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The rise in popularity of Bye Felipe isn’t accidental – it’s due to more and more women speaking out about unwanted or even abusive messages they receive through dating apps and online dating sites.

Online dating has become mainstream, thanks to the rise in popularity of dating apps like Tinder, which have made it easier to meet people now more than ever. However, along with all of these new opportunities (and new people joining the game) come some unwanted messages and trolls looking for a platform to vent their anger rather than connect with someone.

Most of us (especially women) have been subjected to some unwanted or even abusive behavior online. We receive messages propositioning for sex without even meeting face-to-face first, or abusive messages claiming that we are untrustworthy, shallow, ugly, etc. from men we’ve only exchanged a couple of text messages with. This can be shocking, hurtful, and even scary – turning many victims off of online dating altogether.

It’s only natural for online daters to wonder what exactly they are signing up for when they experience this kind of abusive behavior.

Unfortunately, because some people are skeptical of the effectiveness of online dating, a few abusive emails are enough to write off the whole practice. But this is the wrong approach. It’s better instead to look at online dating as a whole, rather than just its worst aspects (and worst customers).

Instead of looking at all the online connections that are positive (or even ordinary), we tend to focus on the messages that have been upsetting, suggestive, and otherwise unwanted. We dwell on the negative, confirming our fears about meeting people online. But the truth is, millions of matches are made every day with no abuse, and no fanfare either. The vast majority of matches are between ordinary people looking for real-life relationships. If we get caught up in the actions of a small percentage of trolls, we miss opportunities.

We should not ignore the problem. Clearly, online dating sites have to clean up the process to be able to filter out this kind of bad behavior. A lot more work needs to be done.

But if you want a chance to meet people outside of your current networks of friends, family and co-workers, online dating is your best opportunity. But be smart in your approach. Research different websites and apps. Obviously apps like Tinder are very popular, but that means they also attract a lot of dating trolls. If you are looking for something more serious, you might want to invest in a site like eHarmony where there is more of a screening process among users.

Don’t give up on online dating because of a few bad apples. Give it another chance. Try a new site. Ask your friends to help. These small steps should help you improve your overall experience. For more information on the services mentioned you can read our Tinder review and our eHarmony review.

Recipient
eHarmony

The Editor’s Top Pick - Match System award for 2014 goes to eHarmony. Since 2001 when eHarmony’s first reported marriage happened there has been over 600,000 couples who have gotten married because they met on the dating service. On average within a year on eHarmony 71% of women and 69% of men will have met their future spouse and the average distance between these 2 people will be 20 miles. Within 1.8 years these couples will have been married. From these statistics eHarmony obviously has a powerful matchmaking system which works really well to create high quality and successful matches.

When you join eHarmony you need to complete 4 steps to be on the way to finding your long-term match. First, after joining as a free member you need to complete the Relationship Questionnaire. Once completed (this step will take about 1 hour of your time) you then need to review your first batch of matches that eHarmony sends you. When you determine which match(es) you wish to communicate with you then can decide if you would like to join eHarmony as a paying member. You can join in 1, 3, or 6 month increments for a small monthly fee. Once you purchase a membership you will be able to communicate with your matches through the guided communication process where you get to learn about your match through a series of questions, and by directly messaging them.

eHarmony recently had a survey conducted by Harris Interactive and they found that almost 4 percent of newlyweds in the United States met because they found each other on eHarmony. This works out to 438 marriages on average per day are the result of eHarmony’s match system.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this dating service or visit eHarmony directly.

This Year's Runner Up for this award is:Match.com

The new year is upon us, and here in the United States and Canada eHarmony is celebrating by having a Free Communication Weekend that is 5 days long. It starts Friday January 2nd and runs to the end of day on Wednesday January 7th.

The month of January is the busiest month for dating sites and eHarmony is starting off with a bang by allowing new and existing members to communicate for free on their service. No credit card is required and all you need is a free eHarmony membership and your profile filled out. This promotion is available on their website as well as their dating apps. eHarmony is famous for their matching algorithm and the research they put into it. When filling out your profile it is important that you answer all questions the best you can. This way you will get the most accurate matches. There is almost 150 questions which will take you about 45 minutes to complete. If you don’t have time the first go around, no problem, as you can save your partial profile and continue on at a later time. The only thing free communication on eHarmony does not include is profile photos, the phone service called secure call, and skipping the guided communication process straight to email.

With most people still on holidays it is an ideal time to try out eHarmony as it will be extra busy with free communication going on. To find out more about how this dating site works and how to best use the service you should read our eHarmony review.

Dating apps like Tinder have taken the dating world by storm – and some argue have rendered traditional online dating a thing of the past. While sites like Match.com and eHarmony offer matches based on preferences and compatibility, Tinder offers the ability to look at a photo and instantly decide whether or not you’re interested.

In a recent article in Business Insider, eHarmony’s Vice President of Brand Marketing Grant Langston looked at Tinder’s success as a boost to his business. For instance, he’s seen a surge of new subscriptions since Tinder launched in Australia – 2.5 million members, up from 2 million the same time last year.

“The press [Tinder is] receiving is bringing lots of people to the online dating world, including people that find Tinder isn’t the right choice for them,” Langston told Business Insider. “Globally, this trend has helped us tap into new markets and led to an increase in our membership numbers.”

But why are more people choosing eHarmony when Tinder seems to be taking off? For one thing, Langston argues that people who would have never joined an online dating site before find it a little easier to start when they use a dating app. It’s made online dating in general lose its stigma.

Langston also attributes the surge in subscriptions to the high quality matchmaking that is eHarmony’s business model, compared to Tinder’s superficial match-making process. With Tinder, choosing a match is entirely dependent on photos and a couple of sentences, which aren’t much better odds for finding love than meeting someone at a bar. There isn’t necessarily any kind of compatibility – aside from that initial physical attraction.

People who are matched on eHarmony however, are compatible in specific ways. Matches aren’t made via liking the same music or TV shows or someone’s photo, but based on similar dispositions and compatible personalities – which is a bit more complex and relational. Langston says that eHarmony’s matching creates a foundation for a relationship to start, where Tinder is more fleeting, intended for a hook-up. So when people are disappointed with the matches they are meeting through Tinder, they look to other more serious online dating options, which is when they gravitate to eHarmony.

Langston also noted that eHarmony’s growth in the past year has been due to young professionals ages 23-33 flocking to the site, looking for people who are more compatible whether or not they are looking to marry.

According to Langston, eHarmony owes much of its recent success to the fact that Tinder isn’t producing many serious relationships. Then again, it seems that despite the appeal of Tinder, people are looking for something deeper.

In celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States, eHarmony is having a Free Communication Weekend (FCW). This 5 day event starts today November 27th, and runs to the end of day on Monday, December 1st. This is for new and existing free members of eHarmony.com only.

To take full advantage of this long event you should register as a member as soon as you can. This is free and no credit card is required. All you need to do is visit eHarmony at their website or download their dating app. Once you create your account (that you can use on both the app and the website) you then have to take the eHarmony personality questionnaire. There is about 140 questions you need to answer that supplies eHarmony's matching system with the required information it will use to match you with your ideal partner. The questionnaire will take you about 30-40 minutes to complete with most questions being of the multiple choice variety. Once complete you will then receive your first batch of matches. You can then look over their profiles and communicate with the ones you like. Free communication Weekends do not include a number of features. This includes secure call (a phone service), profile photos or skip the guide communication process straight to email.

Remember during free communication everyone can communicate so this dating site will be extra busy, especially since it is a holiday and most people are home. To find out more about this dating service that has dedicated apps available for the iPhone, iPad, and Android, you can read our review of eHarmony.

Most folks are probably content to hit Like buttons and swipe right without knowing how any of it actually works. But if you're like me, you can't help being curious about what goes on behind the scenes.

For those of us in the second category, there's this recent video from David Gevorkyan, principle software engineer at eHarmony. In the hour-long talk, Gevorkyan describes how eHarmony creates the highly compatible matches it's known for, and how the company leverages Big Data technologies to accomplish that goal.