Carolyn Clydesdale, an event manager at Fast Impressions, said the speed-dating company launched its "Toy Boy" evenings after a deluge of requests from both sides of the gender divide.

"The attraction is the young guys are dating girls their age who want to settle down," she said. "The older women find the same thing.

The so-called cougar phenomenon- older women who seek younger partners- is growing.

Figures show the trend has increased in Australia due to an oversupply of single women aged 40 to 54 compared with men in the same age bracket.

Trading punches may not seem to have much in common with exchanging numbers, but that will change at 6pm tonight at The Domain. Fast Impressions and Evolution Wellbeing are holding a speed dating event at which participants work on their fitness while finessing their flirting skills. Entry is $29.95. For details, visit www.fastimpressions.com.au.

On Friday night I grabbed my perpetually single mate Andrew and we headed down to World Bar on George Street. The occasion? The “Flitter” event – Australia’s very first Twitter-inspired speed dating event.

SINGLES are emerging as a new force in travel as the number of lone-person households continues to grow.

Dating services such as RSVP and other operators are introducing specialised tours for those who don't want to travel on their own.

The proportion of single-person households in Australia has doubled from 14 to 27 per cent during the past 30 years.

Emails, texts and voicemails can be like finding a message in a bottle, washed up on a beach. Their messages have the potential to bring a new love into your life.

Or not. Sometimes, they are also the bearer of bad news - as Drew Barrymore’s character in the film He’s Just Not That Into You finds out.

When it comes to that special someone my view has always been – I’ll give everything a shot once. I mean let’s face it, if you’re even contemplating going speed dating then that means someone else out there just like you must be thinking the same or already doing it. I guess in the past there has been some stigma to online dating and dating events, but for the most part I’d say as a society we’re well beyond that – in fact the majority of my single friends engage in some sort of dating assistance – be it a match making services, online or speed dating.

WOMEN wanting men they can literally look up to are scaling new heights to find them. Not content with bars and workplaces, South Australian women are turning to speed dating with one priority in mind finding a man who is at least six feet, or 183cm, tall.

The study, which surveyed 1000s of male and female singles around the globe, set out to discover people’s expectations on traditional dating behaviour: whether men should be expected to open a door for a woman; who pays the bill on a first date; should a man stand (if seated) when a woman walks into a room; whether its ok for a woman to make the first move and ask a man out on a date?

WHO said chivalry was dead? Aussie men have been ranked as some of the most chivalrous in the world, beating the Kiwis and the Poms. While baby boomers topped the gallantry poll [of Fast Impressions members all over the world], by dating agency Fast Impressions, Gen Y out-ranked Gen X.