The day after my "Crush Catalyst" piece came out on Boundless, the Wall Street Journal confirmed what I said about big business rushing in to profit off of our desire to meet one another. Profitable, yes. Credible claims that their services lead to marriage? Not so much.
Online-dating sites have changed romance for millions of Americans. But claims that such dating leads to hordes of newly wedded couples may be fairy tales.
I found it intriguing that this piece claims that only 2% of Americans get married in any given year (no attribution was cited for that fact). Nevertheless, you can read all of "Marriage-Maker Claims Are Tied in Knots" online for the complete picture. And click on the graph above to see an interactive chart about trends in online dating.EHarmony claims in television or online ads in the U.K., U.S. and Australia that 2% of Americans who got married last year met through its site. But the stat is based on an online survey. Similarly, a Match.com media kit claimed that 12 marriages a day trace their roots to the site, but the company now says it's inaccurate. And Markus Frind, chief executive and founder of Plenty of Fish, doesn't advertise about marriages, but says his site brings about 100,000 marriages a year, a figure based in part on "some study I found online."
Well, you can count at least one couple who met and married on e-harmony, cause my husband and I did! :-)
Posted by: Laura | August 03, 2009 at 08:42 AM
"I found it intriguing that this piece claims that only 2% of Americans get married in any given year"
How i read that bit was that of the segment of the population that got married, 2% of that segment met through the site.
Posted by: Joanna | August 03, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Laura, I'm glad you added that comment. I certainly have friends who have met and married through online sites, too. It's just helpful to have accurate data when people are trying to sift through all the advertising claims. And in the end, it's really just one of the many tools that God can use in His sovereignty to bring two people together for His purposes.
Posted by: Carolyn McCulley | August 03, 2009 at 12:41 PM
My sister, Becky, met her fiance on eharmony and they will be getting married this October. And a friend of Becky's met her fiance on eharmony, they will be married at the end of the month.
My sister and her fiance are both Christians and her friend and her fiance are not.
Posted by: Sarah Norton | August 03, 2009 at 07:30 PM
I know of several Christian couples who met through eHarmony and got married. I'm disappointed in eHarmony for hosting a similar service for homosexuals, though.
Posted by: K. | August 04, 2009 at 01:37 PM
My husband and I met on eharmony as well 5 years ago. God is so sovereign that He can work through online dating sites as well!:)
Posted by: Susanna | August 08, 2009 at 05:10 PM