DatingCouch

DatingCouch is a 100% free, safe and no-frills online dating service. Members can sit on the couch of a potential match and instant message or video chat in a friendly and casual environment.

Summary

DatingCouch applies a no-frills approach to online dating by focusing only on essential features as well as safety, privacy and performance. The service allows users to sign-up in less than 30 seconds, create profiles with custom themes, video chat, send and receive instant messages and find matches using an online matchmaking system. The site is a combination of a general online dating service, relationship service and a social networking service ^[1].

DatingCouch has received some notable media attention. According to KillerStartups ^[2] DatingCouch is a very simple and secure service you can use to find a date without having to pay anything. According to the Museum of Modern Betas DatingCouch is an easy-to-use and safe dating site ^[3] and SlapStart expects Dating Couch to be a major player in meeting new people online ^[4].

Features

As of September 2009^[update] DatingCouch provides the following features:

• Users can create a public photo album
• Users can change the Color Theme of their profile
• Instant Messaging allows members to get to know each other
• Photo sharing allows members to share their favorite photos privately
• Automatically populates your contact list as you browse profiles
• 'My Matches' automatically shows members potential matches
• 'I am feeling lucky' function shows a single potential match
• Service automatically locates the members country, state and city using geoip

Distinguishing features

• 100% free for all members
• Members sit on the same couch to get to know each other in a safe and casual environment
• Women enjoy fast-track registration and can see who visited their online profile.
• 30 second registration using a single form
• Video chat allows members to chat using a webcam before meeting in person
• Sit on a members couch to how your interest to get to know the person better
• 'CouchCat' welcomes and watches after new users
• Shows you the 'last location' of the person you chat with to encourage trust
• Fake or fraudulent profiles are immediately deleted

Market

DatingCouch targets the online dating market which is expected to reach $932 Million in 2011 ^[5] . According to Time Magazine online dating sites experienced a bull market since 2008 ^[6]. Unfortunately due to the size and growth of the market, online dating services increasingly face problems with spam and fraud.

Development

The DatingCouch website is currently classified as beta.

DatingCouch is developed using Ruby on rails, Adobe Flash and Mysql, and has been praised for its fast performance and simple user interface. The site uses advanced technologies including memcached to ensure the best possible user experience.

References

1. ^ "A Look at the Five Different Types of Online Dating Services", Online Dating Magazine, http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/industry/06-typesofonlinedatingservices.html, Accessed Sep 19, 2009.
2. ^ "DatingCouch.com - Find Your Date", KillerStartups, http://dev.killerstartups.com/Social-Networking/datingcouch-com-find-your-date, Sep 14, 2009. Accessed Sep 19, 2009.
3. ^ "DatingCouch", MoMB, http://momb.socio-kybernetics.net/beta/datingcouch, Aug 13, 2009. Accessed Sep 19, 2009.
4. ^ "Couch Potatoes in Space", SlapStart.com, http://slapstart.com/2009/09/datingcouch/ , Sep 19, 2009. Accessed Sep 19, 2009.
5. ^ "U.S. Online Dating Market to Reach $932 Million in 2011, Says JupiterResearch", JupiterResearch, Jupiter Research, http://industry.tekrati.com/research/8487/, February 12, 2007. Accessed Sep 19, 2009.
6. ^ "A Bull Market for Online Dating", Time Magazine, Time Magazine, http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1868694,00.html, December 24, 2009. Accessed Sep 19, 2009.

External links

• DatingCouch.com