Online Dating Web Sites That Specialize
August 23, 2009 by Anne
Filed under Dating Services, Online Dating
Dating Web Sites increase in popularity each month and more of them spring up almost daily. Can there really be this many lonely people out there? They have become so popular now that they specialize.
Maybe you want to date only those of a different race; there are several web sites that cater to this need. If your desire is only for the big beautiful people, then there are several places where you can sign up. Or perhaps you’re searching for only Asian or Chinese singles…the list is endless!
Not only does each ethnicity now have its own dating web site, there are quite a few who cater to specific age groups such as “Over 50”, “Senior Dating”, “Under 30” …seemingly every age group is targeted. Believe it or not, you can also find Online Dating web sites that specialize in religions. There are sites for Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians…that list is also endless.
With so many dating web sites out there and so many people signed up on them, you’d think there wouldn’t be a Single lonely person left on the planet. That is quite the contrary though. According to recent statistics, about 40 million Americans use a Dating Site at least once in a while. That comes out to about 40 per cent of the single adult population. Dating web sites have become the Number One place where single adults search for their “soul mate”.
Dating Terminology Explained
These days, you won’t find that many people who truly are searching for their “soul mate” though. Most of the dating profiles say they are looking for casual dating or friendship. This is dating lingo for “I’m not ready to settle down!” This is another curious thing about the online dating phenomenon: they have their own lingo, which includes abbreviations like:
BBW – Big, Beautiful Women
LTR – Long Term Relationship
SWM – Single White Male (this one comes in many variations, such as DBM which stands for Divorced Black Male or DWF which stands for Divorced White Female)
Sometimes the dating terminology is vague and you must kind of read between the lines. If a man says that he’s “just looking for fun” this most likely means that he’s looking for casual sex. He is not long-term material! If someone says they are “tired of the dating game and ready to find a best friend and companion” then this person is likely ready to make that long-term commitment.
Getting Married
They may not necessarily be talking about marriage though. Fewer and fewer singles are getting married these days. According to latest census figures, the number of marriages performed in America each year is falling. For instance, in 1990, 9.8 per cent of the population got married. That number fell to 8.3 percent in 2000. They are expected to fall again in the upcoming 2010 census to around 7 per cent.
The bottom line is that thousands of people who once struck out on the journey of life searching for a life-long partner are now happy to stay single well into their 40’s. This trend can be expected to continue and is probably influenced a great deal by the popularity of TV shows such as, “Friends” and “Seinfeld” which portray single adults having a perfectly normal, happy life without having the marriage experience.