Comments on: You may be looking for a long-term relationship, but your online dating site is looking for lots of quickies http://blog.honestyonline.com/2009/02/14/you-may-be-looking-for-a-long-term-relationship-but-your-online-dating-site-is-looking-for-lots-of-quickies/ ...about online identity verification Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:45:26 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: casualencountersblog http://blog.honestyonline.com/2009/02/14/you-may-be-looking-for-a-long-term-relationship-but-your-online-dating-site-is-looking-for-lots-of-quickies/#comment-85 casualencountersblog Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:45:26 +0000 http://blog.honestyonline.com/?p=154#comment-85 I guess responding to your thought would take more number crunching and research than I feel up to at the moment. The amount of number crunching and research I feel up to at the moment being "none". It doesn't feel like an unreasonable assumption, even if I'm not sure it's accurate. Intuitively my feeling is that it's more of a gender issue than a pool size issue. Again, could be way off. I guess responding to your thought would take more number crunching and research than I feel up to at the moment. The amount of number crunching and research I feel up to at the moment being “none”.

It doesn’t feel like an unreasonable assumption, even if I’m not sure it’s accurate. Intuitively my feeling is that it’s more of a gender issue than a pool size issue. Again, could be way off.

]]> By: Larry http://blog.honestyonline.com/2009/02/14/you-may-be-looking-for-a-long-term-relationship-but-your-online-dating-site-is-looking-for-lots-of-quickies/#comment-84 Larry Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:19:38 +0000 http://blog.honestyonline.com/?p=154#comment-84 If you mean "the way to go" for the site operator, a qualified yes -- I would expect casual dating users to be more profitable per user than traditional/serious dating users. I hope it is not naive of me to think that the audience for casual dating sites is smaller than for serious dating sites. A larger, lower-profit audience vs. a smaller, higher-profit audience -- take your pick. YMMV (Your Morals May Vary) If you mean “the way to go” for the site operator, a qualified yes — I would expect casual dating users to be more profitable per user than traditional/serious dating users.

I hope it is not naive of me to think that the audience for casual dating sites is smaller than for serious dating sites. A larger, lower-profit audience vs. a smaller, higher-profit audience — take your pick. YMMV (Your Morals May Vary)

]]> By: casualencountersblog http://blog.honestyonline.com/2009/02/14/you-may-be-looking-for-a-long-term-relationship-but-your-online-dating-site-is-looking-for-lots-of-quickies/#comment-83 casualencountersblog Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:34:13 +0000 http://blog.honestyonline.com/?p=154#comment-83 True. And that's why casual dating (hookups) is the way to go. Rather than "serious" dating performed inefficiently. True. And that’s why casual dating (hookups) is the way to go. Rather than “serious” dating performed inefficiently.

]]> By: Larry http://blog.honestyonline.com/2009/02/14/you-may-be-looking-for-a-long-term-relationship-but-your-online-dating-site-is-looking-for-lots-of-quickies/#comment-82 Larry Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:45:50 +0000 http://blog.honestyonline.com/?p=154#comment-82 Let me put it this way (and I'm conjecturing without hard numbers): If a dating site has perfect efficiency in matching people, its users will immediately find somebody and then leave the site. If a dating site has zero efficiency in matching people, its users will never find somebody and keep looking. What these two statements leave out are the second-order effects of return traffic (I met somebody on your site, it didn't work out, and I'm back in the market and therefore back on your site) and of reputation (that nobody ever meets anybody else on dating site X eventually gets around, and nobody goes there any more). I believe the balance tips toward lower efficiency. When was the last time you heard any good information about how easy or hard it was to meet somebody on a particular dating site? You're less likely to pick a site based on statistics about its matchmaking efficiency, more likely based on its immediate appeal or brand power. Let me put it this way (and I’m conjecturing without hard numbers):

If a dating site has perfect efficiency in matching people, its users will immediately find somebody and then leave the site.

If a dating site has zero efficiency in matching people, its users will never find somebody and keep looking.

What these two statements leave out are the second-order effects of return traffic (I met somebody on your site, it didn’t work out, and I’m back in the market and therefore back on your site) and of reputation (that nobody ever meets anybody else on dating site X eventually gets around, and nobody goes there any more).

I believe the balance tips toward lower efficiency. When was the last time you heard any good information about how easy or hard it was to meet somebody on a particular dating site? You’re less likely to pick a site based on statistics about its matchmaking efficiency, more likely based on its immediate appeal or brand power.

]]> By: palemoonlight http://blog.honestyonline.com/2009/02/14/you-may-be-looking-for-a-long-term-relationship-but-your-online-dating-site-is-looking-for-lots-of-quickies/#comment-81 palemoonlight Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:22:30 +0000 http://blog.honestyonline.com/?p=154#comment-81 So the less chance that you actually hook up with someone and then stay on their site the better for profits? So the less chance that you actually hook up with someone and then stay on their site the better for profits?

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