As one of the most well publicized online dating sites, eHarmony is the best bet for those looking for a truly serious commitment with the right person. Science and romance come together with in-depth personality questionnaires designed to match compatible personality traits most likely to result in chemistry. Rather than members entering information to search for compatible matches, the eHarmony.com online system locates matches and delivers them. While signup and personality profiles are free, a paid membership is required in order to communicate.

One can use the guided communication process to break the ice or bypass it all using the site’s Fast Track system. Founded by Dr. Neil Warren, a dating and relationship expert, eHarmony.com is recognized for its ability to create long lasting compatible matches. This is because of the lengthy questionnaires that must be filled out which is designed to match couples on a deeper level that appearances alone. The site has strong Christian principles, and has received complaints in the past for not catering for same sex couples. It’s not clear whether this policy will change.

The extensive compatibility questionnaire must be completed before gaining access to the site, so unlike many other match sites, at eHarmony one cannot simply register in a few moments and start browsing profiles. The test answers can be saved at any time however so that you can come back at a later point to finish the test.

Once you complete the test and access the site, you can easily modify your profile and customize your settings. Choosing between the fast track or guided communications options can be done here, as well as specifying whether you’d like to receive matches by email or not. It’s also possible to restrict matches to people living within a certain distance, to those with certain religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds, and of a certain height.

eHarmony has one of the most comprehensive matchmaking services available both on and off the internet. It’s well suited to those seeking a compatible partner for a serious, lasting relationship. Those uncomfortable or unwilling to examine themselves at length are not likely to find themselves suited to eHarmony.com.

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If the claims of dating companies are to be believed, we are moving towards an age where meeting your significant other from behind a computer screen (or a mobile phone) is the norm rather than the exception! Facts and figures about the success of online dating services are not in short supply. For instance, EHarmony now claims credit for 5% percent of all new marriages in the US. Their main competitor, Match.com, together with research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey conducted a study which indicated that one in six marriages (17%) over the past three years was between couples who met via a dating website.

Just to put that into perspective, the findings of the Match.com study showed that twice as many marriages in the US took place between people who met online, than in bars, clubs and social events combined. Meanwhile, the world’s largest free site, Plentyoffish claims on its home page that 20,000 new singles are joining the site every day.

But just how realistic are these statistics?

Dating companies clearly have a vested interest in advertising the success and popularity of online dating. So just how realistic are these claims? Independent estimates of the numbers of visitors to online dating sites certainly seem to confirm them. With several thousand online dating sites in operation in 2011, and over 200 million active personal profiles, this means that about 1 in 5 (20%) of today’s internet users have a dating profile (excluding social networking sites which can also be used for dating).

However people have different motivations for joining a dating site. Not all are looking for a committed relationship, as a significant proportion of dating profiles are posted on adult oriented sites. Others sign-up because knowing other people still find them desirable makes them feel good about themselves. Even taking these cases into account, the findings of the dating companies do seem to be entirely plausible.

While internet dating is clearly a popular and growing phenomenon, we’ll have to wait a few more years yet before we find out how successful online marriages are in the long-term.

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Online dating for specialty groups of singles has exploded in recent years, especially for gay, lesbian, and bisexual singles. One of the biggest online dating services, eHarmony.com, however, was accused of discriminating against this group of singles and faced a series of lawsuits over their practices. These lawsuits were recently settled and now eHarmony is more openly welcoming gays, lesbians, and bisexual singles to their services.

The lawsuits alleged that eHarmony.com did not do enough to provide visible and appropriate dating services to this large and diverse group of singles, and in fact suggested eHarmony.com actively discriminated against gay, lesbian, and bisexual singles who attempted to join the eHarmony.com community. After a little over two years of negotiating, though, eHarmony.com has agreed to be more proactive about serving this audience of singles and also be more forthright about displaying and providing easy access to their gay, lesbian, and bisexual dating services.

So what does this really mean? The most readily apparent change is that eHarmony.com will make links to their gay, lesbian, and bisexual dating services more visible and accessible from the main eHarmony.com web site. For instance, on the eHarmony.com home page there are currently links to other specialty dating services for seniors, Christians, Hispanics, African Americans, etc.; under the terms of the lawsuit settlement the home page will now display an equally prominent link to a specialty dating service (actually an entirely separate site called Compatibile Partners) for gay, lesbian, and bisexual singles.

This is a big win for singles of all types, as it means even the largest online dating sites cannot use their size and influence to discriminate against specialty groups of singles. Now everyone can expect to receive equal treatment and equally convenient access to the online dating services best suited to their needs.

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