Online Dating Blog

Earlier this month the Spark Networks, which owns several dating services, re-branded two of their largest dating services into a new, single service. Starting on January 15th, American Singles and Date.ca are now a single service called Spark.com.

The combination of these two services into one wasn’t the only change: the new service is a major revamp of the old services they offered previously. Of particular note, the following are the stand-out changes to the service:

1. Photos Are Required
Everyone must have a photo to use the service. I find this interesting and having now tested the service, I believe this was a great idea. As I encourage in my dating guide (and as everyone who gives online dating advice also suggests) having a picture in your profile is one of the most important things you can do. This requirement will actually benefit its members as it will force their hand on the one area that some people are hesitant with, even with the knowledge that it hurts their chances. Personally, this is the only time I’ve ever logged into a service for the first time and everyone had a photo and it was a great change.

2. Color-Coded Personality Tests
ColorCode Matching which is a personality test, the trend sweeping online dating at the moment. Personalities are broken down into for major areas with a color representing each type:

I took the test, which is thankfully shorter than most, and was a mix of many of the colors but my strongest color was white. Reading the site’s report on what this meant about me, I felt they got it mostly right and was interested to see their take on who I was after such a short personality test. I feel they did a good job and gathered a good understanding of who I was

3. New Click Feature
A new feature called “Click”. On each profile are options to flag them with Yes, No or Maybe with this representing if you would be interested in meeting that person. This feature will then tell you if you are both interested in each other. The other standard forms of communication also exist such as email and flirting.

If I’m honest I haven’t looked at American Singles for several years but I remember not liking the look and feel of the service very much. In addition to the changes listed above, I really like the new layout of the site.

The pricing of the service seems very fair, especially when comparing to other major dating services.

Overall, I find the changes all very good. The multiple forms of communicating, the new personality test and the requirement to have a photo are all great changes. We’ll see if this re-branding leads the company to more success although based on the number of members I saw as I was researching the changes, I suspect they’re seeing growth due to these changes. If these changes sound interesting to you I would recommend checking it out yourself.

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