According to his online profile, he’s a single male looking for outdoor fun, long walks, hanging out in the park and conversation. Biscuit is his name, and he’s just 3 years old–a shepherd/collie mix whose dating profile receives equal billing with that of his owner, Frank Lozano.
“If someone is not tolerant or is allergic to pets, it’s better for me to know that now before my heart starts to fall for them,” said Lozano, a Valencia, Calif., resident who’s been using the online dating site datemypet.com for about a year.
Lozano, who also has a cat, has communicated with 25 women through the site and has gone on four dates. Last month, he was hoping that using a niche personals site would increase his odds of finding The One.
“If they’re on (datemypet.com), I hope they have as much love and compassion for their animals as I do for mine, which means maybe they have more of a tender heart in general.”
As novel as datemypet.com may seem, the year-and-a-half-old site is part of a larger trend. As online dating has become more widespread, so have niche sites specializing by lifestyle and interest. You name it, chances are there’s at least one site for it. Usually there are several.
Just like general dating sites, some are free, and some are paid, though paying sites tend to charge lower prices than mainstream sites. Like match.com and Yahoo! Personals, most use simple matching software, pairing couples based on what they’re about and what they’re looking for in a potential mate.
“There’s still a leap of faith involved for a lot of people when they go into online dating,” said Nate Elliott, online dating analyst for consumer technologies analysis firm JupiterResearch. “Although the stigma has mostly gone away, they’re still doing something that might feel a little bit uncomfortable, and to be able to take that step within a predefined community can improve the comfort level for certain users.”
JupiterResearch estimates that 16 percent of American Internet users will browse personal ads this year. Match.com, Yahoo! Personals and eHarmony are the top three players in the market. Together, they account for more than 50 percent of all online dating traffic, but none of them offers niche dating.
“People were complaining that on the big sites they weren’t finding people that shared their spiritual interests,” Erik Curren said of his motivation to start dharmadate.net–for Buddhist singles–in 2003. “I find that people, the deeper they are into Buddhism, the more important it is for them to have somebody else who’s interested in it.”
Specialty dating sites
Cruise the Web and you’ll find a dating site for just about any interest.
– Vegetarians: veggiedate.com
– Truckers: truckerpassions.com
– Tall people: tallfriends.com
– People with disabilities: friendslikeme.org
– Goths: gothicloveonline.com
– Conservatives: conservativematch.com
– Hip-hop fans: hiphopmatchmaker.com
– Ivy Leaguers: rightstuffdating.com
– Wine lovers: grapedates.com
– For “those who live a better than average lifestyle”: sugardaddie.com
[LOS ANGELES TIMES].
