junior year

One way to know that a business vertical has become unbelievably popular is to wait for it to splinter off into a thousand different niches based on peoples’ special desires and unique needs.  This is something that we’ve definitely seen happen in the online dating arena.  There are so many different things that people look for when searching for a partner online that it’s really difficult  for one site to offer everything that everyone wants.  Hence, you see people looking for what truly interests them:  someone might look for a black dating site if they’re interesting specifically in black dating.  If you’re a Christian and absolutely need to date another Christian, you’ll look for Christian dating websites instead of going to the biggest behemoth websites.  This really only makes sense, since smaller niche websites full of your types are more likely to provide you with the most immediate prospects that might actually appeal to you.  I would expect to see a similar trend in any huge online vertical but its effects have been truly felt across the dating field.  I’ve seen everything from Ivy League only dating to people who love pets dating websites in the past few months alone, and I doubt this will change any time soon.