This is the news for January 1st through January 11th, 2010. Here is the news we covered:
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MIAMI NEW TIMES - Jan 8 - After posting their holiday pictures on BeautifulPeople.com, 5,000 so-called fatties were shuffled once more into the ratings system for re-approval. Only a few hundred were allowed back. Mark Brooks, an analyst and consultant for the online dating industry, says it's normal for online networks to exclude people, but only as a matter of certain obvious preferences, like sexual orientation. "I think the BeautifulPeople tactic is rather amusing," he remarked. "We've been accustomed to magazine cover culture for over 50 years now," he said. "We need to break away from that. People have been aspiring to unnatural extremes of physical beauty." Paul A. Falzone, CEO of International Dating Ventures, which owns eLove, also believes that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but clearly he shines a different light. "We think everyone is beautiful, and frankly, were disturbed to hear about the way that these people were treated," said Falzone in a statement. eLove is coming to the rescue, opening its doors to all the rejects from BeautifulPeople. FULL ARTICLE @ MIAMI NEW TIMES
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BBC.CO.UK - Jan 4 - Dating and social networking site BeautifulPeople.com has axed ~5,000 members following complaints that they had gained weight. The members were singled out after posting pictures of themselves that reportedly showed they had put on pounds over the holiday period. The site allows entry to new members only if existing members vote them as sufficiently attractive to warrant it. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
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THE STAR – Nov 10 – It's only been two weeks since www.BeautifulPeople.com launched across the globe and the site has already rejected 1.8 million applicants and approving only 360,000 new members. Members of the opposite sex vote on each new applicant and only those approved are allowed to join the site. Despite the controversy it has faced, BeautifulPeople.com claims to have over 540,000 members wordwide and 4 million unique visitors each day.
The full article was originally published at The Star, but is no longer available.
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PRESS RELEASE - Oct 26 - BeautifulPeople.com, the elite dating site for beautiful people, goes live across the globe. BeautifulPeople.com will launch in the UK, US, Denmark, Japan, Spain, Italy, Canada and Australia. New territories that went live this morning include France, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Russia, China and every remaining Australasian, Asian, South American, and European territory. Everyone is welcome to apply to join BeautifulPeople.com but there's only a 20% approval rate. Potential members apply with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them in to their exclusive community.
The full article was originally published at SOA World Magazine, but it's no longer available.
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VANCOUVER 24 HOURS -- July 11 -- Ugly folk need not apply. Well, they can, but good luck getting past the judges. That's the goal of the dating website Beautifulpeople.com. The controversial concept, which first hit cyberspace in 2004, has had its share of critics. And since its recent Canadian launch, it's facing backlash once again, including a Toronto Sun poll in which 66% of those surveyed found it offensive. So far, more than 5,000 people have signed on. But only one in 10 applicants gets past the heavily guarded gates. "What we realize is that looks and the way we present ourselves matters a lot", said BeautifulPeople founder Robert Hintze. He has a point. Numerous studies have shown that attractive folk get a leg up over the more average-looking set. They get paid up to 25% more and, statistically, taller men garner higher wages than their shorter counterparts.
The full article was originally published at Vancouver 24 hours, but is no longer available.
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NATIONAL POST -- June 23 -- Anyone can apply to join a new online dating site about to launch in Canada, but just a gorgeous few will be admitted. BeautifulPeople.net allows its members to determine who is hot enough to be part of the exclusive dating pool and who is simply not. BeautifulPeople.net has about a one-in-10 acceptance rate worldwide. Of 1.8m prospects, the site now has 175,000 members.
The full article was originally published at The National Post, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: There's a growing number of elitest dating sites. BeautifulPeople.net joins the likes of Hotenough.org and the by introduction only VIP matchmaking service EliteIntroductions.com.
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