Niche Market Dating Sites

After reading an article from Glamour magazine, it was brought to my attention the different dating sites. I never thought about dating sites beyond the basic, match.com and eharmony but there are many sites created for a specific characteristic or demographic. As I was talking to my mom about this topic she informed me that two of our close family friends met on a site for tall people. It shouldn’t surprise me that these sites exist but it sparked my interest to investigate other obscure sites. I found a range of sites designed for college students to seniors, tall to plus-sized people, political orientation to eating habits, and also religious beliefs.

The online dating industry has transformed from the basic, male seeking women and women seeking male options. Once these sites have become mainstream, companies are beginning to focus on niche markets.

I became familiar with a dating site designed for college students when I studied at New York University last year. At that point the site was only available to about twenty colleges but now it has expanded nation-wide. DateMySchool was created to connect college students from the same campus or surrounding universities. The students on Date My School are searching for a partner who shares similar educational and career ambitions.

College students to elders, there is a site for everyone. I found that there are various dating sites for people who are older than 50 as well. It may be difficult for seniors to find a partner once they have gone through life’s challenges. Therefore, they turn to the online environment to find someone who is in a similar situation.

“The fastest growing group of subscribers for online dating was the 50-plus-age segment in the U.S.” -LehmanBrothers Equity Research

Another niche market in the online dating industry is for body-type. My family friends joined TallFriends.com in order to find someone who is taller than 6’ 5’’. In a mid-sized town it was difficult for them to find the time to meet people amidst their work schedules, let alone someone taller than them. A dating site in the news right now is TheBigAndTheBeautiful.com due to their offer to Adele to become the face of their plus-sized dating site.

ChristianMingle.com

The commercials for ChristianMingle.com seem to haunt me, since I see them about five times a day. However, the site is one of popular sites for people looking for a partner who is a specific religion. There are also sites for Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim people. I believe that if religion was a major concern for someone when choosing a partner, a religion-focused dating site would be convenient.

As I researched the various options that are out there for dating sites, I truly believe that there is one for everyone. All of these sites prove that everyone’s soul mate is out there; you may just have to find them online.