Video Transcript
Female: It’s almost Valentine’s day. Do you have a sweetheart? If not, help is on the way from our tech expert Ryan Eldridge from Nerds on Call. Ryan, you are talking dating websites today.
Ryan: And it’s weird to talk to a nerd about dating we don’t know anything about but we know a lot about technology and we shop online and so it’s kinda the same thing.
Female: Shop online. I love the comparison. You have some impressive stats about match.com.
Ryan: Match.com has over 17 million users. That’s a huge database of people that you can shop for. Anyway, here’s something interesting about January and February. It is the most popular time for online dating. If you think about it. We just get off the holiday, we got all those family things going on and everybody asks you ‘so when you’re getting hook up’ or ‘when you’re getting hitch” or whatever. And so online dating becomes super popular at that time. So we took a few of the best ones like match.com and kinda look at them. So at match.com is fairly easy and straight forward.
You can set up a profile and then just start searching for people you like and then you send them messages. It costs 30 dollars a month. So interact with people while you are on the site. And so if you want to get a lot of messages, match.com is the place to go. But if you something a little more discerning, something like Eharmony might be a little bit better. Eharmony has a huge questionnaire you have to fill out before you even allow to see the other singles that are on the site. And really the whole point of eharmony is to match you with your life partner.
Somebody that you’re going to be with for a very long time. So it’s a bit of a commitment and it’s sixty dollars a month to interact with different people on the site. So if you are really interested in something serious eharmony might be just a better place to go.
Female: Okay. I’ve never online dated but I’ve been to weddings of people who met that way. It’s like a legit way to date.
Ryan: Yeah. If you think about it. When we are in high school and college, our social groups are huge. We can meet all kinds of different people everyday. But as we get older we get to the same job everyday and we see the same people everyday. Pretty soon, we will date through our friends and then we are stuck. And so that’s why online dating is such a choice especially for people that are busy and they don’t have huge social group.
So let’s say you’re on a budget. You can go to okcupid. Okcupid is free and it’s got a huge database of members. Here you can set up a small profile and then just immediately start looking for members. The more you fill out on your profile, the more matches you’ll get which is kind of cool. They have a great little thing that where they tell you your likely match with that person. Whether you’ll be friends, enemies or whether you’ll get into relationship with them. And I think that’s kind of cool.
If you are more interested in the short term dating, check out Tinder. You can get an iphone app and of course you can do the Beyonce thing. To the left, to the left. You can swept to the left. That means you don’t like him. But if you swept to the right, that means you do. You can only communicate with people who already like you. So once you like them, they will get a notice that you like them. And then if they like you, you guys can talk. But otherwise, you won’t get into any dating any bunch of creepy guys trying to like oh I really like your profile.
So this is another one. This is call Howaboutwe. This one is more focus on the actual online dating experience rather than just meeting people and browsing profiles. What you do is you create your profile and then you set up like a date. You said up like ‘how about we go ice-skating?’ And then other people will browse the dates that they like and they will hook up and go on a date with you based on that. Or you can date other people’s dates and go ‘oh this person want’s to go to the zoo. I don’t mind going to the zoo. I’ll check that out.’ And then you can see their profiles and see if they are something you’re interested in.
Female: Ryan Eldridge from Nerds on Call. Thanks for all the love tips online dating.
Ryan: You’re welcome.
Female: Alright. Happy early Valentine’s day too.
Ryan: Thank you.
Female: We’re going to have a link of Nerds on Call website and our website kptv.com/moregdl.
Online dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony find that January and February are the busiest months of the year. According to a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2013, over a third of the American couples married between 2005 and 2012 met online. The timing makes sense, really. During the holidays, most people are surrounded with family members asking when you plan on settling down, or they are being surrounded by friends and family members with kids. Some people even make their new years resolutions to find love.
Online dating may not be for everybody, but there are a few qualities that may help convince you to go online. If you look back at the times during high school or college and realize how easy it was to meet people, but now you are pretty isolated, online dating may be the right choice. If you have run out of friends to set you up and are tired of going to bars and clubs trying to talk to drunken strangers, online dating is a much more relaxing experience. It is also a bonus to get to know somebody before meeting them in person, because talking to a stranger is never very comfortable.
We will start by covering the big names that everybody has heard of: Match.com and eHarmony. Match.com has a dating pool of over 17 million active monthly users. When you sign up, it is much like posting an online personal ad, but requires a lengthy profile set up and a $30 per month subscription fee to communicate with other members. eHarmony has the most arduous set up process, but promises to match you with potential life partners. This site is designed to fulfill the need for long term relationships, not casual dating. You do not even get to see anybody until you answer a long survey that includes essay questions. The price is also high at $60 per month.
If you are looking for an option that does not require a monthly fee, check out OKCupid. Boasting a ton of members and a free membership, it is arguably the most popular online dating site. You can first specify what you are looking for: long term, short term, activity partners, etc. They then use their advanced matching system based on how you answer profile questions to refine results. OKCupid provides you with a percentage match in “Romantic, and Enemy & Friendship” categories. They also offer a “Nearby” section that shows singles in your area that are interested in getting together sooner rather than later. By far the best part about this website is the free use and the massive number of members.
The most recent online dating phenomenon, Tinder, is all about physical attraction. You sign in with Facebook and your interests are used to match you with potential partners. you can either swipe left to pass on a prospect, or swipe right to express interest. If the other person has also swiped you right then you can begin to exchange messages. It boasts a super easy setup that requires no profile maintenance, but nobody can message you if you have not liked them already.
If you would rather meet people in person than spend weeks wading through profiles, consider trying How About We. How About We works on a simple premise: online dating should involve going on dates. People submit ideas for dates, such as “how about we go ice skating”, which are then shared publicly. When you share a date idea, a bit if information about you is also shared. You can see others around you and connect to those who suggest a date that peaks your interest. The final step is to go on the date and see what happens from there!
If faith is a big part of your life Christian Mingle and J Date are worthy contenders. They may not have the numbers of the other large dating sites, but at least you now that the others share your faith. If you are devout and looking to find a life partner, it does not hurt to start with a site like this. It is also a bonus that most faith based dating websites help you find others that share core values and ideals.
About The Author: Andrea Eldridge is CEO and co-founder of Nerds On Call, a computer repair company that specializes in on-site and online service for homes and businesses. Andrea is the writer of a weekly column, Nerd Chick Adventures in The Record Searchlight. She prepares TV segments for and appears regularly on CBS, CW and FOX on shows such as Good Day Sacramento, More Good Day Portland, and CBS 13 News, offering viewers technology and lifestyle tips. See Andrea in action at callnerds.com/andrea/.
