eHarmony

On a whim I decided to try out eHarmony. The system is well thought out. After you spend something like 45 min filling out their free “$40” personality profile they search their database of 6 million people or so to find out who they think is compatible with you. I got 7 matches at first and then two more today. w00t!

So, after they set you up with a few people the process goes something like this: First you exchange sets of five close-ended questions. Then you exchange your lists of must-haves and can’t-stands. And then you start open communication. The idea is to introduce you gradually through a series of steps to make the process as comfortable as possible.

The catch is that before you can get to know each other both you and your match have to be members. At this point you've already spent quite a bit of time filling things out and before you can send communication, respond to messages that you’ve received, or even look at the pictures people have posted you have to commit to some sort of contract. It starts at $50 a month. I know that this service could potentially have a tremendous impact on my life and all but man they make you pay through the nose. It feels like they're trying to take adavantage of me.

Some people have contact information included in their profiles. I thought that was a good idea so I did the same. It’s kind of a workaround but I don’t really feel bad. We’ll see if anything becomes of it.

UPDATE 9/15/05: Today I was informed that then inclusion of my email address in my user profile was in violation of the agreement I made when I opened my account. My account was immediately closed. I don't really have any right to be bitter about this but I had a good bit of time invested in my profile and such, which is now lost, and I never did like being reprimanded. I suppose I should have read the user agreement.