matchmaking

16 Stories

Chatting With Men Seeking Ukrainian Wives Wasn't So Great

Veronika Melkozerova recounts job with matchmaking agency

(Newser) - It's perhaps not the most typical job for a university student: pretending to be the female Ukrainian clients of a matchmaking agency. As Veronika Melkozerova explains for Vice , the then-21-year-old Ukrainian student took the job in 2012 and was given anemic details about two women looking for "Western...

Netflix's Matchmaking Hit: Guilty Pleasure or Hate-Watch?

'Indian Matchmaking' has obsessive fans, but critics have some issues

(Newser) - The majority of marriages in India are still arranged, and often families recruit outside help to get them set up. That's where Sima Taparia, the self-proclaimed "top matchmaker" of Mumbai, steps in, via a new Netflix series that's left people clamoring for more. Indian Matchmaking has become...

Suit: Woman Spent $150K on Matchmaker, Got Mr. Awfuls

Including a guy who said past trauma made him lie uncontrollably

(Newser) - A retired corporate executive said in a lawsuit that she spent $150,000 on a matchmaking service that set her up with a string of highly incompatible suitors, including men who were married, mentally unstable, or felons, the AP reports. Darlene Daggett, former president for US commerce for the QVC...

Match Made in Heaven? New Dating App Lets Friends Decide

They even design the user's profile

(Newser) - Tired of the online dating world? Let your friends do the searching and swiping. So says Tina Wilson, a Londoner who found after a breakup that her friends were trying to play matchmaker, but that they didn't have any good tools to find someone for her online, reports Mashable...

Matchmaker Hunting for Millionaire's Soul Mate

Women in California's Bay Area, he's looking at you

(Newser) - Attention, short, white, Jewish or Buddhist women in the Bay Area of California: Your Prince Charming is calling. Or not calling so much as hiring a national matchmaker to find his soul mate, reports SFist.com . The anonymous gent—early 50s, "generously philanthropic, well educated, a wine lover ..."...

New Matchmaking Trend: Stinky T-Shirts

Singles try to sniff out partners at 'pheromone parties'

(Newser) - Sniff your way to love? Singles who have attended so-called pheromone parties haven't ruled it out. The get-togethers—which have been held in New York and Los Angeles and are planned for other cities—ask guests to submit a slept-in T-shirt that will be smelled by other participants. Then,...

Nigerian State Playing Matchmaker for Thousands

Seeks to remedy apparently soaring divorce rate

(Newser) - Nigeria's Kano state is worried: The number of divorces appears to be skyrocketing. And a divorced woman there faces a raft of problems—she may be shunned, in some cases forced to beg or prostitute herself to support her family. So the state government is taking the matter into...

Car Company Turns Test-Drives Into Blind Dates

Skoda will match you with someone based on your musical tastes

(Newser) - Go ahead and check under the hood—just be sure you're talking about the car. Skoda, a car company based out of the Czech Republic, has launched a dating service that pairs people based on their musical tastes, and then sets them up on blind dates/test drives, reports Mashable...

Meddling Moms Get Dating Site
 Meddling Moms Get Dating Site 

Meddling Moms Get Dating Site

New feature makes it even easier to set up your kid

(Newser) - Concerned moms who constantly set up their single kids with—well, almost anyone now have a dating site of their very own. Geri Brin launched the “Date My Single Kid” feature on FabOverFifty.com after many unsuccessful attempts at matching up her son Colby with, among others, “the...

Online Dating's Problem: Too Many Matches, Not Too Few

(Newser) - Online dating sites are so packed with possible matches that they cause “cognitive overload” in seekers, leading to unconsidered choices, the MIT Technology Review reports. The lovelorn may say they want a wider variety of candidates, but they spend less time evaluating them, new research shows. “More search...

Gaza's Single Ladies to Hamas: Put a Ring on It

Islamic group sees matchmaking as 'humanitarian work'

(Newser) - Washington deems Hamas a terrorist group, but for Gaza’s lonely single women, the Islamic militant group can be a lifesaver, the AP reports. Hamas runs a “marriage and development” service that finds husbands for hundreds of women, often helping those in their 30s—who are considered spinsters. “...

In Japan, Tough Times Send Women to the Altar

Women turn to marriage as route to financial stability

(Newser) - In Japan, when the economy tanks, marriage—and two paychecks—starts to look more attractive to working women, reports Bloomberg. “I want to get married soon, hopefully by the end of this year,” says one Tokyo woman. “I’d be more stable financially if I had double...

Old-School Matchmakers Thrive Even in Internet Age

Traditional singles still look for offline pairing

(Newser) - Despite the growing popularity of Internet dating sites—or perhaps because of it—many singles are fueling a revival of sorts in traditional matchmaking. The Miami Herald takes a look at professional matchmakers who cater to a clientele looking for tradition and certainty, often because they've gotten fed up with...

'Cupid's Cabbie' Rings Up First Engagement

Matchmaking New York taxi driver takes singles a lot further than from A to B

(Newser) - A New York City couple will soon be walking down the aisle thanks to a taxi driver who moonlights as a matchmaker, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ahmed Ibrahim, who offers his services for free, has been trying to match up the singles who jump in his cab ever since...

Speed Dating for the Cougar Set
Speed Dating for the Cougar Set

Speed Dating for the Cougar Set

NYC event seek to pair 'boy toys' with 'sugar mamas'

(Newser) - "Mature" women sitting on gold mines are being paired up with hot young men at a New York matchmaking event next week, Reuters reports. Traditionally, rich middle-aged men nab catwalk-worthy arm candy, but one entrepreneur hopes to tweak the trend. The "sugar mamas" must be at least 36...

Online Dating Sites Seek Love's Secret Algorithm

Peer review of jealously guarded formulas proves impossible

(Newser) - Online matchmakers eHarmony and Match.com have staked millions on the idea that they, not you, can best find your perfect match, thanks to their secret algorithms. So do they work? Lots of academics want to know, the New York Times reports, but while the companies yearn for scientific, peer-reviewed...

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