Online dating
线上约会
Love at first byte
一字钟情
Online-dating sites have made it easier for people to click with one another. But they still leave something to be desired
婚介网站让人更容易与他人擦出火花，但并非完美
Dec 29th 2010 | SAN FRANCISCO | from PRINT EDITION
FOR the lovelorn, the new year can be an unhappy time, as they cast envious glances in the direction of lovey-dovey couples at the season’s parties. For online-dating agencies, it is a golden opportunity, as people who have spent the holidays ruminating over unsatisfactory or
non- existent love lives log on in their thousands, hoping to find romance—ideally before February 14th. “The period between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day is our busiest six weeks of the year,” explains Sam Yagan, the boss of OkCupid, a big American dating site.
对于失恋者，元旦节可不好过，他们在这时节的聚会上看着缠绵的恋人时，定是满眼的羡慕嫉妒恨。成千上万的人整个假期苦于不如意的爱情或不曾拥有爱情，希望最好能赶上情人节，这对于网络婚介企业，却是个绝好商机。“元旦至情人节期间这六周是我们一年最忙的时候”，美国某大型婚介网站OkCupid老板Sam Yagan说。
Once seen as the last resort for a bunch of lonely geeks, online-dating services have gradually shed much of the stigma formerly associated with them. Although they are still popular with tech types—Julian Assange, the mercurial co-founder of WikiLeaks, reportedly once maintained profiles on dating sites under the name “Harry Harrison”—they now attract millions of people from many walks of life. ComScore, a research firm, says Match and Zoosk, two large dating services based in the United States, saw 4.6m and 4.8m unique visitors respectively come to their American sites in November 2010. Meetic, Europe’s biggest dating service, also boasts millions of users.
曾几何时网络婚介服务被认为是那些独身技术控的最后一招，如今已逐渐摆脱曾被他们“污染”的气息。尽管这些服务仍然受到技术派的亲睐（阿桑奇，维基解密的联合创始人，被报道曾在某婚介网站上用化名“Harry Harrison”注册个人信息），现在已成功吸引了上百万各行各业人士。调查公司ComScore称美国婚介公司Match 和 Zoosk的美国网站，在2010年11月里分别有460万和480万的访问量。欧洲最大的婚介公司Meetic的用户也有数百万之众。
Blowing cyberkisses has become a popular pastime in emerging markets too. In countries and cultures in which arranged marriages are common, sites such as India’s Shaadi and BharatMatrimony, which boast many millions of clients, are a big hit with young people who want to influence how their marriage partners are chosen. And a number of sizeable digital matchmakers, including Jiayuan and Zhenai, have risen to prominence in China. Deepak Kamra of Canaan Partners, an American venture-capital firm that has backed several dating services, including Zoosk and BharatMatrimony, estimates that the industry’s revenues from membership fees and advertising now amount to $3 billion-4 billion a year.
网络交友的风潮也刮至新兴国家。在那些国家和文化里包办婚姻是非常普遍的，如印度的Sh
aadi 和 BharatMatrimony等网站自称已有数百万客户，很受那些欲自主择偶的年轻人欢迎。在中国一些初具规模的婚介网站也小有名气了，如珍爱和佳缘。美国风险投资公司 Canaan Partners的Deepak Kamra已投资好几个婚介公司包括Zoosk和 BharatMatrimony，估计该行业每年从会费和广告获取的利润约有30-40亿美元。
reactions to the online manage
Searching for that special someone
寻特别的你
In addition to broad-based matchmaking sites such as Match and Zoosk, the online-dating world has also spawned thousands of niche ones. Some, such as JDate, which is designed for Jewish lonely hearts, and Ave Maria Singles, which focuses on Catholics, serve specific religious or ethnic niches. Others appeal to rather less conventional interests. Vampire lovers can sink their teeth into the profiles on offer at Vampire Passions, while those obsessed with iPads and iPhones can hunt for their iBeloveds at Cupidtino, a dating site for fans of Apple’s products.
除了大众的婚介网站如Match 和 Zoosk之外，也涌现了上千个小众婚介网站。一些针对特定的宗教或种族，如专为单身犹太人而设的JDate，针对天主教徒的Ave Maria Singles。另外一些网站吸引那些不那么传统的人，吸血鬼迷可以在Vampire Passions提供的个人信息来寻同好，那些ipad和iphone的用户可以上Cupidtino寻觅，该网站是苹果迷的婚介网站。
The rise of these and other dating sites has been driven by several trends in society. One of these is that people now move around more often for work, distancing themselves from friends and family members who could play matchmakers. Another is that they are living longer, and hence more likely to look for new love later in life. The spread of fast broadband connectivity in many countries has also encouraged people to dabble in online dating.
各种各样的婚介网站被社会上的几种趋势所推动，原因之一是如今人们常因工作而搬家，远离那些本可以为其做媒的朋友和家人。另一个原因是人们更长寿了，更倾向于晚年寻新的爱情。许多国家高速宽带的覆盖也让人们愿意去尝试网络婚介服务。
Academics who have studied the industry believe that it and other forms of electronic communication such as e-mail and social networks are starting to have a significant effect
on the ways in which people find love. In a study presented at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in August, Michael Rosenfeld of Stanford University and Reuben Thomas of the City College of New York reviewed data from a survey of more than 3,000 Americans with romantic partners. They concluded that among heterosexual couples who met in 2009, the internet had become the third most common way of making initial contact—behind introductions from friends, but almost on a par with encounters in bars and restaurants.

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