Two of Us

A little blog review.  Through out the past week I have been searching the vast expanse of the Internet for other helpful links about dating, and marriage preparation. I was alarmed by how little information is available for the dating individual seeking marriage preparation. It affirmed to me this need we have to A.) Become educated ourselves. B.) Use that information to help other people. Its shocking to me how little information there is about what to expect in a healthy relationship in the blog sphere. As I was searching of course I ran into some darling wedding blogs preparing anxious brides for their special day, blogs about flirting tips, and date ideas, how to be more datable. Then when I ran into blogs that had a research backbone they were dryer than dirt, lacking the voice of the author. Honestly the search for a good balanced dating blog was dismal. Need I remind you that I was particularly looking for blogs and, not at more general websites. I found a blog that seems to have some potential TwoOfUs.org. Written by The National Health Marriage Resource Center. (NHMRC)

“(NHMRC) is the national resource and clearinghouse for information and research relating to healthy marriages. We strive to be a "first stop shop" for marriage and family trends and statistics, marriage education and programming, scholarly research, and the latest news and events. In particular, the NHMRC also provides training and technical assistance presentations and documents for federally funded Healthy Marriage Initiative grantees.”

This blog has tabs that allow you to pick which topic relates to you dating, exclusive, engaged, married, and parents. This feature opens up the target audience of this site to have a rather large range of people who may find it applicable. Even though the site isn’t directly targeted at the dating population the information it has to offer for dating couples is really quite wonderful. Keeping that in mind I mainly looked at the dating tab of the blog.  This section of the site has podcasts, videos, and articles to shift through, and my personal favorite: quizzes. I really enjoy that they have versatile media-viewing options. The site has a good array of topics ranging from: A Guy’s Guide to the Perfect Wedding Proposal, to Why Commitment Matters.

 The site yields good advice. It talks about issues that couples really could benefit from. The content isn’t shallow and flighty, but rather it’s applicable.  Unfortunately it’s missing a solid backbone in research, or at least the authors don’t cite their sources.  The articles don’t mention studies, and references aren’t available.  Taking into consideration who writes for the blog, it’s safe to assume it’s creditable. Even though it lacks research, the articles are easy to read, and have a nice flow. They lack a certain tone of formality; I actually really liked that about the articles. They seemed more applicable because of the friendlier, and more casual tone.

A Job Well Done:

• Variety of media options
• Fluid writing
• Quizzes!
• Variety of good information

Irritating Factors:

• Too many ads: The site is more difficult to navigate than I would like because of the plethora of ads monopolizing the screen. Once you scroll past the ads you are able to find some excellent information.
Lack of reference to research within the articles

The site is enjoyable, and if you're in need of more dating advice it's an excellent source! Enjoy