Match Review

Match.com is the only one of many online dating websites that offer a "love guarantee". The site claims that its users will find someone in 6 months or the site will grant the user an additional 6 month membership for FREE. The format of the site is very interactive and allows for users to search profiles based on geographic location, age, other factors, and even common interests. The site also delivers 5 new matches per day to each user based on his or her preferences stated in their respective profiles. There are plenty of interactive modes of communication built into the site such as email, instant messenger (IM), and others which all add to the excitement of communicating with matches and the wide appeal of the website.

For those of us who are really "on the go" and either don't always have time to log into their profile via a computer, or would just rather log into their profile conveniently via their phone, there is MatchMobile. The application can be used with almost any phone with internet capabilities and it also offers almost all the same features as the actual website, such as sending emails and winks to their matches. As a girl who hardly ever makes the first move and still believes whole-heartedly in chivalry, I really appreciate the "wink" feature that the site offers. If a user stumbles upon a match that he or she would like to communicate with but is either perhaps too shy to make the first move by sending an email or is unsure what to say in that first email, users can send each other "winks". Winks are very subtle ways that a user can let another user know that he or she is interested, without necessarily "saying" anything. Since it can be difficult sometimes to come up with a great first one-liner or knowing what to say in a first email to a match, this eliminates any potential awkwardness and allows the door to be opened to future communication.

Alternatively if I do not care for a user's profile for whatever reason, I can politely disregard the "wink" and respectfully let the user who sent it that I am not interested in getting to know him. In need of a break? Users can also temporarily (or permanently!) set their account settings so that their profile is invisible. This will disable the user's profile from being publicly viewed and the user will be unable to send or receive any communication until he or she enables his or her profile to be publicly viewed again.

In conclusion, I believe that the "Match.com guarantee" and the fact that site boasts 24 million current active users - the highest amount on any online dating site - makes the site a "no risk" and a "win-win" situation for anyone who decides to join. The smartphone MatchMobile application is available on most phones and is offered for free on the new Android phones. The websites success will seemingly continue to grow rapidly in the very near future as well. Recently it was announced that Match.com has partnered with Yahoo! Personals to create Match.com on Yahoo!. Glamour magazine also jumped on the Match.com bandwagon and signed a 2-year deal with the company to create Glamour Matchmaker. According to a recent press release, the company also gained ownership of the site singlesnet.com and now accounts for 30% of all marriages of people who met on online dating sites. Clearly, this is just the beginning for one of the most popular online dating sites ever, and with its inevitable continuing success, will only get much better. Need some more proof that it really works or that it actually leads to "more relationships and more marriages than any other site?" Some encouragement, perhaps? Find all of it and more on the site's Success page! So for anyone who has tried the site or would like to, I personally recommend it and will be posting my experiences in the very near future. Good luck to all of you and have a wonderful weekend!

xoxox,

East Carolina Girl

eHarmony Review

eHarmony is one of the more popular online dating sites and rightfully so. It is the only one of its kind to feature a patented personality matching system based on 29 different dimensions of compatibility. This highly successful and unique program was formulated by Dr. Neil Clark Warren, a doctorate in psychology who has published 9 books about relationships and boasts over 30 years of experience counseling couples in order to help them build lasting, healthy relationships.

The patented 29 Dimensions of Compatibility and eHarmony's matching services are constructed based upon responses to an extensive questionnaire that users are required to complete prior to becoming an official eHarmony member. The questionnaire measures personality traits such as emotional temperament, and adaptability, among others. The matching system also measures values and relationship skills such as conflict resolution. In other words, eHarmony can be considered more of a virtual matchmaker as opposed to some of the other online dating websites available.

One of the many features I really appreciate about eHarmony is the ability to remain somewhat anonymous and also the amount of time I save. Unlike other online dating sites, eHarmony only shows my profile to my matches, instead of making my profile publicly available to anyone at any time. The site also allows me to save time because I am only "introduced" to matches who are deemed compatible with me based on the 29 Dimensions of Compatibility. This alleviates the hassle of progressing through a relationship only to find out later that we are incompatible as a couple, so I love that I am only matched with those I could potentially have a long-term relationship with.

The "My Preferences" section of my profile allows me to specify whether or not I would be willing to be matched with someone who smokes, or drinks, etc. Users can choose how to communicate with their matches, either through a "guided communication" process or an "open communication" process which consists of directly sending their matches emails and bypassing the guided communication process altogether. The guided communication process allows the users to send their matches multiple choice questions, open-ended questions, and even a list called "must haves" and "can't stands". When completing their profiles, users choose 10 personality traits each that they "must have" in a partner and those traits that they "can't stand". This is actually a lot more difficult to do than you might think, but it also forces you to focus on what is most important to you in a potential relationship partner.

A new feature that has recently been added to eHarmony is their "Something to Talk About" feature which asks users to pick his or her favorite sports teams, foods, etc. I find this to be particularly helpful and could potentially almost eliminate any awkwardness in the initial stages of dating.

Users are always allowed to review their matches for free and are offered the opportunity to participate in a premium personality test worth over $40! eHarmony also occasionally offers a "Free Communication Weekend" where users can communicate with their matches for free over a specific weekend. It's a great, no-pressure way for users to test the site out.

With hundreds of success stories, countless commercials, and years of experience, eHarmony seems like a legitimate way to meet quality singles who are highly compatible with each other. Upon exploring the site, I am hopeful that I will be able to find someone who I am compatible with. Check back soon for more updates on my progress!

xoxox,

East Carolina Girl

Once Upon a Time....

Every girl at some point has read a bedtime story when she was a child that involved a fairytale Princess who is beautiful, popular, falls in love with Prince Charming, and lives happily ever after. If only it were that simple!

In this modern age of fast-paced interactions, convenience, and an increasing dependence on technology, society as a whole has become accustomed to an instant gratification lifestyle. The internet has been around for about twenty years now and every day, more people are coming up with new ways to use it. This innovative movement down the "information superhighway" as it is sometimes affectionately named, has led some people to consider online dating to find their potential soul mates.

Each of the websites claim to be devoted to finding each user his or her new love, so I decided to explore each of them a bit more in hopes of finding my own Prince Charming :)