Gleeden is a French

online dating service Online dating, also known as internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating, is a method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An online dating service ...

and

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

specialised in

extramarital relationships Extramarital sex occurs when a marriage, married person engages in human sexual activity, sexual activity with someone other than their spouse. The term may be applied to the situation of a single person having sex with a married person. It is dis ...

, that was launched in 2009. Over 65% of users reside in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Gleeden's membership service is free for women to use. The name of the site is a portmanteau of “Glee” and “Eden” (referring to the biblical “Garden of Eden”).

History

Gleeden’s dating service was founded in September 2010. The site was officially launched in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in December 2009. Gleeden is available in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. In 2010, Gleeden opened to the public in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is a brand of Blackdivine Group. Gleeden.com is available in 159 countries. As of 2017, Gleeden.com's faculty are all women.

Community

Gleeden’s community is open to

adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

s of all relationship statuses (

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, separated,

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d, co-habitating, single) and

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

s (

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

). Gleeden is primarily marketed to married men and women.

Services

Gleeden’s business model is based on a system of credits rather than monthly

subscriptions The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It i ...

as opposed to

EHarmony eharmony is an online dating website launched in 2000. eharmony is based in Los Angeles, California, and owned by ParshipMeet Group, a joint venture of German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media and American private equity firm General A ...

Meetic Meetic is a French online dating service founded in November 2001. It is recognized for its intuitive interface and matching algorithms that suggest potential partners to users based on profile attributes. Meetic became a part of the Match Gro ...

. A subscriber can purchase credit packs in order to communicate with other members. Members pay a one-time fee of 2-3 credits to participate in an email or chat conversation with another member. Any follow-up messages in a thread are free. Private messages, chats, and credit packs do not expire. The average subscriber has £40 (US$44) worth of credits in his or her account at any given time. Members get in contact with each other via chat or private messages. Members can send each other virtual

gift A gift or present is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many cou ...

s, which are

sorted Sorted may refer to: * ''Sorted'' (TV series), a BBC television series *"Sorted for E's & Wizz", a 1995 Pulp song * ''Sorted'' (The Drones album), 1999 * ''Sorted'' (DJ? Acucrack album) * ''Sorted'' (film), a 2000 British thriller film *'' Sorted'' ...

by type and price. Although the moderation policy can be strict Gleeden members can keep private

photos A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and prac ...

in a separate photo album, or “private book”, which can be viewed with the permission of the member who owns the album.

Moderation

Gleeden purports to moderate its members heavily to ensure that all members on the site are real. The site in addition promotes a strict

privacy policy A privacy policy is a statement or legal document (in privacy law) that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses, and manages a customer or client's data. Personal information can be anything that can be used to identify ...

. Gleeden prohibits

vulgarity Vulgarity is the quality of being common, coarse, or unrefined. This judgement may refer to language, visual art, social class, or social climbers. John Bayley claims the term can never be self-referential, because to be aware of vulgarity is to d ...

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

and

euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

. A reporting system is available for members to report unseemly activity. This is described as a method of ensuring a “harassment-free” environment.

Controversy

Since its launch, Gleeden has received criticism for allowing married members. The site has been severely criticized for allowing married people to identify their status and interests on their profile. As stated by Gleeden, “In an age where divorce is 40-60% among newlyweds and 33% among those married for 10 years, many times

extramarital affairs An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or solely em ...

can intervene as therapy for a couple. Gleeden is a facilitator of confidence where married couples can disregard the taboo and explore their desires safely.” In 2015, the company was sued by the National Confederation of Catholic Family Associations (CNAFC), which contested the site's legality. Although adultery has not been a crime in France since 1975, the association described the adverts as “publicly promoting infidelity and cheating” and as a clear incitement to disrespect the

French civil code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since it ...

, which demands of spouses “mutual respect, fidelity, help and assistance”, a disposition mostly used in divorce cases. The CNAFC lost the case in 2017, and the French

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

rejected the appeal in 2020, reiterating that infidelity is not illegal in France.

Notes

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External links

Official Website
Online dating services of France French social networking websites