ParshipMeet Group

The Catalyst Group released a 48 page document (see below) which outlines the experiences of 16 online daters of which 8 used Match.com and 8 used eHarmony. As stated in the report, the intention of the document "is to highlight broad themes and provide insights as to how these sites are used".

Note: Unfortunately the source to the video and/or image which once was displayed here has since been removed by the authors for an unknown reason.

I found the report itself to be more of a comparison of how Match.com and eHarmony work. The bulk of the report tackles how each dating site handles the online dating process. They broke it up into 3 phases, which are Identifying Matches, Reviewing Profiles, and Communication. The authors did include some information about what the users did and did not like for each site but there was no real comparison as to which site approach which phase better, and why (or how they could improve).

eHarmony nor Match.com participated in any way with the study. After reading it through thoroughly, I found it is an excellent source of information for those of you who wish to know how Match.com and eHarmony work and how their approaches to online dating differ. As mentioned in the limitations, the study sample is very small and may not represent the views of the overall population. But, what were the researchers' conclusions? Near the beginning of the Match.com and eHarmony Usability Study of Online Dating they list some general perceptions. The researches were told by the participants of the study that online dating sites come up short on their claims about matching. Most users had little confidence in the technology and the process behind the matchmaking. Despite all this, people use dating sites because they do offer a pool of potential matches for them to access when the more traditional ways of finding a date (bars, family, friends, etc...) do not work.

In the end the researchers concluded that eHarmony was preferred by singles who needed/wanted to be led every step of the way in the online dating process. This was especially helpful for those singles that lack self confidence in communicating with their matches. On the other hand, Match.com was seen as a "good compromise between the restrictions of eHarmony and the wild west of free sites".

For more on the story, read the WSJ Blogs. To find out more about these 2 dating sites you could also read our eHarmony review and Match.com review.

For the Editor's Top Pick - Match System Award, the recipient this year is eHarmony. This is the second year in a row for eHarmony to win this award, and the reason why is, this dating service continues to push the boundaries in matching singles. eHarmony also achieved a major membership milestone in 2009. By September they had surpassed 30 million member accounts since the launch of their dating site in 2000.

eHarmony has always been about matching people through compatibility. This is the reason for the in-depth profile and the 200 plus questions. eHarmony needs to get to know you before they can match you with someone. Most dating sites rush you through the sign up process in under 5 minutes; eHarmony's takes a good hour. This means most members you find on eHarmony are serious about finding love since they need to make a fair commitment in time before they can view their matches. Another thing that makes eHarmony different is they send you matches of compatible singles. You do not search for them. This may put some people off, but what this allows eHarmony do is make sure you see the right people who are compatible with you. Not the people you think should be compatible, by the searches you perform.

If you are someone who is interested in a long term relationship and are someone who believes matching involves compatible personalities then eHarmony is the dating site for you. If you need proof that eHarmony works, all you need to do is visit their Facebook Fan Page to see the thousands of submitted success stories and pictures on their wall.

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: Chemistry.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, eHarmony here in the United States and Canada is planning to have their 23rd free communication weekend (FCW) starting Thursday February 11th, 2010 to Monday February 15th, 2010.

During this 5 day eHarmony free communication weekend, all members will be able to review matches and to communicate with these matches for no cost. The month of February and especially around Valentine's Day is when dating sites are the busiest. This means if you haven't tried eHarmony yet, this is your best chance to see how it works and what type of matches they have in your area. As with previous FCWs, members will not be able to FastTrack the guided communication process. Member's photos also are also not viewable for this promotion.

The last eHarmony free communication event occurred during New Years Eve (see Story).

Check out our review of eHarmony for more information on the dating site.

Singles interested in the United Kingdom Free Communication Weekend, read this News Story.

Update: I see that the Australian eHarmony dating site is having a FCW as well but it runs from Friday Feb.12th to Feb. 15th.

eHarmony has been in business for over 10 years now and to help celebrate, Dan, eHarmony's first Customer Care agent released a few fun facts. The most interesting fact I found was that on average, eHarmony members submit 24,000 photos per day to the dating site.

The other facts deal more with just Customer Care. Did you know, every day eHarmony's Customer Care team handle thousands of requests for help and information via emails and phone calls. This large and dedicated staff performs their job well and has been recognized by the industry. In 2009 eHarmony received 3 awards of excellence for customer service. You can see one example here.

For the full story, read The Official eHarmony Blog and to find out more about this dating site, check out our eHarmony review.

eHarmony has a few updates planned for the profile page which members should be able to see any day now.

The first change is photo thumbnails will be twice the size on profiles. This allows you to view matches in more detail without entering the actual photo album. The slideshow in the photo album also received an update giving users a more cinematic experience.

Members now can also easily see how their profile looks to others on eHarmony. Just visit the "About Me" tab and click on "View your profile as others see it".

The profile layout also has been approved. Overall width size has been increased by about a third. Profile questions have been moved around with the "What are you most passionate about?" and “What is the most important thing you are looking for in a person?” answers appearing at the top, right next to the profile's main thumbnail image. Color changes are also apparent with a dark gradient blue of eHarmony's homepage replacing the light blue color in the older profile.

The last thing to see a change is the communication stages. The communication process has been simplified slightly (not sure quite how yet) and the actual communication flow has been clarified more with improved messaging between each stage. FastTrack also has been renamed to "eHarmony Mail" to help describe the process better.

For more on the story read the eHarmony Blog and to find out further information about this dating site, check out our [staticpage: eHarmony.com review].

Here are the eHarmony coupon codes for two of their more popular promotions. Both of these coupon codes expire on December 31, 2010.

eHarmony Coupon #1

eHarmony Coupon #2

These coupon codes listed above are valid on eHarmony in the United States (eHarmony.com).

For UK singles, go here for our United Kingdom (eHarmony.co.uk) vouchers.

For Canadian singles, go here for our eHarmony Canada (eHarmony.ca) coupons.

Read our review of eHarmony for more information about this online matchmaking service.