JDate is Responsible for More Jewish Marriages [infographic]

Just in time for the Jewish New Year, online dating site JDate has published an infographic showing a milestone of almost 1000 marriages since their inception in 2003.

The Jewish online dating site commissioned ResearchNow to survey married Jewish Internet users. The results showed that JDate is responsible for more Jewish marriages than all of the other major online dating sites combined.

Of the 948 who participated in the survey, 52% who married met on JDate.

It makes sense if religion is important to you to visit an online dating site with singles sharing the same belief. Singles appear to be dating up a storm. Five out of 9 Jews who were surveyed and were married since 2008, used an online dating site in their search for love.

Are you a member of a niche online dating site focusing on religion? Comments are welcome and you can sign up for JDate in our Dating Community.

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Dating Advice – When You’re Not a Priority

Dear Julie,

Hi there. I wanted to run something by you.  I’ve been in a serious relationship with this guy for a few years now, and I’m looking for at least a hint of commitment from him.  On the surface, it appears that we have everything together — both well educated, accomplished individuals who have lots of friends and strong family ties.  But, there have been a series of red flags that lead me to believe that this is just a relationship of convenience for him.  It was my birthday last week and he completely forgot and actually went out with his guy friends that night   I know, not so good huh??  Worse yet, when I told him about it a few days later when he was at my apartment, he gave the most insensitive remark of all time: “well, there’s always next year.”  I was taken aback to say the least.

Once I regained my bearings, I took two steps forward and delivered a stinging slap to his face for that remark.  His response (as he’s standing there holding his jaw) “Well how about dinner tonight?” Strike two. I pointed to the door and he got the message loud and clear. I’ve given him the silent treatment over the past week. What would you do?

Karen

Hi Karen,

Thank you for your email and for reaching out for advice.

I have to wonder, why would you want a commitment for someone who doesn’t make you a priority in his life?

When you know for sure there are red flags, you should write them down. Ask yourself if you’d want your best friend to be in a relationship like this, or would you encourage her to find someone who has her on a pedestal.

A birthday to a woman is like Valentine’s Day. All men know that. To disappoint you on a day like that is very hurtful. He made it clear by forgetting that you’re lower on the totem pole than his friends are. Sure you may both be well educated and have great times together, but if you’re asking if you’re a convenience after a few years, the answer is pretty clear that it’s yes.

Rather than giving him the silent treatment, it’s time to regain your power. Tell him you’d like to take a break and start dating others. Consider joining an online dating site and fill your calendar with interesting people to meet. You’ll be expanding your social circles and may even find someone who will treat you the way you truly deserve to be treated. You’re not giving him an ultimatum, which men dislike. You’re just taking action with your love life and regaining your power.

If he comes running back to you, think about creating a list of deal-breakers that you can’t live with and discuss them with you. Either he steps up to the plate and won’t want to lose you, or you’ll be free to meet someone who will cherish you.

Keep me posted on your progress. Let me know if you need my help in creating your irresistible online dating profile.

All my best,

Julie

Have a dating question? Interested in relationship advice? Send us your questions and follow Julie on Twitter and Facebook for more dating advice.

Cirque du Soleil IRIS Premiere Brings Out the Shining Stars

Celebrating 24 years of performances, Cirque du Soleil now has a new home at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. On Sunday, September 25^th, celebrities and guests were treated to a VIP Red Carpet event, as Hollywood Boulevard was closed off for a pre and post theatre extravaganza.

Iris, A Journey Through the World of Cinema by Cirque du Soleil combines the musical genius of Danny Elfman, with a whimsical and historical look at Hollywood. According to their website, Iris is described as “a lyrical, fanciful, kinetic foray into the seventh art. Bringing together dance, acrobatics, live video, filmed sequences and animation, the show takes spectators on a fantastic voyage through the history of cinema and its genres, taking them into the heart of the movie-making process.”

Some of the celebrities in attendance included Patrick Dempsey and family, James Gandolfini, Neil Patrick Harris, Christina Hendricks of Mad Men, Matthew McConaughey, Ann Heche, Priscilla Presley, Cindy Crawford, Kim Raver, Jon Favreau, James Cameron, and Mario Lopez.

It was a treat to have George Kotsiopoulos, co-host of “Fashion Police” give me a vote of approval on my leopard print dress from the BCBG fall animal print collection.

According to sources, the production cost $120 million dollars, which included digging 90 feet under the stage to be able to store the extravagant set designs. Cirque will remain at the Kodak Theatre for 10 years.

Going to see IRIS will make a great date night and one certainly to remember.

Tickets are available at CirqueduSoleil.com.

Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter.

Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps in 2011

My how times flies when you’re having digital fun. To celebrate Social Media Week, we’re once again announcing the annual Cyber Dating Expert Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps.

According to Comscore, over 14 million people worldwide are now using mobile dating apps. Since last year, time spent on mobile dating sites has surpassed web dating.  Mobile analytics firm Flurry released a report in August, 2011 showing mobile usage surpassing web usage. Their study showed that mobile usage rose from an average of 3.7 minutes in June of 2010 to 8.4 minutes in June or 2011.

Since last year, a handful of new mobile apps, updates, and sites have been launched, so without further digital adieu, here’s our list of the best mobile dating apps for 2011.

The 2011 List

1. eHarmony – iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, and iPad

eHarmony mobile app downloads have now surpassed the one-million mark. Their iPhone app was launched in August, 2010 and has grown rapidly in popularity. Their members are using their mobile apps over 10,000 times a day. eHarmony reports that more than 30% of their user registrations are currently taking place in the mobile environment.

 

To make things sweeter, they just launched eHarmony HD, an iPad app on September 19, 2011. This new user-friendly and freshly designed interface is customized for the iPad user, which makes you feel at home as you reminisce with handwritten notes and Polaroid pictures. It’s currently the leading iPad dating app in the Apple store and worth downloading. Features include Facebook connect, full-size high definition photos, and a power photo slide show experience.

2. Match Mobile – iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, and iPad

Match.com’s mobile apps are available on the most widely used mobile platforms including the three above as well as on Windows phone and Palm. Match reports that they’re seeing 2.5 times more activity on their mobile apps than on the web. According to Match.com, nearly 32% of their active subscribers are mobile daters, with 56% of singles aged 25-54 going mobile. Features include the ease of deleting or changing your photos and staying in sync with their web version. Their mobile apps make it easy to wink and flirt on the go.

3. Are You Interested? – iPhone, Blackberry, and Android

With over 49 million installs, Are You Interested offers a fully-integrated Facebook, iPhone and web application.  Are You Interested ranks as a Top 10 Grossing application for U.S. Social Networking in the App store, and launched their web version on September 20, 2011 to help widen your search. As of July, 2011, their iPhone app had 750,000 users and the latest version includes real-time push notifications, premium spotlight, and a front-facing camera to send photos while using their live chat feature.

4. Skout - iPhone and Android

One of the earliest mobile dating apps, Skout was created in 2007 as a mobile dating app without a web element. To date, they have over 8 million downloads. Skout members are sending 150 million messages every month an their membership base is growing by 30-40% month over month, with over 25,000 new members joining every day. Skout’s premium app, Skout+ costs $3.99 and does not include advertising.

 

5. Plenty of Fish – iPhone and BlackBerry

POF is one of the largest free dating sites in the world with over 33 million members. On September 1, 2011, Plenty of Fish released updated versions of their mobile apps promising a faster experience for their users. The new increase in speed makes it easier to edit  online dating profiles and photos from a mobile phone. One of the new features includes a “mobile users” section, which displays the members presently using the mobile app and lists them according to distance from the user. According to POF, over 1-billion pages are viewed month.

6. OkCupid – OkCupid Locals – iPhone and BlackBerry

OkCupid, with 8-million members,  launched OkCupid Locals on August 11, 2011 to help singles meet in-real-life. Their location-based app combines a Twitter-like broadcast feature with a FourSquare type location database. Users can broadcast their intentions, such as meeting at a bar or a sporting event, which will appear on the mobile phones of singles near by with like-minded interests.  You can meet people near by, and receive suggestions from their database. It’s flirting on-the-fly.

7. Zoosk – iPhone and Android

Zoosk is a leader in social dating. At the beginning of the year, they had over 2 million downloads on their iPhone app. By June of 2011, singles had uploaded more than 12 million photos using Zoosk Mobile.  In the past year, singles have sent more than 7 million “flirts” to other singles via Zoosk Mobile. Zoosk serves 0ver 50 million singles with their web, facebook and mobile services available in over 25 languages in 60 countries around the world.

 

8. SpeedDate- iPhone and iPad

SpeedDate is the world’s largest online speed dating site, having launched in 2007.   Their mobile app features includes a location-based search of their 17 million members, to help you find someone to go on a SpeedDate with close by. Downloaded by over 1 million users, 50% of their iPhone app users come back more than three times a day to check in and chat. SpeedDate was one of the first iPad dating apps, having launched in April of 2010.

 

9. Grindr – iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and iPad

Grindr is the #1 location-based mobile only app for gay, bi and curious guys with over 2.3 million users in 192 countries around the world.  The average time spent on Grindr is 1.5 hours with the typical user logging in 8 times a day. Grindr Xtra is the premium paid version without any banner ads that utilizes push notifications when the app is closed. Users have sent over 454,000 photos and engaged in over 5.4 million chat messages.

 

10. Jazzed – iPhone and Android

Jazzed is the newest entry to the Top 10 mobile dating apps list. Created by eHarmony, the Jazzed mobile dating app launched in May of 2011 and has already been downloaded by over 250,000 mobile users.  Jazzed is the featured online dating site on the new dating reality show, Excused. Many of the former contestants on the TV show have online dating profiles on Jazzed. The social networking mobile app provides an option to view the participating contestants and is free of charge for a limited time period.

Honorable mentions this year go to location-based check-in site, FourSquare with over 10 million members who might not want to admit they’re spying on their favorite crush and to Blendr, a free location-based social networking app launched by Grindr in September, 2011, where you can meet new friends based on common interests in September, 2011.

CyberDatingExpert.com is a social networking and online dating advice site created by Julie Spira. Spira was an early adopter of the Internet and created her first online dating profile in 1994. She is the bestselling author of The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online and creates irresistible online dating profiles for singles on the dating scene.  Spira reports on the latest trends in the online dating and social networking industry.

Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps in 2010

Top 10 Mobile Dating Apps in 2011

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To Google, or Not to Google Your Date

Should you Google a date before you meet?

It’s an exciting feeling getting ready for a first date. You can’t wait to learn everything about them,  so why not check him or her out on Google? On this episode of Ask the Expert, I was asked the following question:

Dear Julie,

Should I tell my new boyfriend that I Googled him before we met? I know a little bit more about him that I probably should and I don’t want to get caught lying to him later on. What should I do?

Watch my video answer on YourTango and feel free to chime in with your comments.

For more dating advice, visit me on Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert and YourTango.com/experts/datingexpert

First Date Fashion Tips

In honor of Fashion Week and the changing of the seasons, it just might be time to spice up your wardrobe a bit and seize a new look for your next online date.

Wardrobe coach, Nicole Longstreath has offered her fashion advice on how to dress on a date to help you look your best, both online and offline.

A first date with a potential suitor can be a make-or-break affair. It’s important to be genuine so, much like a job interview, you want to be ready to chat about all the right things – and avoid the wrong things. More importantly, you also want your wardrobe to project the right image.

Putting together that perfect first-date outfit can mean the difference between making the best impression and never getting a call back. While getting ready for the date, here are a few things to remember:

Don’t rush. If you have to schedule a Friday-night-date, make sure you have enough time to get home from work with sufficient time to get date-ready. An 8:00 Friday night date is perfect. Otherwise, schedule something for Saturday.

Give yourself options. The day before, take a good look in your closet and pull together a selection of 2 to 3 outfit options. Consider what the date’s activities will be and plan accordingly.

Dress comfortably. I can’t stress this enough – do not wear something that is ill-fitting, itchy, doesn’t breathe well or shows perspiration easily (silk and satin). The idea is to project your genuine personality, which will be difficult if you are fussing with your clothing. It will also distract your date from the conversation. Don’t forget, this especially applies to shoes; make sure the shoes you choose to wear are well broken-in and you can comfortably walk in them for 3-4 hours.

Factor the conditions. Where I live, in Southern California, the evenings can get quite chilly even in Summer time. If you plan to be anywhere outdoors, make sure you bring a sweater or jacket which coordinates with your outfit. Conversely, dress in layers so you can remove something if the weather gets hot.

Keep it simple and sexy. When it comes to fashion, most men are out of the loop when it comes to trends. Your best bet is to avoid styles which are very trendy, even if your date is fashion-forward. Think classic styles – drapey skirts which hit at the knee, blouses which have v-neck and sweetheart necklines and styles which accentuate the waist. Skip the complicated stuff and save your trendier garments for future dates.

For more dating advice, visit us at CyberDatingExpert.com where you can sign up for the Weekly Flirt newsletter and like us at Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert