Online dating isn’t a new concept. Sites like eHarmony and Match.com have been around for years, both boasting a database of about 15 million registered users.
Recently we’ve been seeing an increase in the number of “niche” dating sites. Seeking Arrangement is one of them, which helps Sugar Daddies/Mommies find their Sugar Babies. From the website:
“An Arrangement is short for “Mutually Beneficial Relationship” between two people. Such a relationship is usually between an older and wealthy individual who gives a young person expensive gifts or financial assistance in return for friendship, or intimacy.”
Recently, there’s been a lot of hype over controversial site Ashley Madison, that encourages married people to have affairs. Their tagline reads: “Life is short. Have an affair.”
The site captured a lot of attention after the ad ran, and was mentioned on highly-rated talk shows like The View and Ellen; not in any particularly good way. Remember that saying: “There’s no such thing as bad press?” It seemed to work for Ashley Madison, as they now have almost 6.5 million registered users on their site.
We all know that urbanites are essentially workaholics; to the point that there hardly ever is time for a social life. These sites provide a simple solution for these single urbanites to find the companionship that they crave, without the hassle (and potential heartache) of wining and dining and playing all those ‘silly relationship games’. There’s no more Boy Meets Girl, Boy Likes Girl, Girl Plays Hard To Get, Boy Gets Girl. These sites are offering a summarised, simplified version: Boy Meets Girl, Boy Gets Girl.
After a quick browse on some of these niche dating sites, I’ve found that the people on them are fairly straightforward about what they want and who they are looking for. There isn’t a lot of flighty romantic, “I’m looking for The One” types. Most, if not all, the people on these sites are very focused and sure of what they want. One sugar daddy on Seeking Arrangement is offering to pay up to US$5,000 for a dominatrix to ravage him on a weekly basis. Another is offering $20,000 a month for an intellectual socially-aware Stepford Wife type who he could bring to social engagements and show off to his peers. One might wonder, where exactly is that line between dating with an allowance, and escorting, or frankly put, prostitution? Seeking Arrangement has a disclaimer on their site that warns professional escorts and prostitutes from joining the network, but how closely is this monitored?
This is all very new to me and I’m surprised to find that there is an increasing number of people around me who claim to have found true love (or some version of) via the World Wide Web. Fascinating. I don’t know how open I would be to ‘putting myself out there’ amongst millions of other singles, waiting to be picked out like something on eBay, but I’m definitely keeping my options open. Looks like it’s turning out to be quite the lucrative business, and like they say: “who knows?”
Have any experience in the online dating scene? I’d love to hear your thoughts/experiences!
