The concept of social dating is basically a hybrid of what we commonly know as online dating or social networking. For those keeping abreast of the blogosphere social world, you’ll have noticed that social dating is the big message out there for singles right now.

Up until recently, it’s been quite amazing to see the lack of online dating sites take up opportunities to utilize the massive reach on offer by Facebook. So it’s little wonder to see social dating sites such as Badoo racking up more than 100 millions users in such a short amount of time.

The principle concept behind Badoo is one of distinction. In short, the Badoo brand has a presence within Facebook which allows single people to explore their dating and relationships options. Is this really social dating? You decide.

Online dating sites have grown to be a massive profit-making marketplace for singles to easily connect. The online dating concept is without doubt the biggest contributor within the matchmaking industry as a whole. Whilst there is a lot of money to be made by savvy Internet marketers, the online dating game is a numbers games for businesses just as much as it is for the daters. Research tells us that significant amounts of people sign up to online dating, however, people tend to not hang around too long with less than 5% of registered members being considered as active members.

The high turn over rate, poor customer service and amount of fake profiles on certain dating sites seem to be a deterrent for many single people. Having said that though, the industry continues to soar.

So as far as social dating in concerned, are sites like Badoo really considered as dating sites? Not really, they are far too ‘social’ to be in the same classification. Though it’s not to say you won’t meet singles on Badoo, but traditional dating sites are somewhat more direct and to the point.

As far as I can see, Badoo.com looks to be full of Spanish dating profiles, perhaps even slightly spammy with a below average user experience. If you want my advice, persist with the traditional dating sites that do provide decent customer service and member verification as standard.

The big question out there in dating land is this ‘who is going to prevail as the leader in social dating’? So far, there seems to be no clear industry leader.

About the author: Matt Fuller provides article services relating to a number of topics including online dating sites reviews, social networking issues, dating sites in Australia, social media news and online dating advice for men and women.