While my girlfriend worked on finding me matches on Lavalife, I did some research on other options. Lately on TV I had noticed countless adds for Match.com and eHarmony. Maybe if people had to pay for an online dating service they would be serious about finding a soul mate and ultimately be more honest? One would assume or at least hope so. Then again the age old saying, "To assume is to make an ass out of you and me!"
Match.com offered a guarantee if you followed their instructions to the letter. This was promoted by Dr. Phil who worked with Oprah, so how could I go wrong? Oprah was one of the most influential talk show hosts on TV. If she was endorsing it, it had to be good.
eHarmony claimed they matched you on various levels using a scientific approach and had the greatest success amoung it's members in terms of marriages. This sounded promising too.
Ok, I decided to sign up for both to increase my chances. Lucky me, they were offering trial memberships so signing up for 3 months wasn't a big deal and didn't break the bank. What was I getting myself into? As if one site wasn't enough, now I'd have to juggle amoung three online dating sites! Oh well, I had only committed to 3 months, how difficult could it be?
I liked the format on Match.com. It was bright and colourful. Their profiles allowed you to include more information about yourself, there were additional categories and you could add a lot more pictures. So far so good. They sent you suggested matches weekly. You were encouraged to contact all of these users as they were supposed to be chosen based on the qualities, characteristics and traits you were looking for. Ok, got my profile done and posted it online. This profile was more fun and humorous. I wanted to portray a positive image and make a fresh start. Now I had to wait for my first set of matches.
My profile on Lavalife was starting to sound a bit jaded and angry. I changed it again in the hopes of discouraging the players, but no matter what I tried, I wasn't successful at keeping the idiots away. I told myself it was because it was free so they didn't care. Let's see if the paying sites make a difference.
eHarmony was unique in their approach. Their questionnaire seemed to take hours to complete. It didn't help that I had dial up internet! I was getting frustrated, but it finally worked and my profile was online. Their system was very different and more structured. They sent you matches based on their scientific approach, then communication was limited and broken up into stages. You simply had to follow the directions provided at each step. Perfect, let's see what they come up with. Nice that most of the work would be done by someone else.
With finals approaching, I took a break for a couple of weeks to study. In the meantime I figured my girlfriend, Match.com and eHarmony could do their magic so that when I signed back into my accounts, I'd have some great matches to work with. Hey, a girl's allowed to dream!
On that note, have a great night!
Dateless in Ottawa
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