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eHarmony.com and eHarmony.ca are having a free communication weekend that starts tomorrow and runs for 4 days (Aug 14 - Aug 18). This will probably be the last FCW of the summer so if you want to give eHarmony a try, these next few days will give you a chance to not only create a profile and view your matches but send emails as well.

During free communication weekends no credit card is required. Other dating sites during free trials tend to require a credit card before you can continue. eHarmony knows they offer a good service and believes singles who are looking for a long-term relationship shouldn't have a problem finding a match if they follow their process. One thing I will recommend you do is take the time and fill in your profile with the best answers possible. Do not rush it as this is the information the eHarmony matching algorithm uses to select your matches. If you are unsure what to write or select in any one question, usually the first answer that came to your mind is probably the correct one. If you still are unsure you can always skip the question, reflect on the answer, and come back later.

Please note FCW do not include the following features: photos in profiles, secure call over your phone, or skip the guided communication process to go straight to email.

For more on this dating site you should read our eHarmony review and take a look at the user reviews other visitors have posted. eHarmony also had a free communication weekend in July (see Story).

Starting this Thursday July 25th to Sunday July 28th eHarmony.ca and eHarmony.com are offering free communication for all members that includes email.

If you are thinking about giving eHarmony a try these free weekends are a good place to start since there is always a lot of activity with all of the new members. With communication included you will be able to almost fully partake in the entire eHarmony experience from creating your profile and answering the unique and informative Relationship Questionnaire, to reviewing your matches, trying out the guided communication process, and sending messages. The only things free communication events do not include are profile photos, secure call, or skip straight to email. There is not cost to participate and no credit card is required.

For more details on how eHarmony works you can read our in-depth review and read the user comments. There last free communication weekend happened in June just before Independence Day (see Story).

Is eHarmony the secret to a happy marriage?

eHarmony certainly thinks so.

We've been hearing a lot lately about the 'landmark' new study that says marriages that begin online are longer and more fulfilling than marriages that begin offline. We've also heard plenty about the source of the study's funding: eHarmony.

And here's another crazy coincidence: the eHarmony-funded study also found that eHarmony is the best online dating site for long-term relationships. How unexpected!

Ok, all joking aside, eHarmony swears it wasn't involved in any of the data analysis and all the findings are completely objective. A study is a study, and the scientific side of my brain can't resist the urge to take a look at the research (biased though it may be). So let's dive in...

Where are couples meeting these days?

• 16% use online dating.
• 14% work together.
• 12% meet through friends.
• Others meet through social networking sites, school, and social gatherings (7% each).

Where else do people meet?

• Offline, couples meet in bars or clubs, through family members, at places of worship, and on blind dates.
• Online, couples meet in chat rooms, through other online communities, by instant messaging, and while playing multiplayer online games.

Where should you meet if you're looking for a long-term relationship?

• eHarmony, of course, ranks number one.
• "All other dating" comes in second, followed by "All other online."
• "All other" comes in last place.

Which dating site is responsible for the most happy marriages?

• Surprise, surprise - eHarmony is #1 again with 25.04% of marriages.
• Match.com is a close second with 24.34%.
• An assortment of small sites are responsible for 24.64% of online marriages.
• 13.09% are unspecified.
• 7.21% come from Yahoo! Personals.
• 5.71% start on Plenty of Fish.

On the flip side, what's the rate of break-up and divorce among recent marriages?

• 7.70% of recently-ended relationships began offline.
• 6.89% started on a dating site that isn't eHarmony.
• 6.23% began elsewhere online.
• And - naturally - only 3.86% of recent break-ups and divorces began on eHarmony.

Why do eHarmony couples have such a leg up on the competition? They say it's because:

• We're in love.
• We trust each other.
• We are happy.
• We are compatible.
• We have chemistry.

And it totally has nothing to do with the fact that eHarmony paid for the study. At all. What could possibly have put a wacky idea like that into your head?

See the infographic here and to find out more about this service you can read our eHarmony review.

If you've been on the Internet in the last week - and seeing as this is 2013, there's no way you haven't - you've probably come across an article proclaiming that online dating has scientifically been proven to be better than traditional dating.

Every feed I follow has been blowing up with the news that 1 in 3 Americans now meet their spouses online, and that a new study has found that marriages born out of online dating are more satisfying and less likely to end in divorce. The study's results were published in a paper called "Marital Satisfaction and Breakups Differ Across Online and Offline Meeting Venues" in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"These data suggest that the Internet may be altering the dynamics and outcomes of marriage itself," said the study's lead author John Cacioppo, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago.

Before you vow never to meet people in person again, it's important to note that the study was funded by eHarmony.com and Cacioppo is paid as a scientific advisor for eHarmony. Of course, everyone involved promises that eHarmony's backing did not affect the outcomes of the study in any way, but...

I know I'm not the only one looking at this new data with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I am, however, not so skeptical about a few of Cacioppo's claims. Online dating clearly has changed the face of relationships forever, and there's no going back. Cacioppo's research found that nearly 8% of marriages initiated offline end in breakups, while couples who meet online report divorce and separation rates of only 6%.

I'll be holding firmly onto my grains of salt until further studies - ones that aren't in any way connected to online dating sites - confirm his data, but I'm willing to admit that Cacioppo may have a point. Online dating may indeed lead to greater marriage satisfaction for a few key reasons:

1. The pool of prospective partners is significantly larger online, increasing the chance that you'll meet someone you're highly compatible with.
2. Singles who take the step of joining an online dating site may be more serious about finding a long-term partner than singles encountered offline.
3. Online daters may be more honest and up-front about who they are and what they're looking for (barring those infamous little white lies told in profiles), meaning that the connections they form are more genuine.

"It is possible that individuals who met their spouse online may be different in personality, motivation to form a long-term marital relationship, or some other factor," Cacioppo said in a press release.

That sounds like the perfect opportunity for another study - one that isn't funded by an online dating giant.

Related Article: The Secret To A Happy Marriage Is…Online Dating?

If I asked what you think the secret to a happy marriage is, what would you say?

Communication?

Date nights?

Spontaneity?

Thoughtfulness?

Respect?

Acceptance?

They're all good answers, but a new study suggests that the real answer might be something you weren't expecting: online dating.

Didn't see that one coming, did you? (Ok, sure, if you read the title you did...but humor me.)

The Internet has forever changed the way people communicate, work, play, create, and date. 1/3 of American couples now meet their partners online, through email, dating sites, and social networks.

In a survey study of more than 19,000 Americans who married between 2005 and 2012, 5% divorced, 2% separated, and 92% remained married. The couples observed were generally representative of the population, but a few demographics showed a particular inclination towards online dating:

• Men
• People in their 30s and 40s
• Hispanics
• People who are employed
• People with higher socioeconomic statuses

Even after accounting for the differences between subjects, the study drew two primary conclusions. The first will surprise no one: the popularity of online dating has increased across every segment of American society. The second comes as more of a shock: marriages that began online were found to be longer lasting and more satisfying for couples.

Lead author of the study John Cacioppo, a psychologist and director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, explains the findings by saying dating sites may "attract people who are serious about getting married."

A sociologist, Michael Rosenfeld of Stanford University, backs up Cacioppo's findings. In his own research, he found that "couples who meet online are more likely to progress to marriage than couples who meet in other ways."

But the study is not without its critics. "It's a very impressive study," says social psychologist Eli Finkel of Northwestern University. "But it was paid for by somebody with a horse in the race and conducted by an organization that might have an incentive to tell this story."

That's right - the study was commissioned by eHarmony, which shelled out $130,000 to pay for the research. Cacioppo has also been a member of eHarmony's Scientific Advisory Board since it was created in 2007.

Is it intriguing research? Yes. But does that sound like a major conflict of interest? Absolutely.

Sure, online dating is a great way to meet a partner with high levels of compatibility and real marriage potential. But is online dating better than offline dating? Survey says: inconclusive.

Watch out, world - there's a new eHarmony in town.

eHarmony has been an online dating staple since its launch in 2000, but it's hardly seen any changes over the last decade. Now eHarmony is finally ready to roll out some much-needed updates, catapulting the site squarely back into the middle of the modern online dating game. In fact, the new site is so up-to-date that it's even optimized for use on the iPad. Now that's hip.

The next generation of the site, code named "Malibu," has been redesigned to enhance the customer experience. The comprehensive remodeling will dramatically change the user dashboard and member profile pages, which will soon take on a magazine-like aesthetic for all members. Instead of displaying profile details in multiple box modules, the new and improved profiles aim to tell a story. Editing pages will also become a more intuitive experience.

Here's another change users are bound to be pleased about: no more third-party ads on the site. eHarmony's new commitment to engaging visuals and readability means that outside advertisements will no longer be seen on the site. The focus will be purely on creating relationships, with no distractions.

A new relationship questionnaire will also be making its debut on eHarmony. The stuffy and intimidating design of the old questionnaire will be replaced by a colorful and image-heavy design that looks more like a game and less like a daunting clinical form. Now that the sign-up process takes half the time to complete, the site has seen a 20% spike in the number of new users who fill out the questionnaire.

With the eHarmony redesign also comes this treat for members: a new, more visual personality profile called "The Book of You." "Our thought is that in order to be ready for that amazing relationship or that amazing person, you really should understand yourself and how people perceive you," Arvind Mishra, the company's VP of product management, told Mashable. The first few sections of "The Book of You" will be available to all users. The later sections will only be available to members with premium subscriptions.

If you ask me, it's about time eHarmony gave their service a makeover. "Our original site was incredibly scientific and incredibly sterile," said Mishra, but the new site will focus on empowering the user. The fresh focus on user experience will bring a human, emotional element to the site that its previous iteration was lacking. eHarmony's commitment to creating lasting relationships is still there, but now it comes with a much prettier face and more enjoyable user experience.