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NOW SINGLES CAN FLIRT IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD

5/20/2004

NOW SINGLES CAN FLIRT IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD - FRIENDFINDER.COM ADDS DYNAMIC NEW DIMENSION TO ONLINE DATING CHAT ROOMS WITH 'FLASHCHAT'
Transforms Flat Text-Based Online Chat Rooms into a Virtual Party with Movable, Costumed Avatars and Multi-Dimensional "Rooms"
PALO ALTO, CA - January 14, 2004 -- FriendFinder, Inc., the world's largest online dating network, is now the first major online dating service that brings internet chat rooms to life with vivid, movable three-dimensional characters and scenic, visual chat rooms. Friendfinder.com's new FlashChat service lets singles choose animated characters that reflect their appearance and personal style. FlashChat enhances the chatting experience by transforming flat, text-only chat rooms into virtual parties. FlashChat uses virtual reality technology and is the cutting edge in chat room technology.
Before FlashChat, chat rooms were simply text-based and you needed an active imagination to figure out the sex, age and image of the participants:
- yes we will protest ronnnnnn
- shisha is hot
- hello y'all
- hiya JEWELS how was your day? Huggies!
- 21/m/uk
I need more popcorn
- grr tawna just left
Hey hottie 81 - are U m or f?
Now, with FlashChat, can choose a character (or "avatar") of a black man in a suit and tie, while will now be a long haired blonde in a demure dress. When enters, you see her avatar appear, and when leaves the room, her voluptuous longhaired auburn avatar literally moves to the edge of the screen. It's also much easier to keep track of conversation, because chatting now appears in "thought bubbles" above the avatar's head.
Singles choose from an array of lifelike, costumed, animated avatars that mingle in realistic, three-dimensional rooms. New York's chat room is a glittering city skyline; Hawaii, a palmy beach. The 30 male and 30 female characters range from surfers in red shorts to elderly gentlemen in tuxedos…from women in conservative business attire to sexy vixens in lingerie.
"Flashchat is the cutting edge in internet chat systems, and we're the first major online dating service to bring avatar based chat to the public," says FriendFinder founder and CEO Andrew Conru. "You can get into the role playing aspect of chatting in a whole new way that is totally immersive and addictively fun. Other people can immediately decide if you look intriguing and if they want to approach you, without wasting time with "SWM" introductions."
Another visual advantage of FlashChat is the ability to physically move around avatars inside a chat room. To visually express the desire to join or leave a conversation, a user just drags their avatar away from their current group (with the computer mouse or arrow keys) and places it next to the new entrant.
FriendFinder network, the world's largest and most established online dating website network includes15 different specialized niche dating sites with a combined membership of more than 20 million. The FriendFinder network includes communities based on demographics (SeniorFriendFinder.com), religion (BigChurch.com, JewishFriendFinder.com), culture (AsiaFriendFinder.com, IndianFriendFinder.com, Amigos.com, GermanFriendFinder.com, FrenchFriendFinder.com, KoreanFriendFinder.com, FilipinoFriendFinder.com) and dating preferences (FriendFinder.com, AdultFriendFinder.com, Passion.com, Alt.com, OutPersonals.com).
"20 million active FriendFinder network members have access to our chat rooms, making it one of the most active chat destinations on the Internet," said Conru. The FlashChat system is free for all paying and free trial members on FriendFinder.com and will be available on more FriendFinder dating sites shortly.
Senior FriendFinder and Adult FriendFinder will introduce the feature in late January and other FriendFinder sites will follow. The avatars for these sites will feature different characters -- for example, Senior FriendFinder will offer grey-haired avatars, Adult FriendFinder's avatars will be quite a bit more risqu? and Amigos.com will feature a wide range of Latin characters dressed in the fashions currently popular in South America and Mexico.
About FriendFinder Inc.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, FriendFinder Inc. is the largest global operator of dating and social networking Web sites with a growing network of multicultural and multilingual dating and relationship sites. With an active membership in excess of 20 million and over 62 million registered members since its inception in 1996, FriendFinder, Inc. enables members to privately and anonymously meet people with similar interests in a safe, exciting environment. FriendFinder, Inc. also operates GradFinder.com, ShareRent.com, Dine.com and FriendPages.com.