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The first service using mobile wireless phones for online Catholic dating has just been released by the long-established Ave Maria Singles and by a brand-new website called Single Catholics.
Both sites are using identical features that allow their members to use their cell phones as vehicles to receive communications from the website, as well as communicate with other members directly to each other’s mobile devices.
When a member receives a message on the website, a text-message alert is sent to their cell phone that has the first name and member ID of the sender. What’s even more powerful, members can actually send anonymous text-messages to each other without going to the website.
“Even the massive Match.com does not have this feature yet,” said Anthony Buono, founder of Ave Maria Singles and Road to Cana, in reference to the mobile-to-mobile text-messaging capability. “They offer only text notification as an add-on service for $4.99 per month. But having the ability to communicate offline from one mobile phone directly to another mobile phone as we do now, and maintain complete anonymity, is a huge breakthrough. It impresses me even more than just having alerts. Convenience to communicate and be kept informed seems to be what people want. And the more that mobile devices become part of the routine of single Catholics, the more ready I need to be to serve them in this medium,” said Buono.
Ave Maria Singles has added this mobile feature to their “Option Pack” of additional features ($25 per year). Single Catholics offers this feature on their new Catholic dating service as part of the one flat rate. Their membership fee is $7.49 per month or $49 per year, making them the least expensive Catholic dating service in the Catholic dating market, as well as the first to offer mobile-phone options.
Single Catholics and Ave Maria Singles are examples of how Catholics can use modern technology to accomplish good work for God’s glory.
The jury is still out as to how single Catholics will use their mobile devices to assist them in finding love. But Single Catholics and Ave Maria Singles are convinced they need to focus on mobile phones as an extension of their service in order to succeed in their mission to help the needs of single Catholics.
Source: http://www.catholic.org/prwire/headline.php?ID=4396
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