Lavalife offers updated online dating
Canada’s oldest dating site is stepping up its game with a rebrand that promises to woo disgruntled single folks by putting the fun back into finding a mate.
Lavalife, founded in 1987 by four friends in a Toronto basement, is enhancing its digital platform with a snappier design, a simplified profile-creating process and connecting people with common interests.
“You’ve got casually driven sites like Plenty of Fish and Grindr, which feed the hook-up culture. Then there are traditional sites like Match.com and eHarmony for people looking to get married. Lavalife is in the middle. We target real people without the pressure,” says Alisa Civiero, who is overseeing the Lavalife relaunch project.
“The industry is realizing there’s a gap in the onlinedating model. Not everyone meets a match right away and they shouldn’t feel bad. Being single should be fun. We want to remove the pressure and make this a fun and enjoyable process.”
In recent years, online dating has lost much of its stigma. The Pew Research Center released a study about the world of online dating in late 2013, finding that one in five adults ages 25 to 34 have used it.
Lavalife ( l avalife. com) has about 1.3 million total profiles worldwide, with the majority in Canada, and members throughout the U.S., Britain and Australia.
The site’s new feature, called “In Common,” alerts users to common interests when searching profiles.
During its rebranding process, Lavalife is offering free memberships till January. Civiero says users are encouraged to take a more creative approach to online dating with these three steps:
1. Take the pressure off. “You don’t need to find The One right away. Go into this with an open mind and with attitude that it’s fun and that you’re going to meet new friends.”
2. Forget the ASL (age, sex, location) questions. Asking a potential date the same old questions is tedious. If you know you have something in common, start your conversation there.
3. Suggest an out-of-thebox outing together like a cooking class or rock climbing, suggests Civiero.