Kiwi online dating takes off

As the silly season for online dating takes off in New Zealand, those looking for love heading into New Year’s Eve are most likely to find brunettes aged between 25 and 34.

Figures released by dating website www.findsomeone.co.nz show that brunettes and blondes are the most prevalent online daters in the country, followed by those with black and red/auburn hair. Those with grey hair round out the top five.

“Every year we see online dating activity start to skyrocket as people get over their Christmas feast and realise that they haven’t got a date for New Year’s Eve,” said FindSomeone operations manager, Mike O’Donnell.

“2010 is no exception and in the past four days more than 53,000 personal messages have been sent by Kiwis on FindSomeone, up more than 200% since Christmas.”

The sending of “flirty” smiles on the site has also increased significantly, with 22,800 sent in the past four days.

Despite protestations about the “man drought” there are more male daters online in the country than females: 56% versus 44%.

Mr O’Donnell said typically online dating has two big ramp-up periods, around New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day, but this year it appears the royal romance has had an effect.

“Prince William and Kate Middleton may have made a lot of reluctant lovers pull finger earlier with many online singles getting busy as early as Boxing Day.”

FindSomeone has over 200,000 members and targets those aged between 25-60 who are serious about finding someone genuine.

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