Kiwis flock to online dating

Last updated 12:04 02/02/2010

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A flurry of single New Zealanders looking for love in cyberspace has triggered a spike in the use of online dating through January.

Traditionally the start of the year sees a surge in dating website use, in the wake of New Year's resolutions and holiday break-ups, dating website FindSomeone spokesman Paul Ford said.

"January traditionally sees things ramp up - this year we saw a significant spike with 28 percent more visitors in January than in December 2009. This is even more than the same time last year when we saw the number of visitors increase by 23 percent."

Online dating continued to play an important role in the way New Zealanders look for love, Mr Ford said.

"The digital mistletoe is alive and well here."

A recent poll by UMR Research found New Zealanders regarded online dating as more morally acceptable than a range of other online activities including flirting online, and downloading copyrighted video and music without paying.

The results found:

* 86 percent of men and 77 percent of women regard single people using online dating as okay;

* 89 percent of those aged under 30 said it was okay for single people to seek a partner via a dating website, but only 66 percent of those aged over 60 agreed;

* Wellington residents were found to be the most comfortable with internet dating with 92 percent saying it was okay compared with the national average of 82 percent.

New Zealand's "hot spots" where the proportion of online daters was higher relative to overall population were Auckland, Wellington, Nelson/Marlborough and Canterbury, Mr Ford said.

At the other end of the spectrum, online dating "cold spots" included Waikato, Taranaki and Northland, he said.

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13 comments

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Trev #13 01:49 pm Feb 02 2010

"A flurry of single New Zealanders looking for love in cyberspace has triggered a spike in the use of online dating"

Uhh...is this really cause and effect or did you just repeat the same statement twice?

Online dating is great if you're looking for dodgy hookups! Good luck if you're a woman who actually wants a serious relationship.

Alastair #12 01:45 pm Feb 02 2010

I'm sure this wouldn't be to do with the 1000's of ads we view everyday online that show some super attractive women or men "ïn our area online now" that seem to be on every second website. Spyware is also handy for this as it will record your age and sex and other such personal information so it can show results that match you best us. It seems every website has a banner on online dating and "how to get ripped in 4weeks" with some dorky American going from slob to super man.

J #11 01:37 pm Feb 02 2010

Nah its just people in the mood for a bit of nookie over summer.

Carl #10 01:24 pm Feb 02 2010

How can a "flurry of single New Zealanders looking for love in cyberspace" trigger "a spike in the use of online dating services"? Isn't a "flurry" and a "spike" the same thing?

Rick Finlayson #9 01:20 pm Feb 02 2010

The net is without doubt my preferred channel for picking up chicks, just so long as their photos are up to date! Am i right fellas?! ;)

Big-Ry #8 01:10 pm Feb 02 2010

I found my fiancee online.

Tracey #7 12:34 pm Feb 02 2010

I really don't like internet dating. There are an awful lot of dodgy people out there. But, since I was having no luck meeting anyone, I decided to give a site a trial run. I was right about the dodgy people. Soooo many dodgy people. But if you look hard enough there are some good guys on there as well. Within a month I met a guy I thought was not too bad at all. Three years later we are still very happy together and as I type this I'm sitting watching our beautiful 5 month old daughter play and babble to her toys.

Si #6 12:32 pm Feb 02 2010

Love these not-so-subtle plugs for stuff's sister websites disguised as news.

Lisa #5 12:29 pm Feb 02 2010

Dating online is awesome found my hubby on the computer in 97 and and married him in 99 and have an awesome marriage. My girlfriend is dating an American man and he was over a few months back and is returning in March and looking at living in New Zealand and is currently looking for job in the IT industry.. so it does work...

Hello #4 12:26 pm Feb 02 2010

Well, switch off you Ipod and actually speak to people! That way you'll find someone instead of being quite and living in your own little world. People are to scared to be shot down or they're not interested to do the leg work(Look after themselves and so forth) and think it's the easy way for a date/shag! This will be the future :(

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