Since we began the Online Dating Experiment, we’ve followed several ladies on their eharmony journey, and none of them have had overwhelming results. In fact, Lauren tried both eharmony and Match, and she preferred Match. But we wanted to get a guy’s perspective on eharmony, too.
We often hear women lamenting that there are far more single ladies in want of a good Christian guy than vice versa, and they believe it’s a problem in the world of online dating, as well. So we didn’t want to wrap up this experiment without having another guy participate.
Meet Glenn. He’s 25 years old and lives in Nashville. We offered him 3 free months of eharmony if we could eavesdrop on his experience. He agreed, and embarked on his first month. Here’s how it went:
On a scale of 1 to solving a Rubik’s cube, how difficult was the process of signing up and completing your profile?
Glenn: I’d put it at a 3 or 4. There was nothing inherently difficult about the sign up process. I wasn’t quite expecting it to take as long as it did, though, so at a few times I found myself letting my mind wander so that I didn’t end up rushing through it. For the questions they ask from somebody else’s perspective, I had to ask some friends and family to feel like I gave an accurate answer. If I did the entire sign up process on my own, I would have doubted the accuracy of my answers and worried about it leading to an off matching algorithm for my profile.
What are your first impressions of eharmony?
Glenn: My first impression was a clean, easy layout for the website, excitement at trying something new, and a pervading sense of being overwhelmed because I was trying something new. The simplicity of the design and the fact that they only sent a handful of matches a day really helped out. I couldn’t see an endless listing of potential matches to freeze me in indecision. I saw that as a con on many pros and con lists when I was researching the site, but it worked wonders for me. I take that as proof that the litmus test for online dating is actually signing up and just going for it. I was also impressed that by placing strict restrictions on the religion portion of my matches I got very few matches that didn’t have an obviously active relationship with God. Despite eharmony not being a “Christian” dating service, it was easy for me to make it one.
Have you had any dates yet?
Glenn: I had a date this past Sunday with a wonderful girl, and we have a second date set up for Friday. We’ve had some previous meetings over coffee as well without the weight of it being a date to make things more awkward than they might have been. I also could not get comfortable with the idea of asking a girl on a date without meeting her, so some no-pressure hangouts gave me the chance to ask her out in person after meeting her.
What is the most frustrating thing about online dating so far?
Glenn: The most frustrating thing for me was trying to figure out how my personal philosophy of dating, which tends to be very conservative, translated to online dating. It took me a little time as I went through some of the guided communication steps to figure it out. It was a learning experience, but I prefer to learn then do, as opposed to both happening in real time, so it was a little frustrating.
What’s been the most exciting thing about online dating so far?
Glenn: The most exciting thing has definitely been that it’s working. I have a long history of my romantic pursuits being off on timing or the girls I liked weren’t interested in me or in a relationship at that point in their lives. Using online dating means that I’m coming across women who are looking for a relationship the same as me. It makes it much easier to then find out their own philosophy on dating and how active their faith is.
Okay, so you’re one month in. On a scale of 1 to Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch, how do you feel about online dating at this point?
Glenn: I’m not sure anyone but Tom Cruise can be as excited as that moment in time, but I’m definitely on the top end of the spectrum. As I said before, it’s working. There is constant progress in the area of a dating relationship which is not something I’m used to. It’s an exciting thing to see. It’s been a great experience so far. My family was easy to win over to this concept, and they’ve been included in each major step along the process, so I feel good that there’s been a lot of progress in only a month.
If you know someone who is considering online dating, but might be afraid to try it out, would you email them this post to encourage them?
