EHarmony Online Dating

I am very much opposed to the idea of online dating for myself. While I know that others have had positive experiences with it, I've tried it on several occasions with various sites, and most dates were a one-shot deal, with a few proceeding to a second date, but never further.

The reason I think that online dating doesn't work for me is that my personality doesn't really match the type of information I would put in a traditional profile. Furthermore, I don't want someone who will like me based on my photos, my job, my acheivements, etc. I want to connect with someone on a much deeper level. When I've done online dating in the past, my profile tends to attract very shallow, materialistic guys. And when I search through profiles, it's hard for me to decide if I would be interested in someone.

One of my friends is doing eHarmony. eHarmony isn't a traditional online dating site (e.g. Match.com) because it's supposedly not based on profile information such as age, height, religion, income, occupation, photos, etc. You complete an extensive personality questionnaire and the site matches you with other people based on your personality and values. Instead of viewing everyone's profile and setting search criteria, the site sends you "matches" who they think would be compatible. Almost like an old school dating service.

Seeing as I had nothing better to do one evening, I decided to fill out the personality profile. I didn't think I would actually pay the $50 to subscribe, but I enjoy filling out surveys and I was curious about what they asked. It took me about 25 minutes to really think about the questions and answer them honestly. When I was finished, I expected to see the page where they ask for your credit card information. Instead, I received this message:

"One of the requirements for successful matching is that participants fall within certain defined profiles. If we find that we will not be able to match a user using these profiles, we feel it is only fair to inform them early in the process.