Digital music service Spotify, which supplies streaming music to users while allowing all their Facebook friends to see what rubbish taste they have, has recently teamed up with a pair of dating agencies in order to bring music lovers together.  It’s a bit of a time-saver, honestly, as most people have to soldier on through the painful first date, hoping that your potential partner doesn’t have a collection of Wham! albums in their flat (or perhaps hoping that they do – it’s a free country, after all), as the dating services will look at your Spotify history and match you with someone that has compatible taste in music.

Spotify’s platform director, Sten Garmark, commented on the new development by saying that music preference is one of the most common ways to start a conversation upon meeting someone for the first time, whether you’re simply making friends or if you’re looking for more.  No one wants dissonance in a burgeoning relationship after all, and when she likes Iron Maiden but he prefers Celine Dion, it’s probably better to just give it a pass and move on to the next pairing.

Truth be told, using music tastes as a way to match up prospective mates is nothing new, as dating sites have been doing it for years.  However, the automation that Spotify offers makes it painless for both end-users and dating site developers alike, as there’s no mucking about by ticking countless boxes or filling in forms – and you’ll be sure to be matched with someone who’s got the same poor taste in music as you do for once.

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Part of the survey carried out by new website datewithamate.com looked at the effect that friends’ approval had on dating behaviour.

Clients were asked if they were concerned if their friends approved of their new boyfriend or not and what they would do if they did not.

Nearly 1200 people were surveyed and one assumes that they were all single females.

Surprisingly, a majority seemed to be very concerned that their friends liked their boyfriend and approved of the relationship. 89% said that they were bothered about their friends’ feelings, while a lot less – 59% were bothered about what their boyfriend’s own friends thought about their relationship.

The survey was carried out by the new dating site because, according to the founder, Luke Pomaro, they wanted to know more about their client base and what made them tick.

More facts and figures revealed in the survey included the fact that 12% said that they would dump a boyfriend if their friends did not approve, which showed that their friends’ opinion counted a little more than their mum’s, because only 7% said that they would end a relationship if mum did not approve!

Datewithamate.com is a “double dating” website, which means that it arranges dates with a friend. Perhaps it is no surprise, Mr Pomaro said, that anybody who signed up to the new site would take their friends’ opinions seriously in terms of choice of who to date.

However, Mr Poimaro was a little shocked at the number of people who took their friendship with their friends more seriously than their friendship with their boyfriend.

He said that while it was fine to take one’s friends thoughts into consideration, it was important not to take them so seriously that it would cause the relationship to end.

He said that any healthy relationship depended on what the two people themselves thought about each other, rather than what other people thought.

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The website’s main business involves linking up pretty young women with rich old men and has been running an online poll of its (male) members to find out who their perfect “girlfriend” might be. Cheryl tuned up as number two in the list just after the person who took on her role in the TV series, the X factor, Tulisa Conostavlos.

Not to be seen to be one sided, the sometimes controversial dating website also ran a poll amongst its female members to find out who might be their favourite “sugar daddy”.

Surprise, surprise, Cheryl’s old boss, Simon Cowell turned up as the top candidate for their sugary attention. Perhaps a bit more surprising considering the average age of the sugar daddies was that Prince Harry was the runner up to Cowell at number two – hardly a daddy!

Tom Jones (is he still alive?) crept in at number five.

The two online polls sought the opinions of the 50,000 members that have signed up for SeekingArrangement.com.

Never far from the media limelight, Brandon Wade, who is the founder and CEO of SeekingArrangement, has offered Cheryl Cole a life membership for free. He didn’t quite specify at what age as a “life” member she would naturally stop being a sugar “baby” and turn into a sugar “matron”.

According to Wade, Cowell is the perfect sugar daddy as he is not only stinking rich but over generous to boot. His last fling with Mezhgan Hussainy ended quite amicably recently and to show nohard feelings he gave her a £5 million house in Beverly Hills in token appreciation of their relationship.

Perhaps SeekingArrangement is simply seeking some media attention for its European launch this month. It started up only 6 years ago and has done phenomenally well. A quick look around the online tabloids in Britain at the moment and the dating website gets a lot of mention, with apparently thousands of hard up young women all attempting to enrich their bank accounts by meeting up with rich old codgers using Mr Wade’s website.

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Some years ago when I first met my current husband online, internet dating was not so easily accepted. Now, it is not only accepted, but it is seen as the norm.

In the years between 2007 and 2012 the online dating industry more than doubled its cash revenue, from $900 million to nearly $2.0 billion yearly, and had a boost in visitors from 20 to 40 million per year.

With almost 1,500 virtual sites, there is something out there for all singles, which includes farmers, the over-50s, solo parents, religious-oriented, wealth seekers, and so on.

However, it is not only dating sites matching up mates; it is social media as well. What ’s more, how many individuals use Facebook’s relationship arena as a method of getting free advertising? A British study discovered that more than 70% of respondents use dating sites and social networks to seek out love, while 20% used solely social media sites.

Almost 50% of people surveyed by the research firm Synovate think that internet dating is a fantastic way to meet up with their match.

An associate professor in communication of Rutgers University based in New Jersey, who has conducted thorough research on the subject (including the meeting of her own husband online), says that online dating is a great way to be introduced to someone but in the end, a lot of the relationship stuff is developed offline.

Research conducted found that most online dating respondents are generally honest about presenting themselves but some online daters do attempt to present a more than perfect view of themselves so as to home in on potential partners, which is really not that different than job-seekers do to pad out their resumes.

It seems that as these are mostly white lies, survey participants found that lies were really a waste of time as the truth soon emerges at the first date or not much later.

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Charlotte Morgan, aged 41 years, encountered her new husband, who is 44 years old, after her children picked him out from the online dating site called “daddy shop”.

The retired model, who is now a businesswoman, had stopped trying to meet another man when her husband was involved in a fatal plane collision over Essex.

The ex RAF pilot, aged 34 years, was one of a total of three persons who were killed in the collision between a Cessna 172 and a Yak 50 not far from Harlow, in Essex. in April 2000.

After a decade had passed since his death, the woman, who owned a photographic agency, discovered a new found love, a father-of-one, who was divorced and came from North London.

It took nine months before she became engaged after her children, Zoe, and Will chose from myriads of other possible matches profiled on the online site.

The family, which includes Rose, Mr. Bolam’s daughter, are now residing under the same roof in a medieval farmhouse worth nearly 1.4 million pounds near to Ongar in Essex.

She recalled that she had been out on five dating encounters independently of her children the previous year but there was no real glow in the individuals.

Her son said he needed a dad as he was barely a year old when his father was killed and he did not know what it was like to have a daddy.

The kids chose one person and that in the end became their new father as he just fitted the bill. As Charlotte said, at least they could not claim it was a bad choice later on if things did not work out for them all.

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The site has requested that interested parties should send proposals by 30th April. The expanding dating website is on the lookout for creative and proactive local professional assistance to assist it with communication to the British market in a dynamic, forward looking and original manner that mirrors Zoosk’s fundamental personality.

The British market is the website’s second biggest membership after the USA and the time is right to put more investment into promotional tactics to follow its large marketing campaign late last year in order to wage war with rivals such as eHarmony and Match.com.

The company reveals that its survey news has not been able to achieve much in Britain and that it is trying to transform itself from its current flavour of being a social dating community to a base for more romantic social networking, but this has to be advertised through a consumer consciousness and education campaign.

The website executive is intending upon choosing an agency that will set up a strategy of communication to the site’s main audience in the 25 to 49 age group to get them to create and discuss their romantic encounters, whether they are already married or still single.

Zoosk’s communications team is about to fly to London from San Francisco, where it is based, on the 10th and 11th May to conduct face-to-face interviews with interested agencies.

Zoosk currently has a 50 million membership, which is spread across more than seventy countries and members can make arrangements for dates by using the business’s website, mobile applications, a Facebook app and the desktop application.

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Being on her own in a hotel room with a male she had only spoken to 30 minutes before, Becky knew she could not back away. For six months, the teenager had been chatting regularly online to Stuart after coming into contact with him on an internet dating site.

A part of virtual courting involved sending Stuart, who said he was 24 years old, provocative photos of her self. She didn’t question this and just complied.

Once he had bought Becky’s train ticket to travel 200 miles to meet him, it was obvious he was going to expect her to have sex with him. She didn’t want this to happen, but she couldn’t stop herself.

Rebecca said that they had been chatting for several months and had sent sexual messages to one another. She thought this would have to be the next step.

It was her first real life encounter that shocked her as he looked like nothing in the photo. He was certainly not attractive and was a 40-year-old not a 24 year old as he had originally said. Fortunately, the sexual encounter was over quickly.

He paid up for the room and then they said their goodbyes at the station, never to see each other again.

It appears that more and more children are growing up with an addiction to online pornography sites.

One would assume that the degrading experience that Becky went through would put her off internet dating. However, because she is an insecure, overweight teenager, she sought out any type of compliment that might be favourable in return for sex.

Her first encounter with Stuart was the beginning of a 5-year addiction to engaging in sex with males she had met through online dating sites.

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The average online dating site subscriber allocates substantially less time browsing than Warcraft players do while in battle.

It is not only the statistics that may attract singles, but also the game’s player features encourage the forming of partnerships to take on monsters in a battle. If you try this war by yourself, you will be unable to overcome some of the game’s hardest challenges and you will take longer to get to the endgame and you will not have direct access to the game’s best features.

WoW it appears is an evolutionary feature of modern day love. In essence, WoW is not just a game (even though that was its original purpose) but it is a social networking situation, similar to Facebook and other dating sites.

However, an advantage of WoW as a stage for modern day love is it is also a niche site, bringing together individuals who have a serious fanaticism for gaming. Any two people can “date” once inside the game in a seemingly safe environment due to the virtual characteristics of the communication. It is also not that dissimilar from reality as avatars once playing the game can grasp hands while interacting as people do, bringing together that intimate feeling.

Expressing ones feeling virtually and in a game seems quite obscure but it is a move that is an example of dating experiences that are taking place in the twenty first century.

This century’s generation does not divulge their feelings but instead the role of technology has offered them the chance to exhibit feelings through texts, emails, or in virtual chat rooms and the weapon is one’s own choice.

It does have its worth as the clumsy silences, nervousness and introversion that often emerges with face-to-face communication can often have a negative effect. When these obstacles are obscured, we seek out more that is hidden behind the standoffish email or text message.

The overall advantages of face-to-face communication are numerous but to be take part in a true conversation tests a vital connection.

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Only yesterday, a Nigerian born man was put under arrest by a Malaysian police officer in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. He was extradited to Singapore on the 11th April to answer to a run of internet love swindles.

The man, who is 32, is alleged to have been involved in a number of fraud episodes which they were informed about last year.

He is said to have feigned friendship to women victims via internet dating and networking sites, and formed emotional relationships with them.

He vowed to go to Singapore and, on the arrival day, would make contact with the victims, informing them that he had not been allowed through at the border. At this point he would ask the victims to send some money to specific bank accounts, so he could be released.

The man is expected to be committed in court on the 13th April and it is hoped he will be held in remand for more investigations.

The Commander of the Airport Police Unit issued his thanks to the Malaysian police force, applauding them for their fantastic cooperation and help in detaining this man.

The police have broadcast reminders to members of the public to stay vigilant and be on the lookout for dating scams and to let the police know instantly if anybody makes any attempt to demand money.

The public must be astute when it comes to the receiving of messages on dating sites from strangers who may wish to become friends. A police spokesperson reiterated that it was more important not to hand over any money to a person that one is not familiar with.

There have been a number of problems on dating sites on the internet when befrienders have spent many months expressing loyalty and affection for victims and then turned on them by asking for money and then completely vanishing when they have received an amount of cash that suits their needs.

There have been instances of blackmail when victims have displayed themselves in an uncompromising fashion on webcams and fraudsters have used their wits to extract money.

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AdWords, probably the most successful online advertising method on the Internet, has been dogged with advertisements for all manner of dodgy products in the past, pharmaceutical aids for improved sexual performance being one of the first categories that spring to mind. A persistent pest they are at least, a scam they are at worst and for the in between, there is little way to prove that the product works or doesn’t and absolutely no way of getting your money back if they categorically don’t.

But that type of nuisance is small fry compared to a much bigger issue being championed once again by NAHVTA’s Philip J. Cenedella. The National Association of Human Trafficking Victim Advocates is calling on Google, even writing to Larry Page directly, to stop all online dating ads that may be a front for human trafficking.

Google, according to one recent report, spends millions every year policing just such practises but, because of the volume, literally billions of ads every year that appear alongside blogs, search engine results and even next to your message in a Gmail inbox (how intrusive is that?) as Adsense advertisements to generate income for the blog-master, it is increasingly difficult to catch ‘em all.

However, Cenedella will not be happy until there is “0.0%” of human trafficking in dating site ads displayed using the AdWords/AdSense medium, however unrealistic that may be. But he’s not afraid of a scrap this one; he’s took on some big names in the virtual and real world in his efforts to stop human trafficking in all its guises. In 2009 it was the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington, a year later Craigslist and last year, and still in progress, was a personal battle against Backpage. This year he has turned his attention to take on the huge resources that are cyberspace’s giant organisations and responsible for the majority of adverts we see in our browsers, namely Twitter, Facebook, Google and Bing.

Back to the original example, Google requires all pharmacy ads to go through both manual and algorithmic vetting before being shown – this may be through a third party and certainly draws from the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practise Sites database available in the US. But for online dating, there is no such registrar, at least across The Pond.

In the UK, we have the Association of British Introduction Agencies that allows you to use their site and find a dating site near you that has been run through rigorous checks and must meet exacting standards of Internet safety before it can appear alongside other dating sites that have qualified similarly.

However, there has been some doubt raised about the impracticability of operating such a system on such a large scale. Also, David Evans of OnlineDatingPost.com reveals that these criminals are ‘like quick-silver’. The moment they know you’re onto them, they disband, disappear and come back braver and uglier than ever.

In the meantime, it seems Cenedella will just have to be patient as Google will only bow to the authorities and has been working closely with them already in an attempt to banish such practises. There is no easy solution and, as much as human traffic is associated with dating sites, it is not the biggest problem this industry faces in criminality; whilst fighting to keep fraudsters off our pages is obviously a good thing, finding extra man hours and budget to cope with spurious ads on free dating sites will be huge costs that many webmasters have not budgeted for.

Cenedella makes an absolutely fair point about the dating ads, but, rather than just point the finger, it would be good to hear him come up with a solution. We wait with bated breath.

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