The new wave in online dating websites is in specialist sites, those catering to particular ethnic, cultural or even religious groups. Sites like Shaadi.com, Rishta.com and MuslimFriends.com are all examples of this new trend.
VP of Shaadi North America, Anjan Saikia, says that the culture of South Asians makes this group different from typical online daters. This group is used to looking at the entire family and many are still expected to marry someone chosen by their parents. In fact, he says that about 30% of the profiles created on Shaadi.com are made by parents for their children.
“That’s something that doesn’t happen on other dating sites,” says Saikia, “Unlike the very individual orientation of white people, people fom South Asia, the boy looks at the girl, the girl looks at the boy, but they also look at the two families. At the end of the day, the bonding between families in our culture is very important to both the younger generation and the parents.”
Professor Ozlem Sensoy teaches gender, sexuality and women’s studies at Simon Fraser University. She sees the change coming to the online dating industry as a result of cultural differences.
“The whole paradigm of dating sites themselves is a very Western, commercial, capitalist creation,” says Sensoy, but with South Asian daters, “it isn’t just two individuals getting married. It’s two families coming together. That’s a cultural lens that’s not a part of mainstream dating sites.”
Another specialist development is new smartphone applications that allow users to see who’s available and nearby. One of the leading apps is called Skout which will show users the photos of other users who are within a certain distance of the GPS-enabled phone. You can instant message anyone who looks interesting to you and meet up within minutes, if you choose. With these apps, the dating profile is minimal so the photo and location are key points.
With most online dating websites, the profile is paramount. That’s why the most popular services, such as eHarmony.com and Match.com, have comprehensive profiles that include likes and dislikes, character traits and much more. Because the profiles are so important to finding a likely match, there are now sites being created just to help people create the perfect profile, such as http://www.onlinedating-profile.com/.
Owner of the site, E. Elizabeth Edwards, says she enjoys hearing from readers who have found their soulmates as a result of her advice.
“I’ve seen so many disappointed people that had bad experiences with online dating. The one thing that was common to most was that their profiles were not attracting the type of people they wanted to meet. I knew that I could help them with that so I created Online Dating Profile to help them create an amazing profile. I love getting emails from people all over the world, thanking me for my advice and telling me that they’ve met the person of their dreams.”