Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

NoLongerLonely.com: Dating Site Aimed At Adults With Mental Health Concerns

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Apr 17 - NoLonger Lonely.com is a dating site especially for adults with mental health concerns. 'I think there is a relief in getting to know someone when both parties are open about their psychiatric issues,' says the site's owner, Jim Leftwich. "The site has been a slow build since 2004 but we've had at least 30 marriages now." Professor Stephen Palmer, director of the Coaching Psychology Unit at City University London, says: 'The downside of a relationship between two individuals with a diagnosis is that sometimes you have to be resilient to support a friend with mental health issues and if you are feeling negative yourself, it can be a challenge.'

by Erica Crompton
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

Mark Brooks: There are niche dating sites for most every niche these days. This particular site is a great public service. Dating sites excel at helping people get the tough questions out fo the way right up front. One of those questions is, in this case, what kind of mental health conditions do you have?

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Difference Is The Norm On These Dating Sites

NY TIMES - Dec 28 - Several dating Web sites for singles with health problems have started up in the last few years. Dating4Disabled is a site for people with an array of disabilities, including paralysis and multiple sclerosis. Other sites include NoLongerLonely, for adults with mental illness, and POZ Personals, for people who are H.I.V.-positive. Another site, Prescription4Love, has communities dedicated to sexually transmitted diseases and physical disabilities. Awkward issues that come with an illness can be discussed frankly and openly in an online space in which everyone is dealing with something out of the ordinary. FULL ARTICLE @ NY TIMES

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Online Dating's Most Unusual Web Sites

CNBC - June 9 - Online dating has been one of the great success stories of the internet. As with all profitable businesses, everyone wants to jump in and carve out a niche. That's led to an astonishing number of diverse web sites connecting people from every conceivable background with every conceivable interest. Daily Diapers is a web site for "adult babies" who favor wearing adult diapers. Not because they need to. Because they want to. "Date Me, Date My Pet" seeks to bring pet lovers together. Farmers Only boasts 100 marriages among like-minded farm folks. "Twilight" and "True Blood" is forl members of the Vampire Community. The list is seemingly endless: Women Behind Bars, STD Friends, Poker Faces, No Longer Lonely....there's someone for everyone out there. FULL ARTICLE @ CNBC

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Finding Love Online, Despite Health Problems

CNN - Apr 14 - While sites like Match.com and eHarmony don't discriminate, they also don't cater to people who are coping with sexually transmitted diseases, disabilities, or mental health conditions. "On bigger dating sites the competition is tremendous," says Jim Houran, PhD, a clinical psychologist and columnist for Online Dating Magazine. "And let's face it, depending on what the illness is, it could very well make you uncompetitive in the larger dating pool." Over the past five years, several sites such as Prescription4love.com, Nolongerlonely.com, Cisforcupid.com and DateAble have launched to serve the needs. The sites require members to disclose their illnesses upfront, clearing the air for what might be a deal-breaking revelation later. Prescription4Love has 8,000 members who represent nearly 40 health conditions. Ricky Durham founded Prescription4Love in 2006, inspired by his late brother Keith, who lived with Crohn's disease for 15 years before passing away in 2004. People with mental health problems, from chronic depression to schizophrenia, have also benefited from specialized sites. No Longer Lonely, a dating site that caters to the mentally ill, now has 16,000 members. The site has been responsible for more than 20 marriages. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN

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Specialized Dating Soars

UNION LEADER -- Oct 24-- DateMyPet.com is one of hundreds now available for people trying to find mates with whom they share a common interest. For daters new to the online world, niche dating offers hundreds of alternatives to the more commonly used dating sites. There are dating sites for Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Italians, Greeks, Indians, and Latinos, among other groups. Vegetarians, cyclists, recovering addicts, fitness fanatics, and disabled singles have their own sites, too. SquareDating.com helps connect single alumni from top colleges and universities. NoLongerLonely.com allows singles suffering a mental illness to seek each other out. LittlePeopleMeet.com is one of several sites exclusively for singles with dwarfism. And MilitaryDate.com hooks up servicemen and women across the country. GreenSingles.com is celebrating its 10th year online shortly. "When people begin to get serious about looking for long-term relationships or marriage, they're more likely to want to meet people of a similar background, race, or religion," said Gail Laguna, VP for Spark Networks. Spark recently acquired MingleMatch which oversees 21 affinity-focused online personals sites, including DeafSinglesConnection, Interracial Singles Connection, Single Parents Mingle, and Prime Singles Connection - for online daters more than 40 years old.  FULL ARTICLE @ UNION LEADER