LINKEDIN: THE NEW WAY TO DATE ONLINE
From nightclubs, to bar scene, to blind dates, and even to scared spaces of worship, these were all once traditional watering holes of those seeking meet and date someone one on quest for true love.
However, now that we are firmly entrenched inside the digital age, times and the people who inhabit them have changed. Young 20-Somethings are turning to none other than the Internet and frequenting online dating sites such as eHarmony, Match.Com, ChristianMingle.Com as online dating becomes the new normal.
After all, when opportunity meets need, innovation and improvisation are guaranteed. In just a few short years after online dating officially hit the scene, there is an online dating site for everyone—and we do mean everyone.
According to research done by a University of Rochester psychologist, online dating is now the second most popular way to start a relationship, coming in only after meeting through friends. As a result, research group IBIS World projects that revenue from online dating will hit a whopping $2 billion by the end of 2013 ().
COMPANIONSHIP AND CAPITAL
Let’s take a minute and breakdown the numbers for a pair of the highest paid sites. The cheapest month-to-month subscription on Match.com is $18 for six months (or $108) and that’s just the basics. Want to try out Match.com for just a month? That’ll be $36, thank you. Or you can spend a month checking out eHarmony’s 20 million registered users for $60. Otherwise, the site’s value plan, a 12-month subscription, will set you back about $240.
LINKEDIN: THE NEW ONLINE DATING ALTERNATIVE?
LinkedIn, the premier social networking website for people in professional occupations, has become the newest sanctuary for finding compatibility and security. The biggest ‘hookups’ can be found among those who work in entertainment. A musician hooking up with publicist or a striving actress with a film producer is not uncommon.
“I must confess. It’s a turn on to find a guy with a good job. You can see his whole bio and get a feel for what the person is about using LinkedIn. It’s easy to connect with the opposite sex when you’re working in the same profession. I never saw so many hot chicks that work in technology,” says David, a Social Media & Digital Content Strategist.
“You can find the hottest chicks on LinkedIn, it’s better than paying into an online dating site,”says Jasmine, a regular who a marketing and media specialist in New York.
LINKEDIN VS. THE REST (TRADITIONAL ONLINE DATING SITES)
The #1 thing LinkedIn has going for itself is the client’s ability to see a potential match’s profession and bio. If the potential match has other social media plugged in to their LinkedIn profile page, you can get an even better view of the person.
And, while online dating sites rely on complex compatibility algorithms, LinkedIn plays by the age-old rules of the hunt—like an ultra cool virtual game of “Hide and Go Seek.” Meanwhile, online dating sites things are almost entirely, everyone who pays a monthly fee to find love knows what they’re there to do. I’ll take true love; hold the mystique, please!
LinkedIn reports more than 225 million acquired users in more than 200 countries and territories—each of them eagerly waiting to meet you. Yet, what makes LinkedIn revolutionary is its ability to provide a user-friendly platform and anonymity. With relative ease, any of us can make contact with people we don’t know without so much as a hint of pretense. Just log on, search for your significant other on the sly, and watch one thing lead to another.
“LinkedIn holds great promise for helping adults form healthy and supportive partnerships,” suggests sex expert Leigh Van Der. “It’s the adult version of Facebook.”
With a name like LinkedIn, it’s got to be good.
