Canadian website takes the internet by storm for offering extramarital affairs to members.
By: Amanda Anderson
Most people don’t take the institution of marriage seriously anymore, and it is especially evident in a country that totes a 50 percent divorce rate. It may be no secret that Americans are valuing marriage less and less these days, but America is far from being the only country that has managed to make a horrible joke out of something that was meant to be so sacred. Canada has now joined the ranks of countries who no longer value marriage with the increasing popularity of an adulterous website that encourages members to seek people to engage in extramarital affairs with.
The Ashley Madison Agency is causing a lot of trouble to the married couples in Canada. The website has grown 79 percent year after year, while the number of female members has grown by 291 percent. The interesting part is the enrollment of male newlywed members remains pretty average. While the website may be surging in membership as expected, no one could have imagined that female membership would increase so significantly.
Noel Biderman, the President and founder of the company, tends to think the high number of female membership is a result of the changes in opportunities for women. Women are now more educated, more independent, and able to access the advanced forms of digital technology that makes communication easier than ever. Not only are women becoming technically savvy to land great jobs and fruitful careers, they are now depending on technology to start affairs.
And although membership may be high, Biderman can’t really thank advertising for the website’s popularity. According to Biderman, the company barely advertised. He also doesn’t feel he or the website should be blamed for wandering spouses. He says:
“The only people it impacts are the people who are already predisposed to do this behaviour. I’m not that good of a marketer; you’re crediting me with way too much power.”
And the site’s busiest days are Mondays. Even holidays that promote romance such as Valentine’s Day bring in huge spikes in membership.
“So many people come into the weekend thinking, ‘OK, I’m going to have some alone time with my partner, this is going to happen,’ and then instead, it’s an argument over the kids or bills and that’s the last straw,” he says. “So Monday morning, my site is through the roof”.
The site has roughly around 5.9 million members in Canada, the UK, US, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The website was launched in 2002 and totes the slogan, “Life is short. Have an affair.”
While I can’t help but think this website is a complete piece of trash, I really have to question why people who feel the need to visit these sites get married in the first place. I mean seriously…what’s the point?
