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I’ve been hearing about this site for ages.

TheLEK.com, a dating site that matches users based on their favorite restaurants, bars, clubs, events and activities, today announced the launch of their new community for Los Angeles singles.

thelek.jpgFirst thing I thought of was a high-end Going.com where you pay a dollar to meet people. The credit-based system doesn’t work for these kinds of introductions, just ask SpringStreet Networks. It works for Lavalife, but you end up leaving a lot of money on the table with a credit-based system. TheLek is free for now.

There is a status called, Nested, where you won’t show up in the search results but can still be a member of the site. Interesting concept, but it’s a dating site, plain and simple, few people will join just to be a member. Now we’re back to the Going.com model, social networking with a location-based dating component.

I do like the webcam photo upload feature, worked well for me the first time, very slick indeed. People without photos in their profiles are the loneliest people online. If you can’t snap a photo with your phone and email it to yourself and upload it, or get someone to help you…

TheLek is question-based, very 2006-ish. Hello, OKCupid calling. A 20-something site indeed. they are calling their attempt at viral marketing the Tribal Challenge. Spam your friends and you may win $150. How much are your friends worth?

Why is is that companies spend so much time on the website and tend to send out the worst emails? I got a re-sending confirmation email when I never received it the first time, confusing.

We’ll see how the site does in LA, where there are hundreds of special groups of beautiful people hanging out at exclusive clubs and events. Will TheLek have enough marketing power to cut through the noise?

Press release.