• by February 9, 2006

Here we are in the run-up to that all-important non-holiday, that commercially fabricated Hallmark occasion known as Valentine's Day. And today, a Love@AOL survey revealed that 76 percent of lovelorn singles who used online dating sites actually found romance, with nearly 60 percent reporting that they formed long-term relationships forged through online connections. (By long-term, we mean connections ranging from several months to more than a year.)

AOL's second annual Love@AOL Dating Trends survey, conducted in partnership with Opinion Research Corp., ran a national poll of more than 4,000 unmarried men and women to determine their dating and relationship habits, along with the best and worst cities for dating.

"Our annual survey shows that more and more singles are looking to the Web to find a date or start a relationship, and they are succeeding," Josh Stevens, general manager, AOL® Personals, and head of the Love@AOL service, said in a release.

The survey found that 16 percent of singles met their last date online, while 15 percent of respondents reported making love connections at work, 11 percent at bars and dance clubs, 8 percent at school, and 3 percent at coffee houses and bookstores. But the leading way continues to be through friends and family, with 21 percent of singles saying the friends and family connection was how they met their last date. While online dating can be very effective and popular, the cost of staying in the online dating pool is going up, according to a report by JupiterResearch Analyst Nate Elliott. The report, "Online Dating in 2006: Pricing Strategies to Drive Subscriber Growth," says the U.S. online dating industry failed to grow its paid subscriber base in the last year and that growth has been driven by higher monthly fees, rather than an increasing number of subscribers.

A January 2006 JupiterResearch consumer survey found that 5 percent of Internet users paid for online dating subscriptions in the last year, down slightly from 6 percent in 2005. Industry-wide user conversion rates fell for the first time since JupiterResearch began tracking the metric.

"Although online dating revenues continue to grow, rising prices have kept a large number of users from converting to paid subscribers," Elliott said in a release. "Thirty- seven percent of visitors who don't convert say dating sites cost too much, making it their leading complaint," Elliott added. "Only one-third of Internet users who went to dating sites in the last year became paying subscribers. Our research shows there is an opportunity for dating sites to use targeted discounting strategies to convert more of their visitors into paid customers." As far as offline dating etiquette goes, CareerBuilder.com's annual office romance survey found that while nearly half of workers say they have dated a co-worker--similar to last year's results--just 37 percent felt compelled to keep their relationship a secret, down from 46 percent a year go.

CareerBuilder said workers aren't just dating their peers: Twenty-one percent of workers admitted they have dated their boss, up from just 14 percent last year. And nearly 4 in 10 said they've dated someone who holds a higher position in their organization. Oh, boy. While men were only slightly more likely to date their bosses than women were, they were far more inclined to say the relationship boosted their careers. Twenty-five percent of men who dated the boss said the relationship helped move their careers forward, compared with only 13 percent of women.

Back to more findings from the AOL survey:

Despite the majority of women (54 percent) saying they would date someone who makes less money than they do, nearly half (49 percent) said that the guy usually pays for the first date. The majority of men (68 percent) agreed that they usually pick up the tab.

While 82 percent of women said it's okay for a woman to call a man after the first date, 49 percent said they never make the call. Still, more than three-quarters of men (77 percent ) said they usually call within two days after the first date.

More than half of single men (54 percent) surveyed said they would be open to dating a co-worker, compared with 40 percent of women. The Love@AOL survey flags the worst dating cities for singles. They are:

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Minneapolis/St. Paul
3. Phoenix
4. Miami
5. Tampa
6. Cleveland
7 Sacramento
8. New York
9. Chicago
10. Seattle

And the best cities:

1. Atlanta
2. Los Angeles
3. Houston
4. Detroit
5. Dallas/Ft. Worth
6. Orlando
7. Philadelphia
8. San Francisco
9. Denver
10. Boston

And finally, if you're looking to text your love, consider this from Tegic Communications, a provider of software for cell phones. Among text messaging users:

60 percent have texted to say "I love you" or "I miss you."

27 percent have sent a flirty or sexy text message.

26 percent have sent a "Happy Valentine's Day" text.

7 percent have even sent a text to ask someone out on a date.

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is coming up, so hunker down with your loved one(s). And, guys, most of the time actions (er, chocolate, flowers, wonderful surprises) speak louder than texts.

Yours,
This here Minute.