14 Niche, Nutty, and Sometimes Necessary Dating Sites

If you watched the CNBC online dating documentary, Love at First Byte, hosted by NBC news and Today Show Correspondent Amy Robach, you learned that there are over 1500 sites in the digital dating world. Amy featured niche sites such as Farmers Only and Equestrian Singles, but there are so many more. Some sites are wacky, others are serious.

The Miami Herald reports, “Dating sites become more mainstream, and focus on more niche markets.” From pet lovers and Gothic fanatics to Harley Davidson enthusiasts and those with pre-existing medical conditions, there?s a site for you. Are you ready to jump on board? Here are 14 sites to consider trying this Valentine’s.

1. Stache Passions – Tagline: Oh Yeah, it’s All About the ‘Stache!

There’s a constant debate as to whether women like men with facial hair. To shave, or not to shave? On this free dating site, men post their bearded look and the women who love them will jump on board.

2. We Waited – Do you dream of waiting staying a virgin until your wedding night? If so, We Waited is your site. Created by a couple, who did just that, this is a niche site with rules.

3. Harley Connect – Tagline: Where Single Harley Riders Meet.

Would you like to share your passion with other single bikers? If you’re looking for a guy with a Road King or a Harley Davidson Heritage Softail, this site is for you. Get ready to ride into the sunset with your helmets a-tow.

4. Geek 2 Geek – Tagline: The best place on the net to meet Geeks.

While online dating was in its infancy, most of the members were technology geeks. Now that it’s become mainstream, you’ll want to easily connect with another Geek, who won’t have problems remembering the url of GK2GK.

5. Date My Pet – Tagline: Date me. Date my Pet.

I say love me, love my pet. For those with severe allergies, I suggest you go elsewhere. For the guys who insist on having their primary online dating photo with their puppy, here’s a place where you’ll be welcome. Added bonus: Terrific pet advice.

6. Gothic Match – Tagline: #1 Online Dating Community for Gothic Singles and Friends.

Are you ready to share that tattoo or commiserate over its removal? Find like-minded singles you can relate to.

7. Sparkology – Tagline: An invite only luxury site for young professionals.

To join, guys will need to have graduated from one of the Top 50 schools, and women need to just have a college degree and well, have a great photo. The site was launched less than four months ago in New York, but they have plans to expand to other metropolitan cites. Would you change your zip code to meet one of these Ivy League guys?

8. Veggie Date – Tagline: Winner of the 2010 Veg News Veggie Awards for Best Dating Site.

This site lets you sign up for 2 free weeks, so you can dine without beef together with a vegan of your choice. Was there competition? Yes, you can also check out Vegetarian Connections, the site where Vegetarians connect.

9. Dating 4 Disabled – Tagline: Where friendship and romance are only a click away

Online dating gives hope to singles, but many with medical issues and disabilities do feel hopeless. Created to empower the disabled community, this dating and social networking site allows their members to blog about how they are coping with their medical condition.

10. Fitness Singles – Tagline: Where Relationships Workout. You?re active.

You like to hike and bike and would like to share these activities with your date. This is the world?s largest online dating community for sports and fitness enthusiasts. I sat next to a couple at a Super Bowl party who met on this site and have been happily married for 5 years.

11. Women Behind Bars – Tagline: In Search of a Better Life.

Providing an inmate search and pictures for prison women who are looking for penpals while incarcerated. Should those with a criminal record be able to date? You won’t find them accepted on most mainstream sites, but It must get lonely in prison.

12.? Pink Sofa – Tagline:Connecting Lesbians.

You can find a date or a friend on the world’s biggest lesbian meeting place. Liz James created this site 12 years ago as an online community and spoke at last year’s Internet Dating Conference in Beverly Hills.

13. Christian Mingle – Tagline: Find God’s Match for You.

From the people that brought you JDate, the largest Jewish online dating site, Christian Mingle now boasts 5 million users with a winning formula that works.

14. Our Time  –Tagline: The Place Where Over 50 Meet.

While the site name might be new, Our Time was rebranded last year from People Media’s Senior People Meet to help singles 50+ find love on the Internet. The CNBC documentary showed that the 55+ singles market has increased by 40% since 2008. Some studies show that the over 60 crowd is the fastest growing demographic. This is great news for those who felt their digital shelf-life might have expired. Hint. Kids, sign your parents up if they’re alone.

Honorable mention: Facebook. – Facebook isn’t just the world’s largest social network. Singles are chatting with friends-of-friends and glancing at photos resulting in many a Facebook marriage. With over 1 billion members, by default even if even a fraction of Facebook’s singles started dating, it would make them the world’s largest dating site.

Most sites do let you sign up for free. Check out some of our Favorite Dating Sites as well.

Julie Spira is an online dating expert and founder of CyberDatingExpert.com. She creates irresistible profiles for singles on the dating scene and is the bestselling author of The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online. Follow @JulieSpira on Twitter and her like her at Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert for dating advice.

Cyber Love Story of the Week – Joan and Richard

It was Love at First Sight for Joan and Richard who met on SeniorPeopleMeet.com.

The first time Joan got married was at the age of 17, shortly after she graduated high school. Widowed after 43 years of marriage, Joan decided to try looking for love online.

She was looking for a companion who treated her with respect and didn?t take life too seriously and joined a few Internet dating sites. At first, Joan was less than impressed with the online dating process.? She thought the people seemed more interested in hiding behind their profiles and e-mailing than actually meeting one another

One day, she joined SeniorPeopleMeet where she was only browsing profiles — that is, until she received an email from Richard.

Like Joan, Richard was widowed as well. ?He was a retired naval captain and liked the way Joan presented herself on the website, with current pictures and ?no sunglasses.?? At age 75, Richard was clearly older than 67-year-old Joan, who wasn?t sure about the age difference at first. Joan lived in northern California at the time.? After some successful phone calls, the couple met up in San Diego when Joan visited for a business convention.? Ultimately, it was Joan?s daughter who encouraged her mother to meet Richard in person by simply saying, ?What have you got to lose??

On their first lunch date, the two heard more than one comment from strangers about what a nice married couple they looked like.? One day after meeting, Joan turned to him and said, ??Is this what they mean by love at first sight?? to which Richard responded, ?Yes, I think it is.?? They spent the rest of her trip together, and maintained a long-distance relationship from October 2008 onward.? In January of 2009, Richard asked Joan to marry him. She moved from Sacramento to Coronado and the two were married in February, 2010.

Congratulations to Joan and Richard who both got a new start at love on Senior People Meet.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Read More Cyber Love Stories>>>

Online and Social Dating Sites on Twitter

Follow this list>>>

Would you like to connect with your favorite online dating sites and social dating sites on Twitter?

Here’s a list of some of the most popular Internet dating sites that Tweet.

From special offers to success stories, you’ll find a friend on these social media savvy sites.

Amor Latin Dating @amorcom

Ashley Madison @ashleymadison

AOL Personals @aolpersonals

Are You Interested? @AreUInterested

Black People Meet @BlackPeopleMeet

Brainiac Dating @BrainiacDating

Chemistry @chemistrydotcom

ChristianCafe.com @christiancafe

Christian Mingle @christianmingle

Date.com @datedotinfo

DownToEarth.com ?@downtoearthdate

eHarmony @eharmonyadvice

eHarmony Jack @eharmony_jack

eLove @elovesuccess

Gay.com @gaycom

Gelato @gelato_dating

JDate @JDate

JDate UK @jdatecouk

Lava Life @lavalife

Lovetropolis @Lovetropolis

Match.com ?@matchdotcom

Matchmaker.com @matchmakercom

Mate1 @Mate1

OkCupid @okcupid

Omnidate @omnidate

Online Booty Call @OnlineBootyCall

Plenty of Fish ?@pofdotcom

Senior People Meet @SrPeopleMeet

SingledParents @singledparents

SpeedDate @SpeedDate

Woo Me @WooMe

Zoosk @zoosk

Julie Spira is known world-wide at the Cyber-Dating Expert. She is the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online. Visit her at CyberDatingExpert.com. Follow her on Twitter @JulieSpira

Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert Radio Show with Online Personals Watch

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Listen to Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert Radio Show with my guest Eric Resnick, founder of ProfileHelper?and a contributor to Online Personals Watch.?Today’s show was like an encyclopedia for online daters filled with advice and recommendations.

We talked about the latest statistics for those looking for love online, including focusing on the top Internet dating sites, the niche sites, and video chat.

You’ll hear us talk about top sites including Match.com, Plenty of Fish, and Yahoo! Personals, as well as religious sites such as Christian Cafe and JDate, to the niche sites including Date My Pet and Geek to Geek.?

If you are interested in starting your very own online dating site, learn how easy it is to do from our conversation today.

Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert Radio Show

Join Cyber-Dating Expert, Julie Spira as she welcomes her featured guest, Eric Resnick, a contributor to Online Personals Watch to Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert Radio Show.

Eric will be talking about how to find the right online dating site for you. We’ll talk about matchmaking and the latest trends for online daters.

Whether you are interested in the online dating industry, ?or just want to be a successful online dater, you will enjoy listening to this program.

Call in to listen to all of the latest Internet dating statistics on Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 2:00 pm/ET, 11:00 am/PT at 646-929-0012
Listen to ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The Cyber-dating Expert on Blog Talk Radio