us. It's not you. You've been great. You've helped me connect millions of happy couples and no one can take that away.
It's just that—well, I've changed. My needs and users are different now. And you were right when you asked about my relationship with MySpace and Facebook. I can't ignore the feelings I have for them any longer. Please don't be hurt. We had a good run, and you'll always be a part of me. But I'm moving on. I hope we can still be friends.
Love always,
The Internet "

I agree with here , I don't know if online dating will vanish but we cant ignore the recent statistics showing that the younger generation are using social networks to meet new friends and not using online dating sites.
Although many users use social networks for dating purposes, the social network user experience is not suited for this purpose.
We predicted this trend two years ago when we initiate Copenda ,
Copenda is a revolutionary social people search engine that allows people to search for their soul mate or new friends in social networks and dating web sites. Our complex algorithms crawl semi-structured data from multiple social networks and online dating sites.
Copenda will bridge the gap between social networks and online dating sites by integrating an innovative user interface with dating site features such as personality search and social network features such as ranking, comments and tagging.

See the full article

Windows Live™ Messenger IM Control

2007-11-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

I have just found a very cool control from Microsoft , Windows Live™ Messenger IM Control lets people on the Web reach you in Messenger by showing your Messenger status on your web site, blog, or social networking profile. The Windows Live™ Messenger IM Control runs in the browser and lets site visitors message you without installing Messenger first.
Yahoo has a similar presence control , but unlike the MS control when you want to contact the person you are redirected to yahoo web site.

For more details check the folowing post.

I had this IM control to our blog so you can now use it whenever you want to contact us.

Google OpenSocial - new opportunities

2007-11-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

Last week Google launched OpenSocial a new set of javascript API's adopted by the industry leaders. these set of API's will enable the development of cross platform applications.
So far the following websites have committed to the new initiative: Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING.
From our side it is a very good news , developing Copenda application for the leading social networks in on our roadmap and the new initiative will enable us to expose our app to broader audience.

Read more here

Myspace has been spammed

2007-11-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today I have found a very odd thing when I browsed Myspce profiles , hundreds (maybe more) of fake profiles , all of them contain some general information and a link to an adult web site.

I cant understand how web site like Myspace can allow such a thing...

If you want to see it yourself just click "browse" on Myspace and browse for women in the US.

Beware , online dating scams

2007-10-27T02:22:00.000-07:00

An online dating scam is when a scammer, male or female, creates a false personal profile and makes contact with you via an online dating agency or even a specialized chat room. The scammer says that they are seeking romance or a soul mate but are really out to steal not only your heart but your cash too.Scammers can sign up to online dating agencies or chat rooms just like anyone else. Many online dating sites allow anyone to join for free, and they usually do not screen their members. Scammers take advantage of the anonymity of the internet to create the profile of your perfect match and make any number of promises to attract you and cause you to let your defenses down.
How do I know it is a scam?
The scammer will ask for your money! This will not happen immediately - however, before long the scammer will ask for financial help for any number of reasons. Almost always, they will ask you to send money using an untraceable source such as a telegraphic money transfer. Some of the most common reasons they give for why they need your help include:
• I want to meet you but I don't have enough money to travel to see you
• I have been robbed and beaten, I require urgent surgery or treatment for a serious illness or me or my family member has been a victim of a serious or fatal accident and you are the only person who can help
• I am stranded abroad and I don't have money for travel or visa costs. • I want to purchase a home or property with you
• I need your bank account for help in depositing cheques, money orders, drafts…
Other signs are:
• your new date looks like a model - this is probably because the scammer has used a stolen or a magazine picture
• your new date only gives you a post office address and/or a phone number which he or she never answers and which does not have voicemail
• your date talks a lot about herself or himself and does not answer your questions - probably because they are sending standard emails to hundreds of people. What can I do to protect myself?
• only use a reputable online dating or chat service and follow the basic safety tips for online dating
• be skeptical and ask yourself simple questions like, 'why am I the only person who can help them but I have just met them?'
• test your date - ask them lots of questions, try to phone them or post them something or possibly suggest meeting them. If all attempts fail, you are probably dealing with a scammer. What can I do if I have already lost money?If you have already sent money there is little chance of you ever recovering it from them. However what you can do is:
• report the scam to the dating or chat room site where you met the person.
• contact your local police and report the matter or to obtain more information
Source : soonews

More statistics - Consumer trends in social networking

2007-10-27T01:47:00.000-07:00

ComScore analyst Gian Fulgoni has shared some interesting findings on social networking abroad. These findings were very surprising , at least for me , For example, it’s commonly thought that with the success of sites like MySpace and Facebook, the U.S. is the hub of social networking activity. However, Asia is not only the fastest-growing region for social networking, it is also the largest: By contrast, fewer Latin Americans visit social networking sites, but are much more engaged:

You can find more statistics regarding leading social networks share on each region here.

Copenda is just around the corner

2007-10-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

As we promised Copenda will be ready very soon.

We finished the development of 95% of the modules planed for the beta and we already crawling profiles from 5 sites: Myspace,Match,Friendster,Plentyoffish and Hi5.

In the next few weeks I will update you with the Beta launch date.

In the meantime here are some screenshots:

More info here

More social networks are lunching new application platforms

2007-10-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

More and more social networks are going the Facebook rout and lunching new application platforms.
Hi5 had also already announced on its blog the release of its API, which seemed to offer some additional tools for the developer community. According to VentureBeat, the full platform will be available to developers within the next 12 months.
Tagged, which has well over 40 million members, is building a platform that will exactly mimic the Facebook Platform API. In other words, if successfully implemented, Facebook apps will be able to run on Tagged without any significant code changes (developers will have to manage the different user communities, of course).

Source: Mashable

What is your Facebook strategy?

2007-10-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

With the groundbreaking launch of the Facebook Platform this past spring, and the subsequent runaway growth of Facebook Apps adopted by millions of users this summer, the question on everyone’s lips (including Google and Microsoft) has been: “So what’s your Facebook strategy?”.

A very intersing post, writen by Dave McClure , was recently published on TechCrunch.
Dave write about seven major aspects of Facebook you can use to increase the visibility of your startup, business, product or service:
1. Set Up Your Graph: Profiles & Privacy
2. Make Connections: Networks, Groups & Events
3. The Need for Feed: Your [Shared] Social Activity Stream
4. Share Your Content: Share & People-Tag Your Stories & Media
5. App to the Future: The Facebook Platform, APIs, & Applications
6. Pay to Play: Ad Networks, Sponsored Stories, & Paid Distribution
7. Show Me The Bunny: Gifts, Points, & Virtual Currency

Read full post here

Top 10 Worst Pickup Lines

2007-10-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have just found a funny post about the top 10 worst pickup lines:

10... You remind me so much of Pokemon that I just want to pick-at-choo.
9... I’m new in town. Can I have directions to your house?
8... I misplaced my Teddy Bear. Will you sleep with me?
7... Wow, your legs must be really tired because you have been running through my mind all night!
6... What's that in your eye? Oh, it must be a twinkle from when our eyes met!
5... Did you clean your pants with Windex, because I can totally see myself in them.
4... Those must be space pants, because your legs are outta this world.
3... Hi, my name is Justin… Justin Credible.
2... I may not be Fred Flinstone, but can still make your Bedrock.

And now for the worst pickup line of all time:
1... Is your name Visa, because you’re everywhere I want to be.

Source: Online dating magazine

Online Dating Statistics

2007-09-21T05:44:00.002-07:00

According to Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) , some 2.5 million US adults participated in online dating in the last 30 days.

Some of MRI's findings:

Of the 2.462 million adults who reported participating in online dating in the last 30 days, 52.2 percent are men and 47.8 percent are women.

Younger people - ages 18-34 - comprise almost half of all online daters, making them 59 percent more likely than the population as a whole to be in this group.

Middle-aged people are significantly represented: Nearly one-quarter (24.2 percent) of online daters are between the ages of 35-44.

Zingku,mobile social networking service,acquired by Google

2007-09-21T05:44:00.001-07:00

Google acquired mobile social networking service,Zingku, for an undisclosed amount.

Currently, the Zingku site is closed for new registrations as the company moves to Google.

Zingku allows users to upload an image of themselves and add it to a magazine cover, a Most Wanted ad, a movie poster, a celebrity photo and lots more. And thanks to the “Post to MySpace button”, they can quickly post thier remixed photo to MySpace, Friendster, Windows Live Spaces and Xanga.

Photos from Anatalya,Turkey

2007-09-21T05:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from my last vacation to Anatalya,Turkey.

We staid at the luxurious brand new Gloria serenity.

True.com wins a low suit

2007-09-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

A user of dating website True.com is suing the owners of the site alleging that its offer of free membership to women but not men amounts to gender discrimination. As part of the case the man, Michael Cohn, argues that he had not agreed to terms and conditions when he clicked 'Continue' on the website's registration form when signing up for a free trial.
True.com's registration form asks for a user's date of birth, screen name, password and email address. A statement follows the last field in the form: "I am at least 18 years old, and I have read and agree to the TRUE Terms of Use and Code of Ethics." Beneath that statement was a single button marked 'Continue'.
The website owner, TrueBeginnings LLC, claimed that clicking on the 'Continue' button represented Cohn's acceptance of the site's terms and conditions.
Cohn said that he had not been forced to read terms and conditions and had not explicitly agreed to abide by them.
The issue was important in the case because Cohn wanted it heard in California. The Terms of Use stipulated that any dispute be heard in Texas. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County had sided with True.com and dismissed the case in California. Cohn appealed.
The Californian Court of Appeal said that there was no reason why Cohn should not have been considered to have entered into an agreement with True.com. That was also the decision to which the first court had come.
"Under these circumstances, where appellant obviously had access to the internet and was entering into a contract on the internet, there was nothing inherently unfair in requiring him to access contractual terms via hyperlink, which is a common practice in internet businesses," it said. "The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that appellant agreed to the forum selection clause contained in the Terms of Use."

Read full article

Friendship in the Social networks era

2007-09-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

According to a research recently published by Dr Will Reader from Sheffield Hallam University online users say they have about the same number of close friends as the real-life average person. Another research published by by Professor Robin Dunbar at the Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioural Ecology Research Group at Liverpool University has shown that the average person has a social network of around 150 friends, ranging from very close friends to casual acquaintances.
The conclusion from these two researches is that the average person has around 150 friends in real life , I really doubt these fact and I think that the average person has mach more online friends then real-life friends.
Making friends can be costly, according to behavioural ecologists. While it might not be a very romantic view of friendship, making new friends involves an investment by committing time and energy to another person in the hope that they will provide reciprocal benefits in the future.
Dr Reader and his colleagues wondered whether online networks are somehow reducing the investment necessary to make new friends by lowering the perceived risk.
Some 90 per cent of the online friends rated as ‘close’ have been met face-to-face, with the remaining 10 per cent likely to be friends of close friends, perceived as having many of the mutual friend’s attributes and therefore “low risk”.
According to Dr Reader, the importance placed on face-to-face encounters is a result of the necessity to base an investment on honest information.

Read more at: Science Daily

50 Cent's latest album “Curtis” exclusively on his MySpace

2007-09-08T06:52:00.000-07:00

50 Cent premiered his latest album “Curtis” exclusively on his MySpace profile yesterday, letting all of his 900,000 “friends” get a first listen to the album before it’s released in stores. You have from now until Tuesday, when the album hits stores, to check out the album in its entirety here.
In conjunction, MySpace TV will also debut a series of five exclusive interviews with 50 Cent, each video at 10 minutes in length. What should be fun for fans is the feud going on between 50 Cent and Kanye West, who’s album is also being released on Tuesday, September 11th. MySpace looks to be happily fueling the rappers’ battling fire, as it’s offering this exclusive premier deal with 50 Cent while also featuring Kanye West as a guest curator on the MySpace Music Channel to promote his album as well.

Source : Mashable

DigFoot: A Directory Just For Social Networks

2007-09-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

DigFoot is an upcoming site that is a directory for other social networks. The site is currently in private beta, and I got a chance to check it out.
Acting as a searchable directory, DigFoot has about 1,000 social networks indexed so far, and will be adding more. Users can help out to this end as well, by suggesting more sites to be added to the directory. From the homepage, you can start your search by choosing one or all of the four parameters by which you can search. Enter a site name if you know what you’re looking for and you’d just like more information, or select from three drop down menus that let you choose a category, a site type, and a primary language. Your search results will be displayed accordingly.
Each social network listed on DigFoot has its own profile page, which shows the name and a link to the network, as well as a basic description of the site that DigFoot has pulled from the About Us page. As a registered member you have the capability to add more site information, and leave a review. Each network can be added to your DigFoot bookmarks, which are displayed from your toolbar for easy access while navigating the site. Each bookmark has an edit link that takes you directly to the page where you can add more information about that network. Having a browser bookmarking tool for its own service would prove helpful as well.

Read full post

Singlesnet Low-Brow Dating Adverting

2007-09-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

More proof that most high-volume dating sites are more interested in low-quality traffic than anything resembling a quality dating experience. Singlesnet has resorted to the ass-tastic ad campaigns that True and Mate1 originated on social networks over a year ago. What are the chances that the ad traffic is gender-targeted and women see a naked hunky guy?

Read full post: Online Dating Insider

Bebo premieres new online drama

2007-09-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

A new interactive drama series, ‘Sofia’s Diary’ from Sony Pictures Television International is to air on Bebo.com this Autumn.It’s a development that will help to keep it ahead of the competition as social networking sites battle for users.
Sofia will post daily video and text updates on her own Bebo profile and will engage directly with the Bebo community to offer users an interactive storytelling experience unlike any other.‘Sofia’s Diary’, is the second interactive drama series to be introduced by Bebo. It follows the success of the recently launched KateModern (bebo.com/katemodern), which attracted over 3 million views in its first eight weeks.

Read full article

Recent IDC Report: Social Network Sites are Popular But Not Profitable

2007-09-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

Despite generating a hefty media buzz, social networking sites like MySpace.com and YouTube Inc. have not yet figured out how to use that publicity to generate significant advertising revenue, according to a report released last week by IDC.
The Framingham, Mass.-based research firm predicts that while the barriers keeping companies from advertising brands on sites featuring unfiltered user-generated content may eventually be solved by some social networks, others may never be able to attract significant advertising, the report noted.
YouTube, the report suggests, could earn substantial advertising revenue if it could figure out a way to acquire premium content from distribution deals with companies like Viacom Inc., NBC and Walt Disney Co. However, the report noted that Google so far declines to pay the sums required to purchase the content.
The report did note that MySpace generated US$125 million in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2006, but also added that the total amounts to only a fifth of what Microsoft Corp.'s Microsoft Online Services Business brought in during the same period.
Read full article: Pc world

Facebook Campaign Forces Bank to Reverse Charges

2007-08-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

The International bank HSBC has reversed its policy and has refunded student customers as a direct result of a student campaign on Facebook.
With the plans to charge graduating students 9.9% APR on their overdrafts, many students were infuriated with the bank’s decision, stating that having a free overdraft to help them establish themselves with graduation and finding a job was the reason they signed on with HSBC in the first place. The National Union of Students has initiated a campaign on Facebook, threatening to boycott HSBC, and the bank listened. Interest charges for overdrafts up to £1,500 have been frozen, and any interest charged for the month of August will be refunded to students.

Read full post

Yahoo's new social job network: Kickstart

2007-08-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yahoo is looking to change the game with their new social job network, Kickstart. They are currently conducting research surveys among college students to find out what they think of this new service.

Yahoo Kickstart connects college students with alumni at the companies that they are interested in. As you can see in the screenshot above, this student's "in" at Nike is an alumni named Dave Bottoms. Dave has expressed an interest in helping out students and connecting with alumni. He also knows one of your friends, went to your school, and shares a common interest with you. That's a really powerful networking tool. Presenting specific connections like this adds a whole new value to this job network.

As you might also expect, everyone who signs up with Yahoo Kickstart gets their own profile page, where you can build a mini resume and add a quotation to give the profile a more personal feel. Everything here is pretty standard for a social network, but there is a definite professional focus, much like LinkedIn. The personal profile isn't anything revolutionary, but it certainly gets the job done in this situation.

Source : Cnet

Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites

2007-08-31T03:35:00.000-07:00

PC Magazine have chosen the top new or under-the-radar sites of 2007.
check it out ...

Playboy Launching Social Network

2007-08-31T03:25:00.000-07:00

Playboy is heading back to school to boost the bottom line. Riding a wave of renewed popularity among consumers around the globe, Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire is set to launch a sexy social networking site dedicated solely to college students, its latest online venture as it tries to reinvigorate its stagnant finances.
The launch of Playboy U, which has similar features to those found on Facebook, comes as Playboy's 54-year-old magazine continues to lose money and readers.
Playboy has cozied up to collegians before, featuring parties, promotional events and pictorials of student bodies from across the country. Now, executives hope Playboy U will help build brand loyalty among young consumers.
Backed by a hit cable TV show featuring Hefner's three girlfriends, a Sirius radio channel and the adoration of young Hollywood stars who are again flocking to parties at the Playboy mansion, the company is trying to grow its licensing business and online presence and build an international fan base that includes a surprising legion of female fans.
The site bars nudity but leaves little to the imagination with pictures from the mansion's "Midsummer Night's Dream" party and message topics such as "What Do You Think About Penis Enlargement" and "How Many People Have You Slept With? To Lie or Not to Lie."
The site has instituted a college-only policy, which bars anyone without an e-mail address ending in .edu from joining. And Playboy U says it will boot any university faculty, staff or alumni or other non-students that it discovers on the site.
In many ways its format is similar to Facebook and MySpace — people choose to "friend" each other, can post videos and photos or leave messages on a "wall." But users can also access university-specific pages that list campus events while viewing individual profiles of Playboy U members throughout the Web site.

Source: Yahoo news

Study finds caution with dates online, but not in person

2007-08-31T03:08:00.000-07:00

Women who date online are likely to take precautions to protect their personal safety when first meeting a man face-to-face, but often are much less careful about protecting their sexual health once that encounter moves to the next level, a Houston-based study has found.
While the women who were surveyed went to great lengths to screen online acquaintances before meeting them, nearly a third reported having sex on the first date and three-quarters of those said they did not use condoms, according to the study by The University of Texas School of Public Health.
Those behaviors reflect a "virtual intimacy" the women developed with men online before meeting them in person, said the study's author, Paige Padgett.
"They may not think of it as being risky sex," said Padgett, a research associate who specializes in epidemiology and sex research. "They don't see it as a one-night stand, even though it might turn out that way, because they really feel they have a relationship with this man."
Padgett surveyed 740 women who posted personal ads on seven dating Web sites. Some were looking for love, others for sex, she said.
During the five-month survey, which began in July 2002, 568 of the women met face-to-face with at least one man with whom their first contact was online. After taking precautions to ensure their safety during the first in-person encounter, 30 percent of the women reported having sex during that date, and 77 percent of those did not use condoms, Padgett reported.

Read full article

Orkut Launching New Design

2007-08-24T03:25:00.000-07:00

Orkut is rolling out a new design this morning, starting with a select number of users. It’s a much-needed change to the previously ugly social network that became unintentionally popular in Brazil.

I don't like Orkut , you cant perform profile oriented search : age ,interests ,location etc.I think the Idea behind social networks is meeting new people and the current Orkut search doesn't help.

10 Tips for Approaching Women

2007-08-24T03:14:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you see a woman you are attracted to? Do you run and hide? Do you use some canned line that you read on the Internet? Do you stand there in fear trying to think of the right thing to say? What is the right thing to do?
When approaching a woman, most guys make the mistake of thinking too much about what to say. They believe there's one magic line that will work in all situations. They rehearse this magic line, and when they deliver it, they hope the woman will become instantly attracted to them.
Unfortunately, rarely does this approach work -- because most of what you say is irrelevant. To catch a woman's attention, it is all about the confidence you display when approaching her.
Here are 10 surefire ways to intrigue her every time:
1. Observe something. Make a comment about something you observe in the environment. This is especially effective at the grocery store. For example, if she is ordering a turkey sandwich, ask her if the turkey is good here.
2. Smile. This shows her that you are friendly and confident. A genuine smile not only feels good to you, but will put her at ease while creating openness in the interaction -- a requirement for building rapport.
3. Do not hesitate. If you hesitate in your approach, this tells her that you are not feeling confident -- an immediate turn-off. When you see her, walk over to her within a short period of time (the three-second rule). Show her you are a man who knows what he wants and goes after it.

Read all tips at: Yahoo

New social networks

2007-08-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

New intersting social networks:

PeopleJam - The site will connect users with "life coaches" in areas like health and fitness, relationship, finance, career, and spirituality.
PMbuzz - Social networking site informs entertainers, clubs, promoters, DJ's, and club-goers of the New York night scene. Subsequent roll-outs are planned in other major U.S. markets over the coming months.
BigLickU - The social network targets the 50,000 students attending the Roanoke-Blacksburg area colleges, like Radford and Virginia Tech, and is the first attempt by a large metropolitan newspaper to reach into the college market. The site hopes to increase registered users from the current 960 to at least 5,000 by early 2008.
Zivity - Social network aiming to be a user-generated Playboy Magazine online

Social networking to drive mobile broadband

2007-08-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Social networking, dating and user-generated content sites will push mobile broadband above a billion users worldwide by 2012, Juniper Research has said in a report.
Indeed, the number of people using mobile social networking sites alone will jump from 14 million in 2007 to 600 million in five years, Juniper predicted in its report, "User-Generated Content: Social Networking, Dating and Personal Content Delivery".
Revenues generated from delivering access to dating, social networking and other personal content sites will jump from $527 million this year to over $5.7 billion in 2012. While mobile dating and chatrooms make up 57 per cent of current user-generated revenues, that will fall to 21 per cent by 2012 - and be overtaken by social networking sites, which will rise to over half of generated revenue.

Read full article: ITPro

Simulated online dating offers insight into real-life relationships

2007-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Psychologists at the University of Illinois have explored how people manage romantic ties by looking at the choices that people make in simulated online dating relationship.
The online study took participants through a series of scenarios about a relationship with a fictional partner. Each scenario ended with two options, from which the participant chose his or her response.
The researchers found that a participant’s attachment style was a good predictor of the pattern of his or her choices. “People who are highly insecure are more likely to interpret their partners’ actions in a negative way and then choose to respond in kind,” said Vicary, adding that the more secure individuals more often chose the positive, relationship-enhancing options.

Read full artice : Zee news

Nokia launches mobile social network - MOSH by Nokia!

2007-08-11T12:55:00.000-07:00

While all the big carriers are working hard to get existing social networks ported to play nice on their networks and handsets, Nokia seems to be taking a completely different approach. They’ve launched the first-ever social network launched by a handset maker - and who better to do it than the the most prolific mobile phone manufacturer on the planet? MOSH by Nokia aims to bridge the gap between the mobile and desktop social networking with their cross-platform design - upload, share, collect, or download various media from your mobile phone as well as your desktop (or laptop).
Recently I hear more and more about new Cross-platform social networks and dating sites - some of them such as MOSH are new and some are well known such as Myspace an Match.
Though mobile social networks are in their early stage and and their usage is still far behind the Internet we are working on exposing Copenda to mobile users. Copenda will enable people to search for friends or their next date directly from their mobile. The results will come from these cross platform social networks and dating sites.

Virtual World Hangouts: So Many To Choose From

2007-08-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

The avatars roaming many online virtual communities may be cartoonish and their activities inconsequential, but the recent sale of Club Penguin to Disney for $350 million (with $350 million in earn out) demonstrates that the business of casual immersive worlds, or virtual hangouts, is not entirely child’s play.
Virtual hangouts are where people can engage each other using imaginary characters in imaginary environments. They have been around and popular in Europe and Asia for years. However, they appear to be gaining traction in the United States as of late. Some commentators even believe that the type of experience provided by these destinations could very well become integral to the forthcoming Web 3.0 era.

With so many virtual worlds , The problem is finding your friends or people with similar interests , Copenda will help you do that!!!

Read full post

Match.com expands mobile online dating service

2007-08-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Online dating service Match.com recently lunched a new application for cell phones, allowing subscribers to keep track of their paramours while on the go.
MatchMobile will first be made available in the United States, UK and Canadian markets, with plans to extend the service to nine more countries by the end of the year.
The service provides subscribers with text messages to their phones when they have an e-mail from another Match.com subscriber and allows them to search for potential matches from their cell phones.
For an extra fee of about $5 per month, MatchMobile subscribers can receive and answer e-mails from suitors on their mobile phones.
About 3.6 million U.S. cell phones subscribers used a mobile dating service in May this year, according to data from tracking firm M:Metrics that was provided by Match.com. The company also cited forecasts from Frost & Sullivan, which predict that revenue from mobile dating services will grow to $215 million by 2009.

We are really happy that large dating sits and social networks are lunching mobile applications , It will help us when we lunch Copenda Mobile.

Source: Reuters

Kingdom Of The Online Cupids

2007-08-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Millions of people use the Internet to find love. Whether searching for a mate for life or just one night, they are fuelling an industry that rakes in $700-million annually in North America, and is seeing a continuous stream of new players.
Canadian companies -- from Lavalife to plentyoffish.com -- have made a huge mark in this space. Some would argue Canada is the capital of the online dating business, with many of the leading trends in the industry taking shape here first.
The Canadian dating site making the biggest splash at the moment is Plentyoffish.com. The founder and sole operator, 29-year-old Markus Frind, runs the site from his West Vancouver apartment. He hit the jackpot by making his site completely free. Started in 2003, it is now the third-most popular dating site in North America, according to Web traffic tracker Hitwise. The site pulls in more than US$5-million a year from text ads that appear beside user profiles.
Another Canadian dating site attracting its share of attention is Toronto-based Ashley Madison Agency. The site delivers
its customers a dating pool filled with people all looking for the same thing: a relationship outside of the one they are already in. The site's motto is "When monogamy becomes monotony."
Read full article

Story of My Life Tracks Your History

2007-07-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

Story of My Life is a website that lets you become the author of your journey, storing it forever.

Well, almost forever. If you only get the free account, your space is only temporary. Plans start at $19 one-time fee for 20MB and upwards of $400 one-time fee for for 500MB. There are several tools for the creation of your own story, formatting it in the likes of a book, with chapters and all. If you’d like to jot down some thoughts outside of your life story, you can use the blog function, which may seem a bit redundant for some, but serves its purpose. Neither stories nor blogs can support images and videos, and there’s a separate “vault” feature where you can create image galleries.

We we track this site , If it will be a success we will add it to our social people search.

Full article

Facebook Audio Nuked

2007-07-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

Like Napster, you knew it couldn’t last. Facebook has killed off the Audio application for copyright violations, making it one of the first 3rd party apps to get the chop. We’d previously heard that audio was no longer showing up in the App directory, but now it has gone entirely from the site.
Essentially, Audio allowed users to upload MP3s to Facebook and share them - even though uploading copyrighted MP3s is illegal, and your name could be easily linked to the uploads, the app flourished and gained 750,000 users. The Audio app was removed completely last night.

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75% of the Internet users say ,age is the most important factor when searching dating sites

2007-07-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

A recent survey conducted in May to July 2007 among random sample of Internet users found that the most important search factor when searching dating sites is "age".
Users could choose from various options:

Location

Height

Religion

Body Type

Ethnicity

Marital Status

Interests

All of the above properties have equal importance

Other

My first assumption was that most of the users will choose option 9 : "All of the above properties have equal importance" because love and friendship are influenced by many factors.

I ,for example, prefer someone who is older than me but I think (theoretically , because I'm married) I would date someone younger than me If he had similar interests and was single.Surprisingly Option 9 came only to the second place with 9% of the votes.Another surprise was that nobody chose "high" - I personally know a lot of women that will date only taller guys.

Here are the results:

We , at Copenda, took these results very seriously as you can see in the following screenshot:

I Will soon publish another survey about social networks search.

Brothers aim to hold Facebook founder accountable

2007-07-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

Three former Harvard students, twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra have filed a lawsuit accusing Mark Zuckerberg ,the founder of Facebook, stealing the idea for their social networking site.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2004, alleges copyright infringement, the stealing of trade secrets, breach of contract and fraud.
"The fraud that's been perpetrated here is partly against us, but it's also against 30 million people who believe the site was developed in an ethical way and that it was the true creation of Mark Zuckerberg, when in fact it couldn't be further from the truth," Cameron Winklevoss told CTV's Canada AM.
According to the Winklevoss brothers, Zuckerberg's tenure with their social networking site, now known as ConnectU, lasted between three and four months. But once the brothers learned of Zuckerberg's Facebook project in a Harvard student newspaper, his employment was terminated, they said.
"We basically entrusted him with all of our source code and business plan and models and everything that we had pretty much been working on for up to a year about, prior to engaging him," Cameron Winklevoss said.

Read full article at CTV.ca

The perfect honeymoon - Four season resort at Sayan Bali

2007-07-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

Copenda - a social people search

2007-07-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

People search is an area being pursued by a variety of startups which are recently getting a lot of attention. Few days ago I read on mashable a review about 6 of these startups (you can read it here).
Each one of the solutions has different approach to the people search , but what I found that it's common to all of them is that their implementation is a variation of white pages.
When I use one of the mentioned search engines I expect to find a specific person.
After I enter name or email I get search results containing list of profiles from various social networks. These solutions are great to find information about specific person or locate your friends.
We , at Copenda have a totally different approach to people search - we call it social people search.
Copenda is a place to meet new people , you enter general preferences and you get list of profiles from various social networks and leading dating sites. You can use it to find your soul mate or meet new friends with similar interests. Copenda uniquely integrate dating sites aspects such as personality search and structured profile with social networks aspects such as ranking, comments and tagging.
Stay tuned because copenda is just around the corner , don't forget to check the web site:
http://www.copenda.com/.
More information is coming soon.

Simple search

Advanced Search

SiteVolume Measures Frequency of Search Terms Across Social Networks

2007-07-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

SiteVolume is a recently launched service that lets you see how often search terms appear in various websites.

From the makers of TweetVolume, SiteVolume is really an extension of the original service. Going beyond Twitter, you can now see the frequency of your search terms (up to five) for more websites, including Digg, MySpace, YouTube and Flickr. You’ll need to first choose the tab for the site you’d like to search. Then enter your search terms. The results will appear in the shape of a bar graph, indicating how many times each of your search terms appears on that site.

Source: Mashtable

British Online Dating Statistics

2007-07-14T00:31:00.000-07:00

I found very intersing UK dating statistics that were published on "THE GUARDIAN" magazine.
Dating Direct's ,one of the largest online dating sites in UK, average member is 45 and only 6% of British web users aged 18-24 do online dating, according to market research company Synovate, though 38% have met someone online and consider them a friend, even though they have never met in person.
Deborah McCrudden, Synovate UK's head of youth and trends research, said: "I think there are other sites they are using to start up friendships and conversations and that could lead to love."
Some players in the dating market have already admitted the rise of free friendship sites such as MySpace makes subscription services a harder model to sustain.

In numbers
141 Number of dating sites in Britain, according to Nielsen/NetRatings
13.4% Proportion of UK internet users visiting personals sites in May compared with 8.2% three years ago, according to Nielsen/NetRatings
10,000 Number of male millionaires reportedly available on Sugardaddie.com
45-55 Typical age worldwide for dating services

Read full article

MySpace named in top 5 worst websites

2007-07-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

Time magazine has named what it says are the five worst websites on the internet. The list includes the hyper-popular MySpace social networking site, as well as the virtual worldly Second Life page.
Time named MySpace among the five worst websites despite also naming the social networking site in its '50 Coolest Websites of 2006' list last year.
The other websites on the list were dating site eHarmony.com , invitation site Evite.com and also avatar creation page Meez.com .

Read full article

Social Networking, Online Video Are Top Digital Trends

2007-07-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Online video and social networking are outpacing other digital media behaviors, according to a study recently released.
Ipsos Insight released some findings of its annual study "The Face of the Web 2006." The survey, conducted in November and December 2006 among a random sample of 6,553 adults around the world, found that online video activities have replaced music as the driver of digital media's growth.
Thirty-six percent of U.S. Internet users watched a TV show or other video streaming online at the end of 2006, up from 28% at the end of 2005, and three-quarters had done so in the 30 days before polling.
Globally, about one in five adults has visited a social networking Web site, and 20% of regular Internet users had visited these types of Web sites in the past 30 days, according to the study.

See full article

How to Beat "Dating Déjà Vu"

2007-07-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting article, written by Karen Sherman , about 5 tips for avoiding another hurtful relationship.

1. Be self-observant. Ask yourself, after you've gotten to know someone, what are the traits in them that you were initially drawn to? It's likely that these are the very aspects of the person that bother you -- ones that you say you don't want in another relationship.
2. Be analytical. What issues from your childhood does this person reflect?
3. Consider doing some personal work. By working on whatever the unresolved issue is for you, it will no longer need as much attention through someone else.
4. Be aware. Everything you want to know about someone is there right in the beginning. You just have to pay close attention and not be blinded by your emotions. That's why your friends can see a trait that you might not.
5. Work it through. Is the overall relationship a good one? Remember that everyone has issues. If each of you learns to accept and respect the issues of the other person, the relationship can be quite healing for both of you.

Read full article

FoxyTunes Lets You Insert Songs in Emails and Blogs

2007-07-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

FoxyTunes released a new version that has several upgrades, and a new feature, Signatunes, letting you add music to your emails and blog posts.
Signatunes comes with the new FoxyTunes upgrade, and shows up in your message editor in services like Yahoo Mail. The FoxyTunes icon, when clicked, will add your currently playing song to your email message or blog post. Signatunes currently works with Facebook Notes and Mail, Yahoo, GMail, MySpace blogs, AOL Mail, Horde, WordPress, Hotmail and SquirrelMail. The song appears to the recipients as a link for the song directing to FoxyTunes’ website.

Source : Mashable

The Scientific Laws of Romance

2007-07-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

I came across an interesting theory about relationships.
According to the Author , Ethan Todras-Whitehill , In a relationship, there exists a Constant Distance (CD) between two people that must be maintained at all times.

Read full article

Facebook Developers Demand to Spam What’s Wrong with This Picture?

2007-06-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

Valleywag published a letter from an anonymous Facebook platform developer complaining about the abusive limits Facebook is imposing on viral growth.
“Facebook just recently unceremoniously undercut the very thing that was driving the virality of most the initial applications, which is the ability of people to invite all their friends to an application,” the developer complains.

Read full letter here

Starting an Online Dating Service

2007-06-30T01:09:00.000-07:00

According to Joe Tracy, publisher of Online Dating Magazine, Out of every 100 online dating services that are started, 99 of them will fail and never make a profit. Everyone starting a new service thinks they'll automatically be a part of that 1%, but then again, many Americans also think they'll one day win the lottery. The harsh reality is that from the time you launch your service you are part of that 99% and only those who know how to prevail will change that fate.

Joe has some advices for new sites that want to be part of the 1%:
1) Put the consumer first. I'm sure you've been upset at the way a company has treated you in the past. Strive to make it so that no one is ever that upset with you. Remember the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
2) Find ways to heavily differentiate yourself (in a good way) from mainstream online dating services (i.e. offer refunds).
3) Network with other businesses to create joint ventures that benefit everyone involved.
4) Offer incentives for people who become members (paying or not). Note: My free ebook "Maximizing Your Online Dating Success" can be used as an incentive.
5) Don't start too big.
6) Remember that you need to market from several different angles and markets. Just doing online advertising won't cut it.
7) Find ways to create press releases that will attract attention. All it takes is for one news organization to write a story on you and that one story could result in many more.
If you have the money, hire a good public relations firm to help.
8) Be serious. Running a successful online dating service isn't something you do "just on the side". There's a lot of issues to work out, especially if you become successful - servers, technicians, customer support reps, etc.

Read more at : Online Dating Magazine

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace

2007-06-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

A very intersting none academic research "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace " published by danah boyd.
The research is about who goes where and how is it relateted to the socio-economic class.
Acording to the publisher ,the goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college.They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
MySpace on the other hand is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm. These are kids whose parents didn't go to college, who are expected to get a job when they finish high school. These are the teens who plan to go into the military immediately after schools. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.

Read full research

CircleUp Launches Its Most Sensible Widget

2007-06-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

I have found a cool new widget from CircleUp , embeddable MyQuestions widget to accompany its existing service, combining the functions of an instant messenger with a Q&A forums.

This widget enables you to ask a question, get an answer, see others’ questions, leave your own answers, and track everything with RSS along the way. You’ll need to be registered in order to use this widget, as it functions around your existing CircleUp account and groups.

You can place your widget on your website, blog or social networking profile, including MySpace, hi5 and Piczo.

Full Article: Mashable

Online Dating Cartoons

2007-06-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

The emergence of online dating presents a great opportunity to explore the more humorous side of the dating ritual.

More cartoons at: Online Dating Magazine

Jupiter Research Undervalues German Dating Market

2007-06-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Dirk Pflitsch at Online-Dating-News has published an analysis “Online Dating Companies in Germany” which is based on a paper based survey filled out by 46 of 60 mayor players. Dirk contends that Jupiter
We estimated a €116 million market in 2006 while Jupiter Research said €66 million.We try to explain the difference:- We included adult dating and niche dating sites as for Christians, Single Parents… (about €20 million).- Jupiter data is based on asking a few 100 Germans about their online behaviourwhile we have a direct access to the companies. Their way causes some problems, i.e.:The turnover increased because most of the German dating companies switched from a non-reccuring to a auto-recurring membership.But most of the mebers don’t even know that - thats why turnover increased!

Source: Online Dating Insider

Half of Brits regularly use online dating sites claims survey

2007-06-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Use an online dating site? You're not alone if a new survey is to be believed - over half of us in the UK have registered at two dating websites, while 83 per cent of people have been on a dating site at some point.
And while it's hard to take the results of a 3,000-people survey undertaken by an actual dating site as cast iron fact, the research does suggest it works - with a third of those registering finding a long-term relationship and a quarter still going strong. And just to throw in a happy ending, six per cent got married.

Full article: TechDigest

Online Dating Can Be Dangerous

2007-06-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

An estimated 40 million Americans use online dating services hoping to meet "the one." There are more than 1,400 Web sites in the $700 million a year business, but some question their safety.
Prosecutors say a Philadelphia nursing student was conning women on match.com. He was convicted this week of assault, but the accusations don't end there. His victims, described as attractive, ambitious professionals say their lives will never be the same.
Prosecutors said Jeffrey Marsalis, 34, told some tall tales, pretending to be a doctor, an astronaut and even a spy to lure women on Internet dating sites.
"He faces up to 20 years in prison and he will have to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life," said prosecutor Joe Khan.
Marsalis was convicted of sexual assault. However, he was acquitted of more serious charges that he drugged and then raped seven women in his apartment.
"You read about it, you see it on TV but you just don't think it can happen to you," one anonymous victim said.
She said she knows about tricksters like Jeffrey Marsalis and how easy it is to be duped online. According to her, a man she met on a Christian dating Web site was seeing 60 other women from 25 different Web sites. He pretended to be everything from a country music manager to a Pentagon consultant. He even lied about having cancer, she said.
She claims he stole thousands of dollars from his victims.

Full Article: abc news

Engage.com Survey Reveals Correlation between Attraction and Social Consciousness

2007-06-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sixty-four percent of singles say they'd like to know about a prospective date's social values as they consider compatibility. Nearly seven in 10 say a potential romantic prospect should be in sync on a social issue, such as the environment or racial and religious tolerance, or at least be socially conscious and active.
The Engage "Social Engagement" survey of more than 500 single adults shows that 58 percent say they are active with social causes including: environmentalism (24 percent); education (18 percent); and homelessness and poverty (10 percent), among others.

Full article: PRNewswire

IBM Takes Social Networking to Businesses

2007-06-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

IBM jumped on the Web 2.0 social networking bandwagon with the release of a suite of products it describes as social software for business. The new Lotus Connections suite features - activities, communities, bookmarking, profiles and blogs. Business has been slow to adopt social networking as a tool applicable to the workplace. A changing trend, according to IBM and its partners.

Source: Social networking watch

How Physical Appearance Figures in the Dating Arena

2007-06-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

In the past, contemporary culture has been criticized by the spiritual community, for an omnipresent narcissistic existence – or, an abundant over-concern with the projection of attractive, ‘superior’ images and masks -- which characterize people in some form of ‘perfect’ state.
The supposition that a standard of perfection is actually attainable by the masses (which it isn’t, not only because it is generally unrealistic, but also largely genetically implausible) is also damaging, since it assumes a level of invulnerability that does not exist, as well.
To the contrary, numerous icons of pop culture, past and present, have proven that most of those portrayed as ‘perfect,’ or ‘best,’ for the most part, are all too human, and often much further away from any form of super-human aspect, on any level.
In earlier eras, a realistic conception of beauty, such as under Plato, determines that beauty is inherent in the object itself, containing an essence prior to and apart from human interpretation and reflection. As evidenced by Socrates’ musing in Plato's Symposium, "What if man had eyes to see the true beauty -- the divine beauty, I mean, pure and clear and unalloyed," physical beauty was treated as an access to higher qualities. Physical beauty, as it appeared to Plato, seemed more of an inspirational tool, rather than some ideal to strive for.

Full Article

U.S.A. Internet Dating Rankings - Hitwise

2007-06-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

The U.S.A. internet dating rankings are now in. Singlesnet moves up to #1 position. PlentyofFish ousts Match from its 4th spot, a cause for concern for YahooPersonals, Match and TRUE. Racy gay dating site Adam4Adam moves up to 7th position. HotorNot recentl switched to free and moves up two spots to #9. OnlineBootyCall continues its climb, moving up one spot to #12. FriendFinder, LoveAccess and OutPersonals poke up into the top 15 at #13, #14, #15, bumping MSN Match, Gay and Ameican Singles off the top 15.

Source: Onlinepersonalswatch

Nielsen//NetRatings Engagament Rankings

2007-06-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

Nielsen//NetRatings engagement rankings for May show member commuities, which includes online dating and social networking, coming in third next to email and IM. Interestingly enough, gaming comes in fourth. That should tell you something. Ever thought about adding games to your site? I'm surprised none of the majors have added games yet. You can use games to help people engage with each other, and your site, and make money by upselling them to full gaming packages.

Top 5 Subcategories Ranked by Total Time, May 2007**
Subcategory In Millions of Hours
E-mail 342.9
Instant Messaging 253.6
Member Communities 205.6
Online Games 170.0
Current Events/Global News 119.6

Source: Onlinepersonalswatch