Meeting, Mating, and Cheating: Sex, Love, and the New World of Online Dating (Financial Times (Prentice Hall)) [Hardcover]

Andrea Orr (Author)

Book Description

Series: Financial Times (Prentice Hall) | Publication Date: August 28, 2003

"This book is a thoroughly engaging examination of our struggle for sex and romance in the age of technology and computer dating. Andrea Orr explores and reveals the realities of the way we live and love in today's world." --Jane Juska, author of A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance Virtually overnight, online dating has gone from a fringe phenomenon to a popular and mainstream way to meet, worldwide. This extraordinary social and business revolution is touching millions of lives--but until now, it's gone largely unreported. Andrea Orr tells the unique story of how online dating evolved from a hideout for fetishists to a mainstream way to meet--and a multi-million-dollar global industry. Orr uncovers the real Internet dating revolution, in all its many forms. M reveals Internet dating at its most intimate, following people who are struggling to find soul mates in a sea of singles. It takes you behind the scenes of the world's largest subscription dating service, illuminating the business of Internet dating.It exposes the hidden underside of Internet dating: the lying and "general weirdness" that are still just a click away, and the massive use of the Web to facilitate cheating. Orr's book also tours the world, showing how Internet dating is connecting people from Belfast to Beijing. You'll watch online dating morph to serve the needs of Mormons and Muslims, elderly widows and Asian wireless users. Orr takes a look at life beyond the laptop to the next dating revolutions--Wireless dating, high-tech psychological profiling and beyond. Experience it all: meet the unlikely entrepreneurs who've built hugely successful dating companies...travel to the "Love Bunker" and get a glimpse of life at Match.com, the world's #1 Internet dating service...discover the happily married couples who met online...catch a right on the great online mating tour: from Iran to Hong Kong, L.A. to Salt Lake City as you uncover devoutly religious Iranian women searching for like-minded husbands...and get the lowdown on "restless marrieds" who say cheating was never this easy. The new romance revolution--get inside the worldwide phenomenon of online dating!WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING "Meeting, Mating, and Cheating carefully chronicles the fascinating history of online dating services and exposes the ethics, economics, and efficacy of matchmaking for every conceivable taste. Andrea Orr personalizes the quest for a partner with compelling individual narratives." --Shirley P. Glass, Ph.D., ABPP, author of NOT "Just Friends": Protect Your Relationship from Infidelity, and Heal the Trauma of Betrayal "Meeting, Mating, and Cheating provides insight into a facet of the Internet phenomenon that is both fascinating and alarming. Orr's discussion of the Internet dating industry, and wide-ranging examples of people who are using new technologies in the most intimate area of their lives, reveals important aspects of technology-mediated relationships. In-depth exploration of this phenomenon in other cultures, especially among Muslims, adds an important global dimension to the book. This book is a 'must read' for anyone interested in Internet technology. It is also a must read for anyone considering using Internet dating services." --Dr. Cynthia J. Smith; Dr.Smith teaches anthropology and business at The Ohio State University ABOUT REUTERS Reuters (www.reuters.com), the global information company, provides indispensable information tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Reuters information is trusted and drives decision making across the globe, based on the company's reputation for speed, accuracy and independence. Reuters has 16,000 employees in 94 countries, including some 2,400 editorial staff in 197 bureaus serving about 130 countries, making it the world's largest international multimedia news agency.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Time Magazine, Feb 2, 2004

"Meeting, Mating and Cheating gives an insightful portrait of cyberdating."

Meeting, Mating, and Cheating:

Sex, Love, and the New World of Online Dating

Andrea Orr

Reuters

"This book is a thoroughly engaging examination of our struggle for sex and romance in the age of technology and computer dating. Andrea Orr explores and reveals the realities of the way we live and love in today's world."

--Jane Juska, author of A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance

Virtually overnight, online dating has gone from a fringe phenomenon to a popular and mainstream way to meet, worldwide. This extraordinary social and business revolution is touching millions of lives -- but until now, it's gone largely unreported. Now, Andrea Orr uncovers the real Internet dating revolution, in all its many forms.

This book reveals Internet dating at its most intimate, following people who are struggling to find soul mates in a sea of singles. It takes you behind the scenes of the world's largest subscription dating service, illuminating the business of Internet dating. It exposes the hidden underside of Internet dating: the lying and "general weirdness" that are still just a click away, and the massive use of the Web to facilitate cheating. It tours the world, showing how Internet dating is connecting people from Belfast to Beijing.

Finally, it previews the future of online dating -- the wireless dating services and next-generation technologies that may transform human meeting and mating yet again.

• How the Web transformed dating

A fringe phenomenon becomes mainstream

• Internet dating goes global

The great online mating tour: from Iran to Hong Kong, L.A. to Salt Lake City

• I'm dysfunctional, you're dysfunctional

Weirdness online

• Underground at the "Love Bunker"

Life at Match.com, the world's #1 Internet dating service

• Infidelity, Inc.

The new business of cheating

• Beyond the laptop: The next dating revolutions

Wireless dating, high-tech psychological profiling and beyond

The new romance revolution: inside the worldwide phenomenon of online dating.

"Meeting, Mating, and Cheating carefully chronicles the fascinating history of online dating services and exposes the ethics, economics, and efficacy of matchmaking for every conceivable taste. Andrea Orr personalizes the quest for a partner with compelling individual narratives."

--Shirley P. Glass, Ph.D., ABPP, author of NOT "Just Friends": Protect Your Relationship from Infidelity, and Heal the Trauma of Betrayal

"Meeting, Mating, and Cheating provides insight into a facet of the Internet phenomenon that is both fascinating and alarming. Orr's discussion of the Internet dating industry, and wide-ranging examples of people who are using new technologies in the most intimate area of their lives, reveals important aspects of technology-mediated relationships. In-depth exploration of this phenomenon in other cultures, especially among Muslims, adds an important global dimension to the book. This book is a 'must read' for anyone interested in Internet technology. It is also a must read for anyone considering using Internet dating services."

--Dr. Cynthia J. Smith; Dr. Smith teaches anthropology and business at The Ohio State University

Meeting, Mating, and Cheating is the complete chronicle of the online dating revolution that's transforming mating worldwide. Reuters journalist Andrea Orr tells the unique story of how online dating evolved from a hideout for fetishists to a mainstream way to meet -- and a multi-million-dollar global industry.

You'll watch online dating morph to serve the needs of Mormons and Muslims, elderly widows and Asian wireless users. You'll meet the unlikely entrepreneurs who've built hugely successful dating companies... the happily married couples who met online... devoutly religious Iranian women searching for like-minded husbands... and the "restless marrieds" who say cheating was never this easy.

About Reuters

Reuters (www.reuters.com), the global information company, provides indispensable information tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Reuters information is trusted and drives decision making across the globe, based on the company's reputation for speed, accuracy and independence. Reuters has 16,000 employees in 94 countries, including some 2,400 editorial staff in 197 bureaus serving about 130 countries, making it the world's largest international multimedia news agency.

Reuters

www.Reuters.com

About the Author

Andrea Orr has written about a variety of business and lifestyle topics for 12 years as a correspondent for Reuters in New York, Los Angeles, and most recently Silicon Valley, where she first started investigating the online dating phenomenon. Her work has appeared in major newspapers around the world including The New York Times and The Washington Post. She lives in San Francisco.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Reuters Prentice Hall (August 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131418084
• ISBN-13: 978-0131418080
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,223,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A silly, pointless book, September 20, 2004

By 

K. Bunker "KBunker" (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Meeting, Mating, and Cheating: Sex, Love, and the New World of Online Dating (Financial Times (Prentice Hall)) (Hardcover)

A pretty-much content-free collection of anecdotes: this person met a few total creepazoids online, this other person met the love of her life, this third person finds online dating to be a handy way to cheat on his wife, and this little piggy went to market. Is there a point? Are there any insights? Is there any real information to be found? Not that I could see.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating on so many levels, September 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Meeting, Mating, and Cheating: Sex, Love, and the New World of Online Dating (Financial Times (Prentice Hall)) (Hardcover)

Meeting, Mating and Cheating provides an honest and thought-provoking look at the world of online dating. By following her subjects over the course of a year, Orr gives her readers a sense of all the different people who opt for online dating -- the young and the old, gay and straight, the urban and the rural dwellers, those seeking spouses and others just looking for friendship. The personal stories were sometimes poignant and sometimes just plain funny. I will always remember the single mother of three who went on line in search of the whole package -- "sex, companionship and the handy guy around the house."

The book is well-researched and the prose is lively and accessible. Ms. Orr weaves the personal stories together with information about the business of online dating to create a book that is valuable for online daters as well as investors and others who follow business trends. I highly recommend this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Like Watching Sex in the City, You'll Love This Book, September 22, 2003

By 

Amanda Orr (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meeting, Mating, and Cheating: Sex, Love, and the New World of Online Dating (Financial Times (Prentice Hall)) (Hardcover)

A great read! Orr gives an overview of the people out there doing it, and the range of services offered, but more than that, she weaves in so many funny personal stories of the ups and downs of the process that I feel like I'm watching an episode of Sex and the City. The end result is that this book is entirely useful for anyone considering online dating, but you could also be happily married and enjoy reading it. It's a hoot!