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September 13, 2002 - Image 131

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2002-09-13

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

son by her grammar and how she
puts thoughts and feelings into
words. So far, he's met four women
through JDate, two of whom he
plans to continue seeing. "All this is
wonderful for a guy's ego," he said,
"especially if you've been married for
a long time and all this is a new
experience for you."
After messaging one 55-year-old
woman who he found charming, he
received an e-mail back in capital
letters: "WHERE WERE YOU
(before)?" And then in lower-case
letters, "I got married two weeks
ago."
Launched in 1997, JDate has
350,000 members, including 4,500
in the Detroit area (JDate's 10th
largest market). Much smaller than
many of its Internet dating site com
petitors, JDate is considered more of
a niche market service. Still, mem-
bership has quadrupled in the last
2'/2 years.
Jcupid.com is the second largest
Internet dating site for Jewish sin-
gles. Based on the success of Israeli
site Cupid.co.il , the company started
JCupid for Jewish singles in the U.S.
in 2001. There are 400 members in
Detroit.
• Dr. Wolin tried other dating meth-
ods, such as the larger American
Singles.com site (more than 5 mil-
lion members) and a newspaper per-
sonal advertisement, but found that
women on JDate were smarter and
more attractive.
Jeff, 36, a real estate agent from
Huntington Woods, agrees. Recently
divorced, Jeff started using JDate a
year ago. He tried another dating
site and got bored with the women.
"I had 50 attractive women to
choose from right off the bat," Jeff
said about his first search on JDate.
According to Gail Laguna, vice
president for corporate communica-

► ate

\~

subscriber Jeff found a woman he really likes
and has been dating her for four months.
The thing is, he didn't meet her on JDate, exactly.
e knew die type of woman he wanted: an educated
and attractive woman with opinions. Jeff admits he
JDate selections basedin
l large measure on
e.
e'plcture
attached
to
the
prof
H
w,soli a date at the Detroit auto show with
et woman when they ran into his date's friend.
eff recognized the friend as someone he had noticed
J Date previously, but because of her picture, he put
Upon meeting, he was
inaybe category Upon
struck . y.how much prettier she was in person. She
was petite and well-dressed.
asitahlsaic
o taken vi
e:Ayw
it i. her demeanor -- she carried
m air of confidence.
act that Jeff almost missed out on meeting this
tie to question the success of online

atm success based on users' per-
w members
when
y datataken
c0
estimates that every
cel their membershi
were seeking ."
. ose relationships

1 Univr7isitYues_

comparison between relationships started online to
those started offline. That data is not really available,
according to Walther.
"Most relationships (started online or offline) don't
work out anyway and many people don't stay married
to one person," said Walther. Most research shows the
Internet is just another place to meet, but "from a
strictly mathematical perspective, some people might
have better odds online," he said.
Al Bellamy, professor of interdisciplinary technology
at Eastern Michigan University, highlights the
Internet's ability to break down all the qualities each
of us screens for in a mate. "We all carry screening
processes," Bellamy said.
"Online, all those things are broken down for you
real well. In an instant, you know the person's age, the
ethnicity, preference for recreation, preference for reli-
gion. You can send out exactly what type of person
you are looking for. I mean that's phenomenal."
It could very well be. But in Jeff's case, what might
be even more phenomenal is that he actually had a
chance encounter (a second chance?) with someone he
pretty much ruled out after an online search. If it'd
ended on the Internet, the woman Jeff is now seeing
would have remained for him just another computer
profile, deeply buried in his "maybe" pile.

for

— Joanna Broder

tions at MatchNet plc, the company
that runs both JDate and American
Singles, as well as other dating sites,
"JDate tends to skew a little more
with higher education and higher
annual income than other computer
dating services."

Highly Rated

Seventy-three percent of JDate's
4,700 Detroit members have at least

a bachelor's degree; 36 percent also
have a graduate degree. Only 28 per-
cent of Detroiters using American
Singles have a BA; 8 percent also
have a graduate degree.
Online dating is on the rise. The
service Match.com reports that its -
paid subscriptions increased by 178
percent last year, bringing the com-
pany's membership to more than 3
million. Matchmaker (the oldest

Internet dating site) has 8 million
users today, 3 million more than two
years ago.
"Lucy" (not her real name), 31,
from a suburb of Detroit, has used
Jewish Internet dating sites for two
years. She is looking for marriage.
She can count her good dates on one
hand, but remains optimistic.
"When it's meant to happen, it's
meant to happen either on date one

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