eHarmony Patents Relationships

Stowe points to a Seattle Time's article that discusses the recent patent awared to eharmony. The patent (6,735,568) describes a "method and system for identifying people who are likely to have a successful relationship." Though I am a firm believer in psychology and science, I simply don't want to relinquish my life-altering decisions to a computer (no matter how smart it is). For me, the Spark is just too important and I'm not alone.

Critics say computerized matchmaking discounts the je ne sais quoi of love in favor of formulas that can seem like basic arithmetic compared to the painstaking psychosexual calculations humans make about mates.

"In the long run, I can certainly see the merit in a questionnaire that helps you make choices about who you date," said Robin Gorman Newman, a Great Neck, N.Y.-based dating coach and author of "How to Meet a Mensch in New York." "But it still comes down to attraction as the first step. It sometimes just takes simple chemistry to know when you've found Mr. or Ms. Right."

Seattle Times, "'Love patent' guarantees to take guesswork out of matchmaking"

Perhaps what gripes people the most about these systems is the lack of the human factor. This sentiment, I think, is common to many systems within the SNS industry. Seemingly, we desire the automation but need to continue to hold that last mile sacred.

Those matters aside, the patent just seems incredibly vague and, providing they have the war chest to back it up, could prove to be extremely limiting to the Online Dating and SNS industries as a whole.