Free Love or Paid Love? How about Neither
Friday, Dec 11, 2009
Internet dating sites tout pretty impressive numbers. According to studies, over two hundred-million single adults use Internet dating sites to find romance and one site alone claims credit for more than nine-thousand marriages. With numbers like that, it appears that Internet dating sites are indeed a good place to search for your perfect match. But with so many choices, both free and paid, what should one use? One thrifty student has a surprising answer: "Neither."
Emily, also known as 'snowbunny25' discovered how to get free service on some paid dating sites.The HERALD caught up with Emily Lloyd, a recent guest on the internationally syndicated "Let's Meet" morning show, who talked to us about her appearance on the show, and
the best kept secret of online dating... For Emily, a full-time student with a part-time job, it all started about two months ago. "I had a good experience with one of the larger paid dating sites last year, but being on a budget I decided to try out one of the popular free dating websites." Emily laughs: "I consider myself a smart shopper, always finding the best bang for my buck. So why not apply this to dating? Being on a very limited budget a free dating website was a natural choice for me." However, after only a couple of days, Emily started to have her doubts: "There are so many limitations on a free site. You cannot actively talk to the other person, most profiles are inaccessible, people never reply, and the sites are usually covered in banners and ads. If you're serious about finding love online, you will not find it here. I got the feeling that these websites are full of 15 year old boys who are hoping on convincing a girl to meet him, only too scared to actually show up and reveal he's a kid."
"If you go to a paid site however, the story is so much different. Paid sites offer support, people actually do contact you and they are genuine people who have a genuine interest in your profile. If you're serious about finding love online, these are the sites where you will find it. Even if you're looking for a fling, or a intimate encounter, these sites have the facilities and capabilities to make it happen [sic]. However, amidst the second worst recession in the history, the subscription fees that typically range from $34.95/month up to $64.99/month, are something to think twice about."
"So anyways, I was on the morning show because I had discovered a way to enjoy being on a paid dating site without actually paying. The producers thought that this is something of interest to people, especially near the holiday season when many of us are still looking for someone to have a little holiday magic with. Well, what I found out was that some major paid dating sites, like CandyTwist, have recently become 'hybrids', so they are free and paid at the same time. But they are not informing their members about it. Basically, you can create an account for free and you have no restrictions communicating with members who are paid. So the only time you would have to pay is if I want to talk with someone who's not paid. But with so many paid members to choose from, that really isn't necessary. Oddly enough though, after my appearance on the show, CandyTwist stopped offering this service. I guess too many people were just happy communicating for free and they were losing too much money."
After the interview, The Herald reached a spokesperson for CandyTwist, who assured that the interruption in free "paid" service was in fact a temporary outage that unfortunately had coincided with the time of airing the morning show. When asked why the company isn't informing their members of the free service, the response was that it is a BETA feature currently only offered in selected markets such as Italy, Ireland, and the United States. At the time of print, The Herald was able to confirm that CandyTwist was once again offering the free "paid" service and had expanded the service to additional countries as well.
So there you have it folks, is this the end of the battle between FREE and PAID dating sites? At least one student is banking on it.
Oprah's White House special: Winfrey's gift to Obama for Christmas is softball questions
Friday, Dec 11, 2009
Oprah Winfrey has given President Obama a much-needed Christmas present -- an hour-long, prime-time TV interview full of softball questions.
"This was not about grilling the President," Winfrey said of "Christmas at the White House," which will air Sunday night at 10 on ABC.
Winfrey says she has been pushing for an interview with the First Family since Obama's election -- but wanted to be sure the situation was "comfortable."
"I wanted to be at the White House during Christmastime and to experience their first Christmas at the White House," Winfrey explains in the special, excerpts from which were released yesterday. "This has been in the making for a very, very long time."
In the special, Winfrey tours the White House and takes in the grandeur of a Christmas at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., including the 27 Christmas trees adorning the President's home.
Winfrey also asks the Obamas to reflect on Christmases past.
Michelle Obama tells Winfrey her favorite gift as a child was "a metal doll house with plastic furniture" while the President says his was "Getting that first, big kid 10-speed bike."
President Obama also reminisced about a gift from the father he barely knew -- a basketball his father gave on a visit from Kenya.
"It wasn't until much later in life that I realized, 'Actually, he gave me that basketball,' " he says. "I think there was some cause and effect there in terms of the degree to which I just ended up taking up the sport as a kid who didn't know his dad."
After asking the President if he feels pressure to give better gifts now, he replies, "I have given some good gifts -- you get some nice stuff -- here's the general rule: I give nicer stuff than I get."
The interview wades briefly into his performance thus far as commander in chief.
"I was curious as to what he thought he had done, what kind of job he thought he had done and ask him for his grade," Winfrey says. "You'll see what the grade is. The grade might surprise you."
Coming on the heels of months of hand-wringing over the war in Afghanistan and the mortifying Salahi gate-crashing scandal, the lighthearted interview is likely a welcome respite for the residents of the White House.
