{"id":2905,"date":"2024-11-30T20:35:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T20:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/london1.one\/?p=2905"},"modified":"2024-11-30T20:35:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T20:35:11","slug":"joan-ball-creating-virtual-dating-despite-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/eternal\/joan-ball-creating-virtual-dating-despite-disease-2905","title":{"rendered":"Joan Ball: Creating Virtual Dating Despite Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Virtual dating has become an integral part of socialisation in the modern world with the hectic and intense rhythm of life. Today, we can form personal and business connections in a convenient environment at various communication platforms. The founder of computer dating services is considered to be Joan Ball, a British technology entrepreneur<\/a>. Learn more at london1.one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early years and formation as an entrepreneur<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan Ball was born in London in 1934. As the sixth child in a working-class family, she grew up in the hostile atmosphere of her parents’ unsuccessful marriage. The girl was separated from her mother at the beginning of World War II, as she was evacuated from London to the countryside. Living in one of the foster families, Joan was sexually harassed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the end of the global armed conflict allowed Joan Ball to return to her family. However, her next challenge was late-diagnosed dyslexia and depression. After completing her secondary education in 1949, the girl got a job as a saleswoman at the London Co-operative Society. Due to professional, personal and physical problems, she attempted suicide at the age of 19. After some time in a psychiatric facility, the girl moved in with her aunt and uncle, enlisting their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan Ball tried herself in the fashion industry and began developing a career at Bourne & Hollingsworth and then at Berkertex. After that, she began working in a marriage agency in 1961. The woman showed a talent for networking. Eventually, Joan\u2019s success in the sphere motivated her to open her own dating agency called Eros Friendship Bureau Ltd. The stigma of the industry forced the entrepreneur to rely on advertising on pirate radio stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joan Ball changed the name of the company to St. James Computer Dating Service in 1964. The marriage agency soon became the first profitable computer dating service in the UK, conducting a series of electronic dating sessions. In 1965, the owner merged it with another agency to expand the company under the new name, Computer Dating Services Ltd. Joan bought out all the shares and became the sole owner of the company. Then she began advertising in The Sunday Express, Evening Standard and The Observer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After selling Eros Friendship Bureau Ltd, Joan Ball focused on developing Com-Pat and its improved version Com-Pat Two. However, she faced competition from John Paterson’s new computer dating service, Dateline, in 1966. Later, the company\u2019s situation was complicated by newspapers, which deprived it of potential clients by publishing false contact details. Due to the spread of mass strikes and economic problems in the UK, her business was drowning in debt. In the end, Joan Ball sold Computer Dating Services Ltd to John Paterson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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infobae.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition and significance of Joan Ball’s activities for the online dating industry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Joan Ball made an important contribution to the development of online social life in the UK and the world. Her achievements remained unnoticed for a long time but finally gained public recognition. The entrepreneur resolutely overcame health challenges, paving the way for a new environment for forming and strengthening human connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Berkeley Haas Newsroom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virtual dating has become an integral part of socialisation in the modern world with the hectic and intense rhythm of life. Today, we can form personal and business connections in a convenient environment at various communication platforms. The founder of computer dating services is considered to be Joan Ball, a British technology entrepreneur. Learn more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":2694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1164],"tags":[2516,2520,2510,2511,2522,2524,2512,2521,2514,2515,2513,2517,2519,2523,2518],"moimportance":[78,81],"motype":[1158],"moformat":[83],"class_list":{"0":"post-2905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-dating-industry-evolution","9":"tag-dating-platform-creator","10":"tag-digital-matchmaking-pioneer","11":"tag-early-online-dating","12":"tag-early-tech-entrepreneurs","13":"tag-empowering-women-in-tech","14":"tag-groundbreaking-dating-innovations","15":"tag-joan-ball-contributions","16":"tag-joan-ball-legacy","17":"tag-online-dating-pioneer","18":"tag-overcoming-adversity","19":"tag-resilience-in-technology","20":"tag-virtual-matchmaking-history","21":"tag-virtual-romance-revolution","22":"tag-women-in-technology","23":"moimportance-golovna-novina","24":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori","25":"motype-eternal","26":"moformat-vlasna"},"modified_by":"Inna Hananova","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2906,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions\/2906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/london1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=2905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}