|
|
August 15, 2008
Electronic matchmaker
Online dating service duels J-Date for members.
ALLEGRA LEVY
MeetMeAtShul.com is the newest website to cash in on the Internet dating craze. It is a direct competitor to J-Date, the world's most popular Jewish dating site, weighing in at more than 14,000 members. MeetMeAtShul boasts about 400.
MeetMeAtShul is part of a growing trend of culturally targeted dating websites, all designed to render the old-fashioned mixer obsolete. Most Internet dating services run the same way: members post a picture, fill out a profile, take a survey and wait. More ambitious daters may e-flirt by sending little messages or adding daters to their "hot" or "not" lists.
The idea behind the new site seems to be a grassroots approach, a made by Jews for Jews ethos combined with a level playing field. Unlike J-Date, there is no second-tier service, no first class with payment option. The site is run by a company based in Toronto, called Fajigros Inc., in conjunction with Shane Maxwell Enterprises. Neither company could be reached to discuss their safety features for the site.
MeetMeAtShul is attracting an extremely wide range of singles. Globally, they have members in Africa, North America, South and Central America and Europe. Ages range from 18 and up, way up. Its biggest draw, however, is not the dating pool, it's the price.
"I like that it's free," said Sheila Levitz, a 24-year-old Vancouver woman who used the site to find a long-distance boyfriend in Quebec. "I also like that it didn't need me to post a picture like some of them do."
Levitz is one of a growing number of daters who have grown used to the less invasive method of Internet dating. "Because I don't have to be in a social situation, it's easier for me, you know, to talk about stuff," said Levitz. She also appreciates the controlled pace of Internet dating. "If I don't want to answer, I can just say that my computer was down, or that I forgot to check my e-mail. It's not like telling someone you just don't want to see them."
More young people are turning to websites as an easier and emotionally safer way to meet people. "If someone I met online tells me online that it's over and I've never met them, I can't get hurt," said Levitz. She also pointed out one of the less obvious drawbacks of the craze: "I don't really want to get to 45 and have my kids ask me how I met their dad and have to tell them it was on the Internet." Levitz paused to think and then said, "That's OK. I'll make up something really romantic."
There are those who are more critical of the new world of online singles. "I hate that people are giving up real dating so young: 22, 23, it's too young to be thinking it's over," said Carol Olevsky, 45. Olevsky found the MeetMeAtShul site while looking for a new shul to go to in Temecula, Calif. "I'm OK to make a profile. I'm past my expiration date already," she joked.
It seems like dating sites are the new dive bar. They attract everybody, but no one wants to admit they were there. Targeted sites like MeetMeAtShul appeal to those who want to meet singles in their in-group but who may not like the desperation of real world in-group dating. "Singles parties feel like the meat market," said Olevsky. "Here, I'm the only one and I get to pick."
MeetMeAtShul's relative newness makes it susceptible to the kind of technical glitches that have made some members run for the door. Jonathan Rumsin, 30, took his profile down after only a few weeks. "It had a lot of bugs. I wanted to see people in my time zone and it brought back, like, 50 hits and only 12 were really in my time zone. Stuff like that. It got very frustrating."
These glitches, as well as the lack of choice, are some of the things that remind users why they pay on some sites. "I had more luck on J-Date, even when I was using the free service," said Rumsin.
J-Date, a much larger player in the game of e-love, is run by Spark Networks, which is also responsible for such targeted sites as Christian Mingle, Catholic Mingle, Big Beautiful Women Personals, Black Singles and Latter Day Saints Mingle. They all feature the same slick web design and function in the same manner – they also feature long lists of testimonials and pictures of smiling couples.
Allegra Levy is a Vancouver freelance writer.
^TOP
|
|
