Avoid eHarmony, Says Time Magazine
Imagine my surprise to see a major magazine like “Time” come out with a strong anti-eHarmony piece. I agree with what the article says, all the way. While I have had a few clients who have liked what they got at eHarmony, most reports are not-so-good to just plain bad. One client got involved with a scammer, another matched with a married man. The most frequent complaint are total mismatches or none at all. And I just don’t like eHarmony on principal. You can read more than you want about my opinions on eHarmony right here on my blog.
Sites to Avoid - From Time Magazine
eHarmony.com
Our main beef with this online dating site is its power to cause utter despair. eHarmony claims its more “scientific” approach to matchmaking differentiates it from competitors — its users complete extensive personality questionnaires, in order to connect them to others based on compatibility. In early 2006, eHarmony announced that more than 16,000 couples had married during the previous year as a result of meeting on the site, citing a 2005 Harris Interactive poll. That’s about 90 people finding love every day, a track record bound to inflate expectations. On a more typical dating site, where users are prone to making snap judgments based on photos and sketchy profiles, if you don’t find that special someone you’re less likely to take it personally. It’s easier to shake off because, after all, that’s hardly the real you up there on that site. But if you’ve taken the time to answer eHarmony’s 436 compatibility survey questions and paid its premium charges ($21 to $60 a month, depending on how many months you prepay), and the site then delivers terrible recommendations — or worse, rejects you as unmatchable — what do you tell yourself then? The company’s advice, to stick with it for several months to improve your odds of finding a soul mate, sounds all too self-serving (the longer you use the site the more you pay). The site also discriminates against gays.
The site “discriminates against gays”?! That’s like saying Burger King discriminates against vegetarians! Their matching system is based on studies meant to determine compatibility between a man and a woman, not between two people of the same gender. Just because a certain demographic is not in the target market of a company does not mean that the company is discriminating.
Posted by E. Harmony on 09/04 at 09:12 PM