Eharmony Gay

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Gay marriage In 2005, the company was sued for discrimination of same-sex couples. To settle a lawsuit, eHarmony in 2009 launched Compatible Partners, a site for gay and lesbian singles.

I don't see a lot of TV commercials anymore, but those saccharine eHarmony ads featuring Natalie Cole tra-la-laing the blight-on-humanity song 'This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)' have been unavoidable the last couple of years. (At your peril, you can check one out here).

The couples in the ads, many of them fed in the middle, seem to cling to each other with barely contained desperation, as though if they let go they will return to nights encumbered only by pints of ice cream for one and acres of Grey's Anatomy DVDs. So when I became single last year and started signing up with dating sites, I didn't even log on to eHarmony.

  • Neil Clark Warren, eHarmony Founder, Says Gay Marriage ‘Damaged His Company’. The Christian co-founder of the popular dating site eHarmony is no stranger to sparking controversy in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Now, however, Neil Clark Warren has gone even further, saying he’s “tired” of the same-sex.
  • Jan 08, 2015 To settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by a gay man, the Christian-targeted online dating service eHarmony has been forced to open a matchmaking service for same-sex couples. Maybe straight men.

It turns out that if I had, I would not have been welcome. One has two choices on the first page of eharmony.com: 'Man seeking a woman' and 'Woman seeking a man.' In the first place, I'm not 'seeking' anyone. One seeks a job. Unless you're a bounty hunter, you don't seek another person. For my part, I'd like to meet a nice guy.

But the founder of eHarmony, Neil Clark Warren, has no interest in helping me meet a nice guy. Warren is a conservative Christian, a former recurring guest on James Dobson's radio show, a man who used the overweening right-wing group Focus on the Family to help promote eHarmony in its early days — and a man who apparently believes that gays are some kind of different species.

Warren, a psychologist, told NPR's Terry Gross a couple of years ago that 'I don't know exactly what the dynamics are [with gay couples]...We've done a deep amount of research on about 5,000 married people, but never on people who are same-sex. So we don't know how to do that, and we think the principles probably are different, and so we've never chosen to do it.' He noted later in the interview that 'same-sex marriage in this country is largely illegal at this time, and we do try to match people for marriage.'

Warren seems like a sweet guy in those ads, but this line of reasoning is transparently convenient: gays are just such an exotic and curious people, why, I could never understand them! And anyway their relationships are illegal — so best to ignore them completely.

A class-action lawsuit was inevitable. It was filed yesterday by a lesbian from (naturally) the San Francisco Bay Area. She claims that eHarmony's no-gays policy is discriminatory under California law. The company replied that it might offer gay matching services in the future and denied that it discriminates.

Which is silly: of course it discriminates, in the most basic sense of the term — it doesn't allow gays to use its site! Still, I think the lawsuit is a mistake, for two reasons: first, it once again casts gays in the role of victim. If you're wondering why kids still use 'faggot' as a slur to mean weak and simpering, it's because gays too often whine about silly things like not being able to use a dating website for fat suburbanites. Second, and more important, gays manifestly do not need eHarmony. We already have too many dating sites. All of eHarmony's competitors — match.com and its offshoot chemistry.com; true.com; personals.aol.com; lavalife.com and so on — allow gays. There are also many gay sites like gay.com and connexion.org, some of which could easily be charged with reverse discrimination. For instance, please visit manhunt.net for a second. I just did, and the main page says there are 'OVER 21,739 MEN ONLINE NOW!' Manhunt offers nothing for straight men. Maybe my heterosexual brother should file a class-action lawsuit.

Recently eHarmony competitor chemistry.com produced a funny ad you should watch. The ad is smarmily self-serving, but it approaches eHarmony the right way: not with a lawsuit, but with ridicule.

eharmony.com
Type of businessPrivate
FoundedAugust 22, 2000; 20 years ago
Pasadena, California, U.S.
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Key peopleNeil Clark Warren(Founder)
Greg Forgatch (Founder)
URLwww.eharmony.com
LaunchedAugust 22, 2000; 20 years ago
Previous eHarmony headquarters in the OneWest Bank building in downtown Pasadena

Eharmony (styled eHarmony) is an online dating website launched in 2000. eHarmony is based in Los Angeles, California, and owned by German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media.[1]

History[edit]

eHarmony's original logo, used until August 20, 2017.

eHarmony was founded by Neil Clark Warren, a clinical psychologist, with his son-in-law, Greg Forgatch.[2] Warren and Forgatch created Neil Clark Warren & Associates, a seminar company, in 1995.[2] The company eventually became the dating website eHarmony.[2] During its initial four years, the website was developed by TechEmpower.[3]

The service was financed with a $3 million investment from Fayez Sarofim & Co. and individual investors.[4] eHarmony was launched in 2000, making it the first algorithm-based dating site.[4][5] Between 2000 and 2010, about 33 million members used the service.[6] As of 2008, about 15,000 people were taking the eHarmony questionnaire each day.[7]Harris Interactive said in 2010 that after finding a match on eHarmony, an average of 542 eHarmony members in the United States marry every day.[8]

eHarmony has been profitable since 2004.[9] In 2009, eHarmony's cumulative revenue exceeded $1.0 billion while their annual revenue was about $250 million.[10][9] As of 2012, eHarmony had 14 percent of the U.S. dating-services market.[11]

During 2009–12, new memberships, retention rates and time spent on the site decreased. In July 2012, Neil Clark Warren came out of retirement to become chief executive officer. Warren closed unprofitable international operations, switched advertisers, made changes to the board,[12] and bought back stock from Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.[11] eHarmony featured in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, where the namesake protagonist speaks to a personal counselor at the company.[13] In 2017, it was reported that eHarmony had about 750,000 paid subscribers and 10 million active users, which was about the same as it had been in 2012.[14] Warren left the company again in July 2016.[2]

In 2016, eHarmony announced their questionnaire would now be optional for users.[15] By 2017, the questionnaire consisted of 150 questions, down from 450 questions.[16]

In 2018, German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media purchased eHarmony via their Nucom ecommerce division (a joint venture of ProSiebenSat and private equity firm General Atlantic).[1]

Gay

Methodology[edit]

Prospective members complete a proprietary questionnaire about their characteristics, beliefs, values, emotional health and skills. Matching algorithms, which the company believes match people's core traits and values to replicate the traits of happy couples, use these answers to match members with users the company believes will be compatible.[17] The software technology also evaluates users' behavioral data such as average time spent on the site.[18]

Buckwalter says that the compatibility system rests a lot on commonality, for their belief is that 'Opposites attract, then they attack.'[19]

Starting in January 2017, eHarmony users could see why they are considered compatible with a feature called 'The Two Of You Together'. They will be able to see the matches who score at an advanced level of compatibility and also why.[20]

Eharmony Gay Ad

Reception and analysis[edit]

Applicant rejection[edit]

It is estimated that about 20% of eHarmony applicants are rejected.[21] In 2007, eHarmony stated since the site's launch, they had rejected about a million people who applied to use the service. They reported that about 30% of those applicants were denied because they were already married, 27% were younger than the minimum application age of 21, and 9% provided inconsistent answers on the application. eHarmony also stated they reject anyone under the age of 60 who has been married more than four times, or who fails their 'dysthymia scale', testing as having a depressed disposition.[22]

Same-sex couples[edit]

Eharmony

When it began, eHarmony did not offer same-sex matches; it now offers them through a separate service, Compatible Partners.[23] Warren said that he had done extensive research on heterosexual marriage but did not know enough about homosexual relationships to do same-sex match-making, which he said 'calls for some very careful thinking. Very careful research.'[23] He also said that eHarmony promotes heterosexual marriage, adding that (at the time) same-sex marriage was illegal in most places, saying 'We don't really want to participate in something that's illegal.'[23] In another interview, Warren went into more detail on his own views, noting that 'cities like San Francisco, Chicago or New York... they could shut [eHarmony] down so fast. We don't want to make enemies out of them. But at the same time, I take a real strong stand against same-sex marriage, anywhere that I can comment on it.'[24]

eHarmony's lack of same-sex matching options prompted lawsuits claiming that eHarmony violated laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[25] As part of the settlement of a New Jersey case,[26]eHarmony launched a partner website called Compatible Partners providing match-making 'for men and women looking for a serious same-sex relationship'.[27][28]Theodore B. Olson, an attorney for eHarmony, said that even though the company believed the complaint was 'an unfair characterization of our business', it chose to settle because of the unpredictable nature of litigation.[29] In 2010, eHarmony settled a separate class-action lawsuit filed in California that alleged illegal discrimination based on sexual orientation. The company, which did not admit wrongdoing, agreed to allow access to both its gay and straight dating sites with a single subscription, to display its gay dating services more prominently and to establish a settlement fund to pay people who can show they were harmed by the company's policies.[30][31]

As of 2013, about 200,000 people had registered with Compatible Partners.[32] Michelle Garcia, writing in the LGBT-interest magazine, The Advocate, also said that, like eHarmony, Compatible Partners attracts high-quality customers. According to Garcia, 'Because of the price tag and the emphasis on long-term relationships... Compatible Partners' users are seen as quite desirable.'[32]

Matching paying members with non-paying members[edit]

After approval by the questionnaire, eHarmony begins to match members regardless of their subscription status. A member's list of matches does not indicate which members are paying or non-paying, so users may not be able to communicate with all of their matches.[33]

Security breach[edit]

On June 6, 2012, eHarmony confirmed that its password database had been breached and a section of its user base had been affected.[34][35] Affected members were sent e-mails by the company requesting them to change their password immediately.[36]

Explaining success[edit]

A 2010 article published by the Harvard Business Review attributed the success of eHarmony's system to their large membership base, their efforts to exclude people who are not serious about dating, and their membership fees being more expensive than the fees for other dating websites. The author hypothesizes that, since eHarmony's questionnaire and high cost of membership deter people who are interested in casual dating, eHarmony's members are more likely to be interested in a long-term relationship.[37]

Criticism over claims[edit]

A 2012 analysis of dating websites by Scientific American stated that eHarmony, along with other algorithm-based dating sites, had not yet provided members of the scientific community with information about their matching algorithm which could be used to vet their claims about their algorithms being scientifically-based.[5]

In 2014, eHarmony was criticized by the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau over claims the company had made about their rates of success. This occurred after Match.com challenged claims made by eHarmony about the two companies' relative success.[38]

In 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority stated that an eHarmony ad which included the lines, 'It's time science had a go at love,' and 'Imagine being able to stack the odds of finding lasting love entirely in your favor,' was misleading. When the ASA asked for evidence supporting eHarmony's claims that their scientifically proven matching system increases the odds of finding love, eHarmony was not able to provide any.[39] The ASA subsequently banned advertisements that claimed the use of a scientifically proven matching system. eHarmony publicly disagreed with the ASA but said it would work with them to clarify its advertising.[40]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ ab'Germany's ProSieben buys U.S. online dating site eharmony'. Reuters Business News. 2018-10-29. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  2. ^ abcdUtermohlen, Karl (26 July 2016). 'eHarmony Founder Neil Clark Warren Steps Down as CEO'. InvestorPlace. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. ^'TechEmpower'. www.techempower.com. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  4. ^ ab'History of eHarmony'. Online Dating Magazine. 2008-09-16.
  5. ^ abEli J. Finkel, Susan Sprecher (8 May 2012). 'The Scientific Flaws of Online Dating Sites'. Scientific American. Scientific American. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  6. ^'Dating Site Marks 10 Years With Ad Campaign'. The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  7. ^Kirkpatrick, David (2007-09-14). 'eHarmony does what tech ought to do'. CNN. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  8. ^'eHarmony Celebrates 10 Years of Online Relationships Fox Business Video'. Video.foxbusiness.com. 2010-08-30. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  9. ^ abClark, Andrew (24 August 2010). 'Dating site eHarmony aims to dominate British market'. The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  10. ^Geron, Tomio (2010-07-12). 'The $100M Revenue Club: EHarmony Captures the Hearts of VCs'. The Wall Street Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch.
  11. ^ ab'eHarmony founder breaks up with investors in company reboot'. Delawareonline.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  12. ^'EHarmony founder has his heart set on reviving the dating site'. Los Angeles Times. 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  13. ^'EHarmony Launches Service Modeled After 'Walter Mitty' Plotline'. The Hollywood Reporter. 12/11/2013. Retrieved 21 March 2021.Check date values in: date= (help)
  14. ^Weller, Chris (18 February 2017). 'eHarmony is gearing up for a battle to win back millennials from Tinder and Bumble'. Business Insider. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  15. ^Crook, Jordan (15 December 2016). 'eHarmony makes its questionnaire optional to get hip with the times'. TechCrunch. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  16. ^Marinova, Polina (14 February 2017). 'How Dating Site eHarmony Uses Machine Learning to Help You Find Love'. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  17. ^Georgina Prodhan (2008-10-07). 'Brits value sex and in-laws, Web dating company finds'. Reuters. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  18. ^Jessica Shambora (September 23, 2010). 'eHarmony's algorithm of love'. Fortune. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  19. ^Canning, Andrea (2008-02-13). 'A Look Inside the eHarmony Love Lab'. ABC News. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  20. ^'eHarmony's New CEO Grant Langston Shares His New Vision'. OnlinePersonalsWatch.com. 2016-12-23. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  21. ^Miller, Lisa (26 April 2008). 'Belief Watch: eHarmony's Algorithm for Mr. Right'. Newsweek. Newsweek. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  22. ^Farhi, Paul (2007-05-13). 'They Met Online, but Definitely Didn't Click'. The Washington Post. pp. D01. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  23. ^ abcKornblum, Janet. 'eHarmony: Heart and soul', USA Today, May 18, 2005
  24. ^'Interview with Neil Clark Warren'. Focus on the Family. Archived from the original on 2004-02-25. Retrieved 2004-03-03.
  25. ^Egelko, Bob (2007-06-01). 'EHarmony sued for excluding same-sex matches'. The San Francisco Chronicle.
  26. ^Miller, Joshua Rhett. '[https://www.anastesiadatescam.online/business/eharmony-com/ eHarmony to Provide Gay Dating Service after Lawsuit'], Fox News, November 20, 2008
  27. ^'How to surf the Web for a mate: eHarmony founder'. CNBC. Retrieved 2015-09-17.
  28. ^'Gay Dating for Relationship-Minded Gay & Lesbian Singles'. Compatible Partners. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  29. ^'eHarmony agrees to provide same-sex matches'. NBC News. 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  30. ^Rachel Gordon (January 27, 2010). 'EHarmony settles lawsuit over gay matchmaking'. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  31. ^'eHarmony Settles Gay Discrimination Suit'. CBS News. Associated Press. January 27, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  32. ^ abGarcia, Michelle (2010-03-31). 'The Online Dating Game'. Advocate.com. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  33. ^eHarmony? More like tone deaf 08.11.04 Joel Keller blacktable.com
  34. ^Mills, Elinor (6 June 2012). 'eHarmony member passwords compromised'. CNET. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  35. ^CBS News: eHarmony suffers password breach on heels of LinkedIn
  36. ^'Update on Compromised Passwords'. eHarmony blog. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  37. ^Halaburda, Hanna (15 October 2010). 'Fewer Customers, but the Right Ones'. Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  38. ^Gelles, Jeff (17 August 2014). 'Dating site dinged for exaggerating claims of success'. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  39. ^Wakefield, Jane (3 January 2018). 'Dating website eHarmony's 'scientific' match ad banned'. BBC News. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  40. ^Siddique, Haroon. (January 3, 2018). 'Watchdog bans advert's claim eHarmony is 'scientifically proven', The Guardian, Guardian Media Group, London, UK. Retrieved 8 February 2019.

Eharmony Gay Friendly

Eharmony

Eharmony Gay Dating Review

External links[edit]

Eharmony Gay Couples

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