Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

More Catholic Singles Use Dating Sites

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO - Sep 8 - CatholicMatch.com claims to be the largest Catholic dating site with 500K members. There are numerous other Catholic dating sites, including CatholicSingles.com, which says it has signed up ~500K members, and AveMariaSingles.com. All are eager to accommodate a very large pool of single adult Catholics – as many as 22.6M in the US in 2008, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. FULL ARTICLE @ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

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Catholic Online Dating

AMERICA MAGAZINE - May 24 - Online dating is not new. Match.com, one of the largest dating sites, was launched in 1995. Catholics joined the action in 1997 with the site CatholicSingles.com. Today it is one of three major Internet sites about holy union, including AveMariaSingles.com and CatholicMatch.com. CatholicMatch.com began in 1999 as St.Raphael.net. Most of the required information is like what you are asked on a first date or what is revealed on a Facebook profile—until you arrive at the Catholic faith/doctrine section. There users confront seven topics: Eucharist, contraception, sanctity of life, papal infallibility, premarital sex, Immaculate Conception and holy orders. Brian Barcaro, one of the founders of CatholicMatch.com, said that the seven faith questions are difficult and often controversial by design, but that asking these questions is critical to a successful Catholic relationship. FULL ARTICLE @ AMERICA MAGAZINE

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Niche Sites Making A Match Easier

SUN TIMES -- July 3 -- Forget eHarmony, Match.com or Yahoo Personals. Singles increasingly are turning to niche online dating sites promising to match couples with similar interests, backgrounds or religions. Mark Brooks, whose blog Online Personals Watch chronicles the Internet dating industry, estimates that niche sites now occupy approximately 43% of total market share. Brooks writes that while mainstream sites are stagnating, niche sites continue to grow. People looking to meet Trekkies or truckers can turn to the Passions Network, Sugardaddie bills itself as the place where the "classy, attractive and affluent meet", Ave Maria Singles offers a service for hard-line Catholics interested in sacramental marriage and Positivesingles.com is for people staying positive though they've tested positive -- for sexually transmitted diseases. FULL ARTICLE @ SUN TIMES

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