A Look at Different Online Dating Websites

In 2007, I had written an article about eHarmony. Three years later, I decided to try it again. However, I have also tried other dating websites since 2008 and want to share my experiences, opinions, and share them with the world.

eHarmony
As I previously mentioned, I had subscribed to this website during my senior year of college. I took my profile off the website when my subscription expired. After finding out a co-worker of mine met his wife on eHarmony, I decided that I should try it out again. I initially signed up for 6 months, and then two 3-month periods (after getting a really good deal) before I quit the service again.

While I didn't get many matches the second go-around (I prefer to find someone local), I did get a really awesome date with a really cool guy. Unfortunately he decided to pursue something with a girl from his church group, but I still have a great memory of having a natural conversation with someone over cheeseburgers and milkshakes, and then taking a class to learn the Thriller Dance.

Even though my experience hasn't been too successful, I still favor eHarmony out of all the dating websites I have tried. I really like the guided communication, because it allows people to ask questions that are important to finding out if someone is a good match. For example, I like to ask "how many children do you want?" because I want children one day, which means my match must share that with me. I also like that the site focuses on long-term relationships, not one-night flings. The only disadvantage is the price, but if you're willing to pay for a quality service, it's worth it.

Chemistry
This website has been advertised as eHarmony's rival, focusing on the long-term. It's a sister site to Match.com (which I will discuss later) and decided to give it a try for a month.

Chemistry, in my opinion, is a horrible website. I do not like how it is set up. You get matches that correspond with your requirements, but other people can get you as a match because they fit their parameters (but not yours). So even if I selected that I wanted people within 50 miles, I could still get a match that says "he's noticed you" that's from California. On the one hand, it allows you to see people that might meet your criteria but due to certain selections they didn't match up. On the other hand, it'd be better if it really was like eHarmony in that it's a mutual match-up.

I was also not a fan of the guided communication. The first step is something similar to "Must Haves/Can't Stands" from eHarmony but it's a list of opposite statements and you select on a scale which one you're closer to (or neutral). Then when your match responds, you can see how similar or different you think about different things (like religion). Unfortunately I'm not the best reviewer for this site because I don't know the rest of the steps. I only got as far as the first step, with only 2 or 3 people. Everyone else I initiated communication with never responded.

Also, I could not figure out a way to "close" a match like on eHarmony. Two of the people who responded, I did not agree with their answers and didn't think I'd be a good match. I thought if there was a way to close it, at least the matches wouldn't think I was ignoring them or something.

Overall Chemistry is probably the worst dating website I tried. I would rather go with Match.com (and that's saying a lot).

Match.com
As I mentioned earlier, I tried Match.com. I think I used it for 2 or 3 months. I corresponded with a couple of interesting people, but I didn't feel that "spark" I felt when I talked to the few people I have met through online dating. It's different from eHarmony in that you do all the searching. You can select preferences on how you search for someone. However, with a less expensive website and less guided website, you'll get people with all kinds of intentions. You get the people who want something long-term, but you also get the ones who want something more casual. Which is fine if that's what you want, but for me personally I didn't like that.

One thing I didn't like was the messages. Messages would only be saved for a certain period of time, then automatically deleted (even if you read them). If for some reason you were on the site for a month or 2 before becoming a subscriber, you wouldn't know who sent a message or what it said. I was put off by that.

I don't have much else to say about it as it seems like a fairly average dating website. Which is how I feel about its service - average. You may find someone on there - "it's okay to look!" - but you might not. You have to sometimes weed through to find the quality matches. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the website, but I wouldn't advise against it either.

Christian Mingle
For Christians, a really good website is Christian Mingle. I dated someone for a couple of months that I met through the site. It's really cheap for online dating, and you know you'll find people who have the same faith as you. It's similar to Match.com in that you have to do the searching yourself, but at least you know there's more quality to the matches. Even so, there is still a variety of people to look through!

I would definitely recommend Christian Mingle to my single Christian friends.

Conclusion
I've had some interesting experiences through my venture into online dating. I don't regret it, but I am taking a break from dating at this point in my life. I think it can be a valuable tool for singles looking for love, like for my co-worker and his wife (who are now proud parents!). You may get lucky in finding someone, you might not. But sometimes you have to take a chance!