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David Roy's blog - comments
Posted by David Roy on: August 25, 2007
Online dating: Search-based systems versus scientific matching systems
Online dating has been around for over 10 years now and is one of the fastest-growing industries (if not the fastest-growing) on the Internet.
Today the majority of dating sites are "search based." Subscribers join dating websites by filling in a profile. This profile contains many questions designed to describe your interests, your values, who you are, and what kind of partner you are looking for. Some questions involve filling in the blanks but the majority of them are multiple choice.
The reason why these profiles use multiple choice has to do with database design. Having multiple choices makes it much easier for the programmer and developer to store information in the database, creating an accurate, fast, and efficient search for subscribers.
Let's use a simple example to help explain this: hair color. When filling out their profiles, subscribers are prompted to select their hair color. Let's say there are four choices: a) brown, b) blond, c) black, and d) red. Since the choices are predefined, the programmer can store the information for all members uniformly in the database, where it can be easily recognized and retrieved for the search-based system.
So if you prefer someone with brown hair, you make that selection on the website. When performing a search, the system can easily find who in the database has brown hair and retrieve all members with that criterion.
That's basically how a search-based dating website works. Members fill out a profile, so you can then perform a search based on the answers they have selected.
This system works very well, and it is still widely used today. However, during the last few years, the industry has been gradually moving toward "scientific matching." These services sometimes call themselves "relationship websites" instead of "dating websites." Their approach aims to find someone who really matches your specific personality and to ultimately help you find true love in a long-term relationship that can lead to marriage. Some websites offer both search-based and scientific matching—Perfectmatch.com is one example—while others, such as eHarmony.com, are limited to scientific matching only .
Websites with scientific matching will have you complete a personality test created by professionals. All answers are analyzed, and the outcome is a thorough description of your personal traits. For example, this test can reveal whether you are extroverted, introverted, predictable, flexible, emotional, etc.
The online service then uses these personal traits to match you with a partner who has a compatible personality. This system makes the search-based system, which strictly matches your profile's basic answers with your search criteria, look more mechanical.
The question is: Does the new scientific way to match people on the Internet really work?
The fact is that while many people have walked down the aisle after using this new system, the success is not uniform. Not everyone has found a soul mate using this system. This approach is still in its infancy, and only time will tell if this system really works.
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