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Finding Love On the Internet
02/05/03
A recent poll claimed that 40% of all internet savvy singles have participated in online dating services. Of course, we all want to be loved but is online dating a good idea? Does it
work?
Well, I'm going to give you a rundown of several of the most popular services and let you decide. How will I determine how good they are... Well, I'll be the guinea pig and use them all (fortunately, I'm funded by a magazine so I'm not paying! yay!).
I'm going to review the following services:
Eharmony: More of a matchmaking service
Lavalife
: An interesting blend of dating, relationships and intimate encounters
Yahoo!
Personals: Yahoo! uses their name to create a powerful contender
Match.com: The most popular of them all. But is it the best?
First up - Eharmony
Eharmony's motto of "fall in love for all the right reasons" sounded promising. Instead of a
glorified bulletin board, you take a detailed personality test to find out what kind of person you are.
Eharmony then matches you with a person who is compatible with you. Pictures are exchanged only after communication passes a certain point. This allows you to make a judgment on someone
that isn't solely based on appearance. Very cool, yet flawed. Keep in mind that men are visual creatures. To be truly attracted we must see someone and find them visually appealing. The best
personality doesn't matter if we're not physically attracted. Sad but true.
I filled out my profile. It took awhile. The personality test took me around half an hour to
complete. It was in-depth and made me think about my personality and possible problems. After it was done, I was tired and went to sleep (it was 2am). The next day I was excited to have a
response! Yeah, someone's interested in me! Of course, the information you get on a person in the
first communication is all positive (you don't find out more until later). No personal communication is allowed at first. Instead, you answer some basic questions that start as innocuous as:
If you decided to stay at home for the evening would you tend to:
a) watch TV
b) clean
c) talk on the phone
d) read
To a more probing question like:
How often do you lose your temper?
a) practically never
b) once in a while
c) on occasion during a week
d) probably once a day on average
Answering these questions are the first step. The next couple of communiqués go more in depth
and share likes and dislikes. This is designed to find compatible beliefs and personalities. I went through several rounds of questions and answers before I could see the woman's picture.
If you are physically attracted and so far compatible then you can make personal contact. This is
set up in a way that there is less risk of getting hurt. You don't get emotionally attached too soon. This is a great idea in practice but I think most people would breeze through the initial stages in
order to look at the picture which most dating services would provide up front. Eharmony has a feel closer to a personal matchmaking service rather than a "hook-up" place. If you are more
concerned with personality and compatibility than looks than this is the place for you. If you get
through the initial stages of the process, you're more likely to find a compatible match than any other
service. The whole site and process is by far the most classy of any service with no feeling of shame or stigma in using it. Just people looking to find real connections with other people.
Current pricing for Eharmony as of 02/05/03
One month: $49.95
Three months: $99.95
Six months: $159.95
One year: $249.95
Next - Read about Lavalife
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