eHarmony sent us a reminder that there is free communication for all members this week. The event starts today Wednesday August 3rd, and runs to Monday August 8th, 2016 for the United States.

eHarmony is an ideal dating service for those looking for a long-term relationship. Their entire site from the profile questionnaire to how communication works has been designed to bring people together who will have a higher success rate of finding love, a partner, and marriage. When you first sign-up to eHarmony you will need to fill in your profile. Most questions are multiple choice and they have been designed to determine what your 29 dimensions of compatibility are. This process along with uploading your photos will take just over 30 minutes for most people. It is important to answer the questions to the best of your ability because your answers are used by the eHarmony matching algorithm and compared with other eHarmony members who live within the area you define to determine your best match. Your first set of matches are sent to you right away, and you can expect new matches delivered to you most days afterwards. Once you receive your matches you can then review them and start communicating with those that spark your interest.

No coupon code or credit card is required for free communication at eHarmony which includes sending emails and messages. The event is available for all members on the website eHarmony.com and the eHarmony dating apps (for iOS and Android) who live in the United States. Free communication ends at 11:59PM PSTon Monday, August 8th. Free Communication does not include photos, secure call (phone service which hides your number), or skipping the guided communication process to go straight to email.

For more about this popular matchmaking service, you can read our review of eHarmony.

Jason Hill was in for a surprise when he attended a meetup of OkCupid users in 2009. Sam Yagan, co-founder of OkCupid and current CEO of Match.com, dropped by the gathering and spoke to Hill. When Hill told him he joined the site in March 2004, Yagan was shocked.

“That was less than a month after we started,” Yagan exclaimed. “You must be our longest user!”

Fusion recently spoke with Hill about his status as OkCupid’s longest continual user, and the lessons he learned along the way. His story offers key insights into the world of online dating:

It’s almost unfathomable: a dating app with no swiping and no ability to chat with other users. Is it possible for such a service to break into the crowded online dating scene? helloTruly hopes so.

The new Chicago-based app is taking the Goldilocks approach. helloTruly wants to give singles just enough technology to get the ball rolling, but not so much that they’re glued to the app and neglect actual, in-person meeting. Not too much, not too little - just right.

Father-and-son founding team Andy and Jack Kenoe describe the app as a “digital icebreaker” focused on connecting people in physical spaces like coffee shops and bookstores. Users of the free iOS and Android app are alerted when another user is in the same location and matches their indicated preferences.

You have that friend. The friend who says they don’t need online dating because they don’t have trouble meeting people in real life. Or the friend who says they don’t want to try a dating service because they would rather meet someone face-to-face.

If you’re a regular online dater, it almost sounds quaint - a relic of the past, like a Ford Model T or a flip phone. Dating apps and sites have become so ubiquitous that they’ve fundamentally changed how we meet and mate. Exploring your romantic options offline feels like a lost art, but studies say it’s still the #1 way couples meet.

Does that mean you should kick your online dating habit like a junk food addiction? Of course not. But if the only way you date is through a digital device, it may be time for a refresher course on how to meet people IRL. Here are 3 lessons to get you started:

#1 Diversify Your Destinations

Your phone and your laptop are no longer your wingmen. Where do you go to meet potential matches? The most common answer is a bar or a club, and though those aren’t inherently wrong options, they’re limiting. Expand your horizons and your odds expand along with them. Visit parks, book stores, wineries, bowling alleys, a cooking class - anywhere you’re in the presence of new people. Bonus points if you choose a place that means you and any intriguing strangers already share a common interest.

#2 Actively Stretch Your Social Muscles

Your social skills may be rusty if you haven’t used them in a while (and even if you think they’re solid, there’s always room for improvement). Give your social muscles the workout they need by intentionally exercising them. Challenge yourself to talk to a stranger for no reason, or to smile at 10 random people each day, or to go somewhere even if your friends say they can’t make it. When you push yourself socially, you open yourself to a whole new world of connections.

#3 Flee The Comfort Zone

Break out of your routine. If you go to the same restaurants, same bars, same coffee shops, and you’re not meeting the kind of person you’re interested in, it’s time to make a change. When opportunities for new experiences present themselves, take them. When they don’t, create them. Explore your hobbies and sign up for the classes you’ve been meaning to take. Not only will you be exposed to a whole new dating pool, you’ll be making yourself a more interesting date at the same time.

If you are a millennial, chances are you’ve heard of an app called Venmo, even if you haven’t downloaded it. It’s a peer to peer app owned by PayPal that lets you split things like cab fares and utility bills, to make it easier to share expenses among roommates, family and friends.

But now, there’s a phenomenon reported by The New York Post that claims Venmo is being used by stingy daters to get out of picking up the check.

When you have a Venmo account, it can be linked to a bank account or debit card, or you can keep money directly in your Venmo account to draw from (much like PayPal). The app allows you to connect with people so you can easily split expenses for things like a birthday gift or sharing a hotel room with friends when you go on vacation together.

But daters are starting to take advantage of this app, too. Guys are inviting their dates out to dinner or drinks, paying for it initially, and then after the couple says their goodbyes at the end of the night, the guy sends a Venmo request to ask the girls to cover their half of the bill.

It’s a passive aggressive way of simply asking to split the check. The guy gets to look good buy pretending to buy the drinks while he’s face to face with his date, but then he backs out as soon as she’s gone. This is a good tactic for men who aren’t interested in a second date.

The good news? The dates who are sent the Venmo request for payment can refuse to pay.

Money and dating has always been a sensitive topic in dating. Many men wonder if it’s appropriate to ask to split the check, or if the woman should offer to go dutch. Guys also worry they will look cheap if they don’t pick up the tab, but if they can’t afford this ritual 2-3 nights per week, it can get awkward.

Still, Venmo makes it easy for people to get away with some bad dating behavior. Instead of being upfront and honest about splitting the check, they are avoiding any type of direct confrontation or conflict. It would be much simpler to avoid any confused, hurt feelings if he was upfront and asked his date to split the check before they part ways.

It is similar to the influence texting has had on dating behavior. Texting has made avoidant behavior easier. Instead of having a difficult or uncomfortable conversation in person or over the phone, daters are instead choosing to “ghost” their dates by simply not returning any messages, hoping their dates get the hint that they aren’t interested.

Using Venmo is another avoidance tactic in dating – please, just ask to split the check.

Pokemon Go took the world by storm when it launched this summer. The app has successfully gotten people up off their couches to explore new neighborhoods in order to play, so it’s only natural that its positive momentum to connect people can influence the online dating sphere, too.

And now thanks to Project Fixup, a US-based dating and matchmaking service, you can sign up with a new service dubbed PokeDates in order to find your “PokeMate.”

PokéDates aim is simple: it offers single Pokémon Go players a chance to meet up at a prearranged "PokéStop” or "PokéGym" before exploring their city for various Pokemons, adding a social – and potentially romantic – element to the hugely popular game.

Here’s how it works: Pokémon Go players answer a few questions about themselves and what they’re looking for in a potential date, plus whether they have any deal breakers. Next, players/ users add in dates and times when they’re available to play the augmented reality game with a potential date. Then the Pokédaters each get an email with all the details about when and where to meet their match. After that, it’s up to the players to see if there's chemistry.

Sounds great, right? You can play the highly addictive Pokemon game, which had crowds at Central Park last week searching together madly for a rare Pokemon, and potentially meet the love of your life while doing it.

There’s a catch, however.

The first date is free with Promo code POKEDATES2016, but after that, it costs $20 per date to play, which is kind of pricey by online dating standards. It’s currently available in the US and Canada, but only for players 25 and older.

Sarah Press, Project Fixup CEO cofounder, said in a statement: "Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm and it’s more fun to play with a companion. We hope PokéDates will bring singles together to experience the joy of the game and explore their city while getting to know one another."

Of course, you could just meet other Pokemon Go players while you are out playing, as long as you take some time to strike up a conversation. But where’s the fun in that?

According to Business Insider, PokéDates claimed to have over 2,200 new signups within eight hours of being live, with 10-15 new ones occurring every minute.

And according to US Weekly, Since Pokémon Go launched in early July, it has broken records as the fastest mobile game to hit 10 million downloads.