Category Archives: Relationships
'Dating Sunday': The busiest day of the year for online dating is Jan. 6 – USA TODAY
The odds may be against us for keeping our New Year’s resolutions, but these apps can help! Nathan Rousseau Smith has the list. Buzz60
If you’re looking for love in the new year then Sunday, Jan. 6 might just be the best day to find it.
Dubbed “Dating Sunday” or “Singles Sunday,” the superficial single’s holiday is the busiest online dating day of the year, according to several dating apps and websites.
Why Sunday?
“It’s the perfect trifecta,” said Julie Spira, cyber-dating expert and author of “The Perils of Cyber-Dating.” “You have people recovering from a breakup or who were down during the holidays, you have all those New Year’s resolutions, and you have the clock ticking down to Valentine’s Day. It’s the first lonely holiday after the New Year.”
Sundays also tend to be the busiest day of the week for web dating in general.
Spira said the informal single’s celebration has gained traction over the past five years as society embraces online dating culture.
“It’s around cuffing season, the few weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, so people are really looking to find a partner,” said Skyler Wang, a Ph.D. student of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley who studies online dating and the sharing economy.
“These sort of moments or holidays are also created by the online dating industry to get more people to use more apps,” Wang said. “It generates this looping effect where more people join in after they read about how others are doing it.”
How popular is Dating Sunday?
Experts say that online dating activity swells up to 75 percent on that day.
The dating app Match predicts there will be a 69 percent spike in new singles coming to the app on Dating Sunday, according to Market Watch. Match said that the first Sunday of the year is often the most trafficked day, estimating that users will send 1.5 million messages in the 24-hour period, Market Watch reported.
Tinder told Bustle that one Dating Sunday led to 44 million Tinder matches being made. According to a statement from dating app Bumble to Global News, Dating Sunday is one of Bumble’s busiest days of the year.
Coffee Meets Bagel reports that the first week of January is the most popular time of year to sign up for an online dating service, adding that 11:30 p.m. is the peak hour for new member sign-ups.
Times have changed and the way we end a relationship has changed with it. Buzz60’s Tony Spitz has the details. Buzz60
So, how do I stand out?
As millions of Americans take to their smartphones, download Tinder or Bumble and start swiping, Spira and Wang offered four tips for standing out amongst the sea of singles:
Start fresh.
Start off with a clean palette and swap out any outdated photos. “If it’s been online and it hasn’t worked for you yet,” use that as a sign to “push the restart button,” Spira said.
Update your bio.
If you picked up any new hobbies over the past year, mention those, the expert said. Also, mention your dream travel destinations. “Talking about travel locations, whether it’s an African safari or a hike up a mountain, tend to get a lot of responses because it’s a good icebreaker,” Spira said.
Use multiple apps.
There are numerous dating apps out there to choose from and the experts say having at least three accounts will help maximize your chances of romantic success. However, it’s important to use each of the apps proactively.
Don’t play hard to get.
Communicate with people, exchange phone numbers and start setting a date to meet, Spira said. “When you have millions of messages being sent, that’s not the time to play coy. The only way the that Dating Sunday works is if you commit to meeting someone offline.”
Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown
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Single man takes a practical approach to business of dating – Brunswick News
Dear Abby:
I am writing you about dating in these modern times. Lately I have become perplexed at the vanity and immoral behavior now associated with the task of dating. I’m a single man living by myself with no responsibilities but my own. I am looking for someone who will fit into my lifestyle. Unfortunately, I have encountered some roadblocks that keep me single.
First: I am not looking for a ready-made family.
Second: I’m not in a position to analyze her last relationship, which left emotional baggage.
Third: I am definitely not looking for someone who isn’t business- or life-orientated.
What I want to find is someone who doesn’t have a long history of suitors or life issues that cause further relationship problems. How do I go about separating the disposables from the possibles?
— Dating In 2019
Dear Dating: I find it interesting that nowhere in your letter have you given the impression that you are capable of compromise. I don’t know where you are looking, but I suppose you could eliminate hundreds of candidates from your search simply by reading their resumes and swiping left. However, when you do that, you eliminate women who might make excellent life partners if given the chance.
Successful mature relationships require flexibility and empathy, and you appear to not understand that. Please consider what I have said. You will find what you are looking for by associating with like-minded individuals and telling them you are looking. Broadening your search in this way could yield surprising results.
Dear Abby: My older brother died suddenly two years ago. He was only in his 30s. After his death I found out he had been homeless and living out of his car. I blame myself for not knowing and not being there when he needed someone.
My siblings seem to have gotten over it, but even after my weekly therapy sessions I can’t seem to stop crying when I see his picture or hear his name. Is something wrong with me because I can’t seem to let go? It’s so bad that I can’t visit his grave because I get panic attacks on the way there.
— Still Grieving In
Dear Still Grieving: Please accept my deepest sympathy for the loss of your older brother. If you were unaware of his financial situation and that he was homeless, it was likely because he didn’t want you to know. So stop blaming yourself for it.
I’m glad you are seeing a therapist regularly, because when a person has experienced a loss like yours and is grieving as you are, therapy can help to relieve the guilt and trauma survivors sometimes feel after the death of a loved one. However, because you have been in therapy for the length of time you have and are not making progress, it may be time to consider changing therapists.
FYI, The Biggest Dating App Day Of The Year Is This Weekend – mindbodygreen.com
Don’t get discouraged by a handful of unsuccessful dates, says Rob Weiss, LCSW, a psychotherapist and digital-age intimacy and relationships expert.
“Many people go on a few dates that don’t go well and decide they must be too fat, too unattractive, too poor, too uneducated, too old, or too whatever else it is they feel insecure about,” he tells mbg. “The first few people they meet don’t seem interested, so they erroneously conclude that everyone else will feel the same way. This belief is not true! There is a lid for every pot.”
“It doesn’t matter if you feel unattractive and that your last date apparently agreed with this assessment; someone out there is going to take one look at you and swoon. Don’t cheat that person, or yourself, out of that experience just because your last few dates wilted your self-esteem.”
Good luck out there, daters, and as with all parts of our lives, stay mindful during your search for whatever kind of connection you seek.
An online dating assistant took one look at my Bumble profile and had some… feedback. – Mamamia
“When it comes to photos, less is more,” she says of my five.
“The first photo with the sunnies on doesn’t show you off – a single shot of you, just smiling would probably work better, and pairing down the amount of shots to your favourite three – ideally two of those should just be you alone.”
Holly adds that studies back her photo suggestions up.
“There was one that took about 1000 app users to talk about their profile photos, and the features that stand out for men and women. They vary in terms of what photos actually work best, but a formula that they’ve come up with is that solo shots are winners for both guys and girls.
“I think people think group shots look fun and social, but keeping the focus on yourself is best. For women it was smiling with teeth and looking slightly off camera, and for men it was closed mouths looking directly at the camera, and beach shots are a bit of a thumbs down.”
Noted.
Moving on to my bio, which is: “My hobbies include spying on my neighbours and putting tomato sauce on everything”, she said this:
“It’s always good to keep it light-hearted with a joke, humour works well because it shows that you’re not taking yourself or the app too seriously, but the only thing I worry is that we miss a bit more of a personal touch from you. I’d probably counter a joke opening with something else about yourself, something like ‘I’m very passionate about XYZ’.
“If you were my client I’d get more of sense of your personality and interests – so just balancing something funny, then something else about you.”
Holly added that the icons available for selection on Bumble (whether you’re a smoker, your height, etc) should also be reviewed in my case.
Currently, I have “what I’m looking for” set to “I don’t know”, because: ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
“If someone says I’m really not that interested in dating, it might result in meeting the wrong type of person,” says Holly.
“If you do want to meet someone, you want to take a bit of time to put the effort in. Just like if you’re going for a promotion at work, you work harder to show you are capable of it.
“There’s a bit of shyness for people in 20s when putting any effort into apps – because they feel embarrassed to say they met someone on Tinder. But we all know it’s just a filter. I met my partner on Bumble so there’s absolutely the chance to find someone using an app.”
Her advice for those navigating dating apps solo (who might not have the cash to splurge on someone to manage them), was this:
“Maintain a bit of mystery.
“I never suggest linking to your Instagram or having a large gallery, you want them to want to find out more.”
Got it.
“And when you’re messaging for the first time, try not to just say “hi”. You know, if you get the wave, or a hey, or a smiley face – it just gets a bit lost. You want it to look like they’ve taken a bit of time to actually look through your profile and come up with something about you or your hobbies or your personality, so you should do the same for them.”
She didn’t say anything about dad jokes, so maybe Stu just deleted his account?
