Narrowing the Field Before Playing It

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
NYT

WHOM do you want to date? A bookworm? A beauty queen? A virgin? A vegan? Whatever you’re seeking, chances are there’s a niche dating site for you. Yes, even you, mustache fetishists (see StachePassions.com).

Singles on major sites like Match.com and Lavalife.com have long been able to narrow their searches for potential matches, based on their preferences for height, weight, smoking habits and other personal details. But in an age when consumers can customize their sneakers, their sweaters, even the writing on their M & Ms, is it any wonder they want even more control when it comes to cyber dating?

A raft of niche sites is offering the granularity they crave. A handful of them, like BlackSingles and JDate, have been around for a few years.

But now that broad-brush dating sites have saturated the market, niche players are growing ever more plentiful and popular, according to major market research firms that monitor the dating industry.

(More here.)