LA TERCERA – Mar 28 - Match.com launched 20 years ago. In 1995, there were only 16 dating services. Today there are 8K dating sites and apps. "Everyone knows someone who has been successful on a dating site. Online dating has been accepted by the society as something that works", says Mark Brooks, consultant and expert in the online dating business.
Match.com launched in Chile in 2005. 5 years later, the site claimed 500K registered users. Today, the number is 1.3M. Match.com was not the only company that saw the potential in Chile. German based dating site eDarling followed in 2011. "The growth rate is higher than most EU countries", said Sara Grana, country manager of eDarling Chile.
"People don't really know what they want and they don't describe themselves accurately", says Mark Brooks. Reliance on profiles is one of the main criticisms of scientists towards online dating algorithms. Eli Finkel, professor of social psychology at Northwestern University, published an analysis. He says that there is no certainty that these algorithms work. He adds that key aspects of relationships, such as communication patterns and sexual compatibility, arise only after two people meet.
by José Miguel Jaque & Noelia Zunino
The full article was originally published at La Tercera, but is no longer available.
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