Dating sites that manage communications have access to usage stats and other metrics that can improve the overall user experience.

Agree that people should be able to communication via FB, private email, etc.

I don’t see how knowing more about a person makes a first date difficult. If anything, having things to talk about makes the first awkward moments easier.

Group dating exists because it was an untapped market sector and some 20-somethings were tired of mainstream dating sites. Has nothing to do with transparency IMHO. Good points though.

Thanks for the additional analysis. Dating sites have two functions: 1) facilitate communication and 2) match potential relationships. They are still valuable in the second, but have lost most value with the first.

Therefore, they should do the matching, setup some initial communication, and then allow the participants to communicate however they please (twitter, facebook, IM, etc).

In terms of group dating, because of the heightened transparency that exists due to social media, the first date can be difficult. It enables people to interact in a less demanding fashion than the traditional one-on-one date. Does it work for everyone? probably not. But, for many, (given the size of sites such as Ignighter) it seems to be a welcome alternative. I would guess that group dating sites would not exist at all if the level of transparency afforded people today due to social media did not exist.