Trends in dating: Logging into love

by Devon Lewis

very day more than 45 million members log onto the top three online dating sites: Match.com, eHarmony, and Yahoo! Personals, according to their respective Web sites.

That number grows even as this article is read because of new members every day as both Match.com and eHarmony’s Web sites indicate.

Add in the 67 million plus members on Facebook and the 80 million plus members on the MySpace communities each Web site approximates, and the possibilities for networking become more and more boundless because of the growing number of members.

The trend of online dating has grown exponentially in popularity. According to the 2008 study “Getting it On(line)” from the “Journal of Sociology,” written by Jo Barraket and Millson S. Henry-Waring, there are reasons more and more singles see the need to look for love online. The study found time constraints because of career pressure and the increase in mobility due to labor opportunities lower the possibilities for intimate relationships. Love at the workplace is also decreasing because of rising threats of sexual harassment lawsuits.

Because of these reasons, Barraket and Henry-Waring found online dating sites allow singles to find other singles outside of their normal social network.

Luciena Case, a former online dater, had recently moved to the United States from Ukraine for job opportunities and wanted to find someone with whom to share her life.

She explained how both the time constraints of a new job and a small social network because of the move to California made online dating an attractive alternative. “Online dating seemed to be a better option than going to the bar to meet someone,” Case said in an interview.

Case said she had a choice to make between the ever-growing number of online dating services advertising their approach to match-making. The top three dating sites advertise their success and expectations for singles’ success.

Match.com's Web site reports more than 20 million users with 60,000 new singles joining every day. Match.com claims to “take the lottery out of love” and guarantee users will find someone in six months or they will give the user six months free. Created in 1995, Match.com connects users in the more traditional profile to profile approach because the user gets to choose who they would like to talk to or perhaps eventually see in the flesh.

eHarmony takes a “scientific approach,” indicated Web site creator Dr. Neil Clark Warren on the eHarmony site. eHarmony advertises more than 20 million members and matches users based on a 436-question personality survey asking questions ranging from passions and goals to what users want others to notice about themselves.

eHarmony also advertises an average 236 members get married every day. With a clinical psychologist responsible for the site's creation, eHarmony’s Web site explains how it brings the dates to the user, tailored to his or her values based on the survey.

After trying a singles group and a free online dating site, Case said she signed up for eHarmony and found her husband, Michael, four years ago. She said she liked the idea of someone else matching her based on her own personality. After two weeks of using eHarmony, Michael’s profile caught Case’s interest.

“I saw Mike was in California. We got matched and e-mailed each other. We started a conversation, and he wanted to meet right away,” Case said about their quick love connection. They are now married, living in Austin, TX.

Another option as the member number indicates is Yahoo! Personals. Yahoo! says it can help its users already in every aspect of their lives with links to auto, finance, maps, travel and more. Personals was the next step. Yahoo! Personals launched in 1997, and now the Web site estimates 10 million members plus.

Match.com, eHarmony and Yahoo! Personals did not return phone calls to comment on their services.

With these dating services (and countless others), there may not be room for another player, yet an unknown number of people use Facebook and MySpace every day to specifically connect to friends and potential love.

Although the actual number of users who use these and other social networking sites specifically for dating has not been measured, social networking sites have caused dating
Web site's growth to decline 10 percent, according to a report by ComScore in December 2007, a Global Internet Information Provider.

There are always advancements made in online dating. In a December 2007 Wired article, “Dating 2.0 Picks Up Speed,” Jenna Wortham reported new revolutions that include “Dating 2.0” sites where singles date via webcam and instant messaging made for singles who are more inclined towards the instant gratification of speaking immediately to matches found online. These services have been compared to “speed dating online,” Wortham said.

Wortham quoted a professor of psychology at California State University at Dominguez Hills who said, “When you're looking at a group that craves anything new, the site that manages to provide that will win, at least until something better comes along."

However with these advancements come opportunities for deceit indicated The Wall Street Journal when it explored a recent development in online dating. In a February 2008 article,
“The Cut-and-Paste Personality,” Jennifer Saranow reported on online dating users who had their profiles stolen to make themselves more attractive to potential dates.

“Copycats use the real-life wit of others to create cut-and-paste personas,” Saranow wrote, “hoping to land dates or just look clever.”

Saranow reported a recent search on Match.com found 90 profiles copied from E-Cyrano.com, an online dating coach. E-Cyrano’s Web site advertises they have “been recognized as the top online dating profile writing service in America.”

Because of the possibility for deceit, users may be wary of who they are dating, Saranow reported.

Though not all the singles may not be honest online as the Wall Street Journal reported, Case summarized her success and views of online dating she said she thinks others in the online dating community share. “I would recommend online dating because it seems safer,” Case said. “Instead of taking your chances out, I can see who I am matched with. You can think about it and don’t have to be rushed.”

While Case admits she may not have the instant connection she can find across a room, she said, “In this time and age, it’s good to meet online.”

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