Lonely Hearts Gearing Up For New Year’s Eve
30 December 2011
Lonely Hearts Gearing Up For New
Year’s Eve
Online dating is hitting record levels
across New Zealand with 71% of Kiwis yet to find a date for
New Year’s Eve parties. It is also occurring in some
unlikely spots including Waitakere, Lower Hutt and
Dunedin’s North East Valley.
As the Christmas feast
wore off, Kiwi singles started thinking of the biggest night
of the dating year with messaging on FindSomeone jumping up
30% on the previous week, and 52% higher than the same
period a year ago.
“Flirty singles sent 109,000
messages in the last week, an all-time record for Christmas
dating activity,” said Mike O’Donnell, FindSomeone
operations manager. “Every year we see rises in activity
around now, however the last week was the biggest rise
we’ve seen in 10 years of operation.”
Last 7
Days Dating Activity Year On Year Change*
New
Members 1,116 13.65%
Messages 109,448 52.53%
Smiles 36,209 24.34%
Member
Logons 202,375 30.89%
(* based on week from
22-29 December 2011)
“Last week our sister site
Trade Me polled its members on their plans for the big night
and found only 29% of people had secured a date, so this
poor planning may be driving the recent surge in
activity,” Mr O’Donnell said. “It’s also been a
challenging year for many with the earthquakes and tough
economic climate likely to have contributed to feelings of
loneliness.”
Nationally, the typical profile of an
online dater is a person aged 38, with a tertiary education,
and of European extraction. Men outnumber women 55% to 45%,
and 46% have children.
Around the country, online
dating hotspots include Waitakere and the North Shore in
Auckland, Lower Hutt in Wellington, Sumner/New Brighton in
Christchurch, and Dunedin’s North East
Valley.
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