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"The Price of Love: Your Guide to the Global Dating Game" Book review
The Age published interesting article about Stieven-Taylor who teamed up with freelance writer Jenni Lans to write dating guide "The Price of Love: Your Guide to the Global Dating Game". We decided to publish most interesting quotes and stats from The Age article. To read full version of article click here.
When Alison Stieven-Taylor, a Melbourne public relations consultant, found herself single again after her 15-year marriage ended in divorce, she was surprised to discover how much the singles scene had changed.
"It seems to be such an organised activity now," she says, of the wide selection of dating services available to singles, from internet and speed dating to Dinner for Six groups and introduction agencies.
When people invest in a service, Stieven-Taylor says, it not only hurts their hip pocket - dating services can cost anywhere from $25 for one night of speed dating, or around $25-a-month for internet dating, to up to $3955 a year, as quoted by one Melbourne introduction agency - but they are making an emotional investment as well.
"According to the authors, there are more than 1700 active internet dating sites worldwide, including major sites like Match.com, Yahoo! Personals and Australia's biggest internet dating site, RSVP.com, as well as niche sites, including exclusive sites for millionaires, pet lovers, alcohol-free singles and a site for plus-size men and women."
We are unsure about amount of active internet dating sites mentioed by Alison in her book because only in Russia there are at least 100-150 known active dating sites and russian dating consist only 5-10% of online dating industry. We estimate that there is more than 5000 dating sites but probably Alison speaking about dating sites having more than 5.000 members.
"The authors conclude that would-be cyber daters should "do their homework" before signing up, claiming that many sites overstate both their membership figures and their so-called success rates."
"Matchdotcom, for example, boasted 15 million members worldwide, but they actually have less than one million subscribers, so that's real people you can actually contact," says Stieven-Taylor. "You take that one million subscribers and take it down to people in your area and it's more like hundreds. And if you were in a room with a hundred people the likelihood of you finding 'the one' is pretty remote," she says.
One more words of proof that before joining any dating service and paying for it you should read reviews about that dating service.
"Other sites boast 'thousands of success stories'. But what is success anyway?" asks Stieven-Taylor.
"What we say in the book is you don't know where you're going to meet 'the one' . . . But most likely it won't be in your lounge room reading self-help books and surfing the internet . . . So lighten up, go and have some fun and do the things you like because that's more likely where you'll meet somebody."
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