General News

I just took a look at the results of our dating poll:

When using a Dating Site, do you use the services automated Matching System or do you rely on your own Searching abilities?

After 157 votes over the last few months it has become apparent that for the most part, singles use both the dating services automated matching system and their own searching skills when it comes to finding a date. Singles do rely more on their own searches though. Almost 44 percent of the voters said they used both but, relied on their own searches more. 35 voters or just over 22 percent said they just use their own searches. When you total these two poll answers together you get 66% of the voters rely on their own searching abilities more.

On the flip side, almost 20 percent used the matching system more and only 4 % of the voters just used the matching system. This doesn't say much for the confidence of singles in online dating sites automated matching abilities or maybe, people just enjoy the process more of searching for compatible matches. Most dating services that I know of offer both the ability to search and also have an automated process as well. The dating site that stands out who doesn't allow user searching is eHarmony. They are well known for their matching systems and its 29 key dimensions. A lot of people use this service for its matching system and its dedication to find their members a serious long term relationship. I wonder if eHarmony would attract more people if they did have the ability to perform their own searches? It has been suggested before but, if eHarmony did allow searching, it would also show they have less confidence in their own matching system.

For more information about eHarmony check out our review.

Wow this is 2 weekends in a row now that eHarmony is offering a free communication weekend. Usually they only have one every couple of months.

So it is pretty simple, starting today May 23rd, 2008 to the end of Monday May 26th, 2008 all new members who join eHarmony can use the site for free for the same time period. There are no special promotional codes or coupons needed. Visit our review for more general details about eHarmony (including actual user reviews).

The Communications Decency Act (CDA) regulates indecency and obscenity on the Internet in the United States. It also declares that operators of Internet services were not to be considered as publishers unless they actually created the material. This makes them not legally liable for the words of third parties who use their web sites. This includes everything from forum posts and comments too submitted articles.

The Friendfinder Network recently got into legal trouble when someone complained that someone else had created a fake profile on the dating site that “reasonably identified” her. Friendfinder did remove the profile from the dating site but the profile information and photo was still being used in advertising. The reason the Communications Decency Act was not applied in this case is:

... the right to control the commercial use of one’s identity is it considered a general intellectual property right. The judge reasoned that Friendfinder wasn’t entitled to the CDA’s usual brand of immunity due to the intellectual property provision that states the CDA does not preempt intellectual property laws.

In section 5 of Friendfinders Terms of Use Agreement it states:

By posting content to any public area of FriendFinder, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to FriendFinder Network, Inc. and its members, an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute such information, rights of publicity, and content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works and other media, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.] This basically gives Friendfinder ownership over almost anything posted on their site. This may raise alarm bells when you read it but, it is common practice among dating services, social networks and other web services in which you post information.

While I am far from being a lawyer it appears to me that FriendFinder got into trouble because the information posted in the profile by the other person did not belong to them to post in the first place. Since the information posted in the profile was about some other actual person they had no right to post it, therefore they did not have the right to give up the general intellectual property right of the material to Friendfinder.

It is a sticky situation. Overall the person who actually posted the material is responsible, but Friendfinder did continue to use the information in advertising even after they were made aware of the problem with the information from that particular profile. I'm not sure how old this case actually is but, when you see profile information in FriendFinder Ads now (at least from the ads I see) they have a note at the bottom explaining "Photos and other data are for illustrative purpose only". I guess for the most part they have stopped the practice of using actual profiles in their advertising.

For the full story plus another example legal case, read the post at Public Knowledge and for more information on the CDA visit Wikipedia.

The Los Angeles Business Journal has a piece called "Translating the Book of Love" which looks at the dating service eHarmony and if its current matching and communication system will work well in other countries with different cultures. Currently eHarmony has separate dating services for the United States, Canada and Australia. These services do differ slightly but the questions for the dating profiles and the matching system, for the most part, are either the same or very similar. This is in part because all 3 countries major language is english and the culture surrounding marriage and dating are not all that different.

In June eHarmony plans to launch a UK version with other European countries to follow. The big news is, they do plan to launch a dating site in China. This means a new language for them and new cultural differences to work out. eHarmony did do some research to see if it was possible to convert their dating site and matching system. Through focus groups in China, a panel of psychologists validated the translations of questionnaires and found that cultural differences matter little when it comes to measuring personality types and values. A Beijing University study also confirmed that eHarmony's matching system will work well in matching China's singles together. eHarmony's lead PH.D. psychology researcher, Galen Bucjwalter is quoted:

“We found the models to be highly effective in that we can predict successful marriages in China,”

With 4 times the population of the United States, and with China's average income levels for the middle class increasing every year, there is a huge potential for revenue if a dating service is well received by the public.

Another interesting point in the article was the fact that eHarmony spends about $3 million a year in research to find out what makes couples compatible and stay in a long term relationship. This dollar amount includes the salaries of 6 full time PH.D. researchers.

For more information about eHarmony, take a look at our review.

I went away on Thursday for the weekend and missed this story. eHarmony is having another free communication which ends tonight at midnight (better late than never for this post!). It started Friday, May 16th, 2008. It's open to all new members and doesn't require any special codes to enter when you sign up. It's available in the US and Canada. eHarmony's last free weekend for all communication started February 15, 2008.

For more information about eHarmony, please read our dating review.

Related Story: Communicate for Free on eHarmony this Weekend

According to the Harlequin Romance Report 2008, 32 percent of men and 43 percent of woman have given out a fake phone number to someone they are not interested in. This is an easier way out for people than telling the truth.

I figured a twist to this would make an interesting new poll. So how do stop communicating with someone on a dating site? Do you give them the cold shoulder and just stop emailing them or do you tell a white lie to make them feel better and make it easier for you? Lets see if the results are similar, place your vote now.