Yahoo Personals Kicks off National Singles Week with Singles' Voice Survey

Yahoo Personals' National Singles Week Survey Reveals 94 Percent of Singles Want a Date That Can Make Them Laugh; Yahoo Launches New Dating Tools within Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo Personals. Yahoo's Yahoo Personals kicks off National Singles Week (September 19-25) with its second annual "Singles' Voice" Survey of 11,000 singles. This year's survey reveals singles have strong desire for dates that can make them laugh. With humor being the new elixir for love, Yahoo! Personals and the Improv Comedy Clubs have kicked off a nationwide "Comedy of Dating" tour for this week's National Singles Week celebration. Love and Laughter Go Hand-in-Hand Yahoo Personals and the Improv are joining together to bring "Comedy of Dating" events to 18 cities across the country. Comedian Richard Jeni, five of the comics from the reality show Last Comic Standing and several other headliners will offer their views on all the quirks that come with starting new relationships while sharing a laugh about that fun-filled relationship stage known as "dating." Yahoo Personals users can get special deals for the "Comedy of Dating" events at Improv comedy clubs in Baltimore, Brea, Cleveland, Dallas, Hollywood, Houston, Irvine, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, Miami, Ontario, Orlando, Palm Beach, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Tampa, Tempe and Washington, D.C. A full schedule of the tour, along with Jeni's "Top Ten Dating Do's and Don'ts" can be found New Online Dating Tools Offer Convenience, Laughs and More Nearly 50 percent of singles say that instant messaging is the best way to virtually flirt with someone they're interested in dating. As a result, users of the popular Yahoo!(R) Messenger service can now use the newly released Yahoo! Personals-themed IMVironment in their quest for love. The new Yahoo! Personals IMVironment allows users to search for compatible singles, share profiles with friends and instant message about prospective dates -- all within the Yahoo Messenger conversation window. In addition, the new Yahoo! Personals IMVironment in the recently launched all-new Yahoo Messenger service will also feature humorous Audibles from comedian Richard Jeni to add expressive, verbal animations to their IM conversations about potential dates. Richard Jeni Audibles include expressions such as "I just french kissed the monitor" and "See, this is what happens when you get dressed in the dark." In addition to the advanced integration with Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Personals is also announcing enhanced e-mail communications features for singles using its service. The new features, based on feedback from singles, are aimed at helping singles spend less time online and more time out enjoying dates. The newly designed Personals Mailbox helps singles who subscribe to quickly and conveniently manage their communications with prospective dates. The new design represents an easier and more natural way for singles to connect, communicate and start relationships online. New Yahoo! Personals Mailbox Features: -- Singles can easily see who e-mails are from with a photo of the interested party in the inbox interface while also using flagging, sorting and quick response options to streamline their communications. -- Frequently used e-mail responses (Snippets) can be held in a clip-board format to avoid retyping common elements of correspondence as singles tell more about themselves in e-mails to their matches. -- The new set up makes it easy for even busy singles to indicate interest to all who inquire, streamlining and enhancing the use of 'personals etiquette.' -- The new Mailbox design more accurately reflects real world conversations by grouping sent and received e-mails around possible dates and not e-mail folders. "Our goal is for singles to not only have better quality first dates, but to have those encounters lead to more second dates as well," said Sandra Micek, director of marketing for Yahoo Personals. "We've listened to our users and developed new features like the Yahoo! Personals Mailbox enhancements that help make better use of people's time. Plus, singles now have new, playful ways to involve friends in their online dating experience with the new Yahoo Messenger IMVironment." Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News Your source for investigative ebusiness reporting and breaking news.