Online Dates Not 'Blind' Anymore
By Gene J. Koprowski, UPI Technology News
CHICAGO (UPI) -- There is a science to online dating -- a social science, that is. Technologists at online matchmaking firms such as Kiss.com and PerfectMatch.com have been collaborating with psychologists and sociologists to develop compatibility tests for their users. Blind dates apparently are no longer what they once were, thanks to the emergence of this kind of online psychological screening. Users can fill out an electronic form, enter their likes and dislikes, and take profile tests, some of which are based on the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is utilized by employers to screen job applicants. The software sifts through the facts and voila! It locates the perfect mate -- or at least the nearest-to-perfect mate -- for the lovelorn.
"There are 22,894 dating sites in 44 different languages around the world," Harold Kester, chief technology officer at Websense, Inc., in San Diego, an Internet security firm, told United Press International. "Online dating has become part of the human condition. It works and it is easy." A survey by comScore Media Metrix, an online ratings service in Reston, Va., reports that users often log on from the office and spend upwards of 51 minutes per day meeting other singles online. As popular as these online dating services have become, they are continuing to grow.
For example, FriendFinder Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is getting 60,000 new subscribers per day, Mike Zhang, the company's president, told UPI. "We don't want this just to be a directory of people who are looking to date," Zhang said. "We're a vertical community of 16 Web sites, with over 60-million registered members. We're providing communities of interest, through which people can meet other people. We're using testing tools developed from the business world and transplanting them to the social world -- the world of relationships."
Pepper Schwartz, who holds a doctorate in sociology from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., serves as a consultant to PerfectMatch.com. She said the online psychological screening tools are not infallible. "The research shows what is likely, as opposed to a diagnosis," Schwartz, a professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle, told UPI. "We're not so presumptuous as to say we know you after you answer 20 questions. But we can give you insights -- what your discrete traits are -- and see how you feel about that."
The online tools could help someone determine whether he or she has a "hot temperament" or a "cool temperament," said Schwartz. A passionate person rushes into a relationship, while a cool person takes a step back," Schwartz explained. "Neither is good, or bad. That's just the way people are," she continued, cautioning that humans "don't act on one thing alone in our personalities. You still have to experiment" to see who you like or dislike among possible online matches. "In some places, you might want to be the same," said Schwartz. "In others, you might like others who are different. There are places where opposites are good, too -- that keeps things interesting."
Hobbies and interests, along with personal and financial achievement, also are used for screening purposes. "The research might show that, OK, you both like bowling. But you can be subtler. Maybe you're both interested in success and are hard charging. The test can help put you in the right group," Schwartz said.
Still, good, old-fashioned biochemistry continues to play a powerful role in picking a potential mate, even if one is incompatible on all other fronts. Thus, FriendFinder.com is looking into video one-on-one online chatting for its customers, Zhang said. "You can show them how compatible they are and show them what personality type they are, and what the joys and frustrations they are likely to have with other personality types," he said. "But still, they want to interact with the other person and be playful before making a date." Zhang's site also offers visitors a list of tips on dating and strategies for taking a relationship to the next level.
Schwartz said she met the person she is dating now online. "It's a fantastic tool for people over 50," she said. "Who says you can't meet anybody after that age? The Internet is changing the old paradigm." Despite the advantages, there are risks to online mate-seeking as well, in particular for younger, less-experienced daters. "There are no teenagers in teenage chat rooms -- there are sexual predators," said Lisa Madigan, attorney general for the state of Illinois, in response to a question by UPI after the social justice Shabbat dinner at the Chicago Sinai Congregation, co-sponsored by St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church, on Oct. 24.
Madigan, elected to the post last year after having served in the state Senate, recommended that parents of teenagers protect them by not allowing them to have unlimited access to the Web, such as private Internet connections in their bedrooms. "Make sure the computer is in a high-traffic area of the home, so you can monitor them," Madigan advised.
Employers, too, might want to be cautious about Internet dating, especially because it might be taking away from productive time at the office, Kester said. He also recommended that companies deploy software to screen users' behavior as they surf the Web at work, and make sure they are allowed to access certain sites only during off hours or during the lunch hour.
Whatever the potential problems may be with online relationship formation, however, Schwartz, the sociologist, said there has been a huge social benefit from the phenomenon. "This sounds like hyperbole, but this could change society," said Schwartz. "It might have psychological impacts that we haven't considered yet. But it connects people in all stages of the life cycle, and can provide so much information about things that are important to you, like age, information, education, and personality. But every powerful tool can be used, or misused. Aspirin might prevent heart attacks, but if you take too much of it, you could get a hole in your stomach."
By Gene J. Koprowski, UPI Technology News
CHICAGO (UPI) -- There is a science to online dating -- a social science, that is. Technologists at online matchmaking firms such as Kiss.com and PerfectMatch.com have been collaborating with psychologists and sociologists to develop compatibility tests for their users. Blind dates apparently are no longer what they once were, thanks to the emergence of this kind of online psychological screening. Users can fill out an electronic form, enter their likes and dislikes, and take profile tests, some of which are based on the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is utilized by employers to screen job applicants. The software sifts through the facts and voila! It locates the perfect mate -- or at least the nearest-to-perfect mate -- for the lovelorn.
"There are 22,894 dating sites in 44 different languages around the world," Harold Kester, chief technology officer at Websense, Inc., in San Diego, an Internet security firm, told United Press International. "Online dating has become part of the human condition. It works and it is easy." A survey by comScore Media Metrix, an online ratings service in Reston, Va., reports that users often log on from the office and spend upwards of 51 minutes per day meeting other singles online. As popular as these online dating services have become, they are continuing to grow.
For example, FriendFinder Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif., is getting 60,000 new subscribers per day, Mike Zhang, the company's president, told UPI. "We don't want this just to be a directory of people who are looking to date," Zhang said. "We're a vertical community of 16 Web sites, with over 60-million registered members. We're providing communities of interest, through which people can meet other people. We're using testing tools developed from the business world and transplanting them to the social world -- the world of relationships."
Pepper Schwartz, who holds a doctorate in sociology from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., serves as a consultant to PerfectMatch.com. She said the online psychological screening tools are not infallible. "The research shows what is likely, as opposed to a diagnosis," Schwartz, a professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle, told UPI. "We're not so presumptuous as to say we know you after you answer 20 questions. But we can give you insights -- what your discrete traits are -- and see how you feel about that."
The online tools could help someone determine whether he or she has a "hot temperament" or a "cool temperament," said Schwartz. A passionate person rushes into a relationship, while a cool person takes a step back," Schwartz explained. "Neither is good, or bad. That's just the way people are," she continued, cautioning that humans "don't act on one thing alone in our personalities. You still have to experiment" to see who you like or dislike among possible online matches. "In some places, you might want to be the same," said Schwartz. "In others, you might like others who are different. There are places where opposites are good, too -- that keeps things interesting."
Hobbies and interests, along with personal and financial achievement, also are used for screening purposes. "The research might show that, OK, you both like bowling. But you can be subtler. Maybe you're both interested in success and are hard charging. The test can help put you in the right group," Schwartz said.
Still, good, old-fashioned biochemistry continues to play a powerful role in picking a potential mate, even if one is incompatible on all other fronts. Thus, FriendFinder.com is looking into video one-on-one online chatting for its customers, Zhang said. "You can show them how compatible they are and show them what personality type they are, and what the joys and frustrations they are likely to have with other personality types," he said. "But still, they want to interact with the other person and be playful before making a date." Zhang's site also offers visitors a list of tips on dating and strategies for taking a relationship to the next level.
Schwartz said she met the person she is dating now online. "It's a fantastic tool for people over 50," she said. "Who says you can't meet anybody after that age? The Internet is changing the old paradigm." Despite the advantages, there are risks to online mate-seeking as well, in particular for younger, less-experienced daters. "There are no teenagers in teenage chat rooms -- there are sexual predators," said Lisa Madigan, attorney general for the state of Illinois, in response to a question by UPI after the social justice Shabbat dinner at the Chicago Sinai Congregation, co-sponsored by St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church, on Oct. 24.
Madigan, elected to the post last year after having served in the state Senate, recommended that parents of teenagers protect them by not allowing them to have unlimited access to the Web, such as private Internet connections in their bedrooms. "Make sure the computer is in a high-traffic area of the home, so you can monitor them," Madigan advised.
Employers, too, might want to be cautious about Internet dating, especially because it might be taking away from productive time at the office, Kester said. He also recommended that companies deploy software to screen users' behavior as they surf the Web at work, and make sure they are allowed to access certain sites only during off hours or during the lunch hour.
Whatever the potential problems may be with online relationship formation, however, Schwartz, the sociologist, said there has been a huge social benefit from the phenomenon. "This sounds like hyperbole, but this could change society," said Schwartz. "It might have psychological impacts that we haven't considered yet. But it connects people in all stages of the life cycle, and can provide so much information about things that are important to you, like age, information, education, and personality. But every powerful tool can be used, or misused. Aspirin might prevent heart attacks, but if you take too much of it, you could get a hole in your stomach."
Charles Mims
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