By Juliet O

… Zoosk is introducing coins to our site! Why coins? Because we like shiny objects, and we like pirates, so it follows logically that our currency of choice on Zoosk would be gorgeous glistening gold doubloons.

Argg matey! So, with coins, (1) what are these pretty little babies, and (2) what can you spend them on? Currently, coins can be spent in 4 different ways, depending on if you’re a premium subscriber or a basic member on Zoosk. Peep this.

A. If you are a premium or a basic member, you can buy gifts with coins — and gifts raise your chances of being responded to by 76% according to our last Zoosk survey. And now, with gift categories, we have tons of new gifts (including naughty ones) and sending them is easier now than ever. Who doesn’t want be surprised by a bouquet of roses, a chocolate covered strawberry, or a hot dog? Frankly, we’d love to get a hot dog.

B. For basic members, coins can be used to unlock conversations without having to upgrade to premium membership. Basic members might have noticed that while they can send unlimited messages to premium members, messages between basic members are locked after the allowable number of free messages is reached. Don’t be greedy — that’s just how it is. The image above shows what happens when basic members have surpassed the response limit with other basic members — you are greeted with a pop up window that says “Your conversation with X is locked.” Before, the only way to continue correspondence once the response limit had been reached was to upgrade to a premium account. Now, you can send infinite responses to any Zoosker of your choice by purchasing coins to unlock the conversation. It’s a one time payment that unlocks your conversation until the end of time (literally, until the earth implodes) with that one person. While the only way to unlock all conversations is to upgrade to premium, you can unlock conversations with as many Zooskers as you want — without upgrading to premium membership — by using coins to unlock individual conversations.

C. Additionally, for basic members, coins are used to unlock conversations with people who have ‘favorited’ them on Zoosk. With coins, basic members can view the profiles of people who have favorited them. Favorite-ing (or favourite-ing, for you Brits) occurs when you see the profile of someone you really really like and you want to bookmark it for easy access later. You can favorite people, and others can favorite you. Currently, only premium members have the ability to send unlimited messages to people in their ‘Who Favorited You’ queue. By unlocking the Zooskers in their ‘Who Favorited You’ queue, basic members can then have unlimited conversations with the people they’ve unlocked — without having to upgrade to a premium account. While basic members can always view the profiles of premium subscribers in their ‘Who Favorited You’ queue, they are restricted from seeing the profiles of other basic members, and coins give them the ability to access those other basic profiles.

D. Finally, coins are used to unlock the “Who Viewed Me” functions on your Zoosk date card. In the image above, you see how this works. If you are a basic subscriber, you can check out the profiles of Zooskers who’ve viewed your date card by purchasing 45 coins. To unlock all the profiles, you can subscribe to premium membership. Why should you want to see the profiles of people who’ve viewed you? Notwithstanding the curiosity factor (you can’t see which people view you on Facebook or other social media sites, so Zoosk offers a fun way to see who’s stumbled across your profile), viewing is just another way of flirting. Everyone has been in the following situation: a hottie checks you out at a party or a bar, and both of you are too chicken to make the first move. You then stay up all night kicking yourself for not having the cojones to strike up a conversation. Don’t let this be a habit you take from the real world into the online dating world. If someone checks you out, don’t be shy. Carpe diem! Seize the day. Find out who they are, and send them a message first. Passivity is about as attractive as funky breath when it comes to the art of love.

So, pop quiz. What is the difference between buying coins and purchasing a premium subscription? Coins unlock individual things — like unlocking the profiles of those who’ve favorited you, or unlocking conversations once your free conversation limit has been reached. Premium subscriptions, on the other hand, unlock everything. Think of premium subscriptions as an all you can eat buffet, whereas coins are like dining ‘a la carte’. For basic members unsure about whether to upgrade their accounts to premium, coins are a good alternative to get some premium features at a lower price point.

photo credit: tao zyn

Monday just went from blaaaahhh to YAYYYYY, ‘cuz Zoosk Desktop is here to help you keep the spirit of the weekend going all week long. What’s Zoosk Desktop, you might ask? We reply — in our most falsely modest voice — that we dared, we hustled, and here’s what we got: the very first downloadable desktop application ever introduced for a social online dating community. Or, in simpler terms, Zoosk Desktop is a ridiculously awesome new way to be on the prowl… rawr.

By downloading Zoosk Desktop, you get a real-time stream of activity by other Zooskers in your local area who match your search criteria (you’re notified when new posts on community forums are made, new pics are uploaded, new users join, etc) as well as instant notifications when you receive winks, emails, likes, or virtual gifts. Zoosk Desktop links you directly to your ZooskBox and other Zooskers’ date cards and makes online dating simple, fast, and accessible wherever you may be online — really, it’s so good, it feels wrong (and wrong never felt so right). Also, Zoosk Desktop let’s you stay on Zoosk without having your browser open, so it’s super discreet (so you don’t have to worry about the boss, the roommates, or anyone else looking over your shoulder as you search for cuties online).

Zoosk makes online dating so easy, my grandmother could do it.

Download it now!

This is what it looks like when you install the application:

There is a feedback button! Please use it and tell me you love me. Or, if not that, then send us feedback if you have any issues whatsoever with the application or have any questions about how to use it. We are here to help. Obviously, you can always go to our support page too! Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more rad updates from the Zoosk team — we have tons and tons of goodies in store for you. And, lucky for you, our goodies don’t stay in the jar.

You’ve probably noticed a few changes on Zoosk lately. We are happy to unveil the launch of our site’s redesign! It’s been many months in the making, and we take a lot of pleasure from knowing that we are providing a more enjoyable platform for you, the Zooskers we value so highly. We are proud to introduce several improvements we’ve included in the redesign.

The new Zoosk offers each member several improvements including a cleaner, more intuitive, and aesthetically appealing experience. We’ve made flirting easier and more accessible, and revamped the photos!

Flirting was fun before, but flirting with vibrant colors, responsive animation, and crystalline design is like flirting while sipping champagne and eating strawberries dipped in warm chocolate! Ok, I might be getting carried away, but it undoubtedly adds a special element to the experience.

It’s now easier to flirt as well! We’ve made it possible for you to flirt directly from the advanced search results and date cards. This provides a simple and more fluid experience.

We also recognized the importance of each photo that is carefully selected by each Zoosker.  Photos are a critical part of showing a little about you. We say the more the better! So we’ve made them bigger, clearer, and a better reflection of who you are.

These are just a few of the improvements we’ve introduced over the past few days, and more are on the way! We appreciate your feedback and continue to take it into consideration as we grow.

Enjoy the new design and happy Zoosking!