People seem to be reconsidering the modern remedy to the single life.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, dating services have noticed an increase in membership and clientele.
UW-Madison sociology professor John DeLamater said the demand for dating services in today’s society is credible.
“Dating services help people who have difficulty meeting potential partners in their normal day-to-day activities,” DeLamater said. “They assist people in finding others with their same interests.”
In the last 100 years, DeLamater said, American social practices have changed a great deal. People no longer spend their entire lives in one town, and as a result they find themselves surrounded by strangers when it comes time to find a partner and settle down.
“Dating services have eased this challenge for many,” DeLemater said. “But the impersonal connection can cause people to be tricked and misled.”
Dave Garde, regional manager of The Right One dating service, said his service is based on old-fashioned compatibility.
“The Right One does extensive interviewing and profiling in an attempt to gather every possible bit of information in order to match people up,” Garde said.
“It is a very safe way to meet people. We do thorough criminal background checks, unlike some of the riskier Internet services.”
The success rates of dating services vary across the board. Garde claimed The Right One is 70-80 percent successful in introducing couples who eventually develop long-term relationships.
“I have seen hundreds of marriages and relationships,” Garde said. “We are much more effective than bars and personal ads. But there are no guarantees — we just can’t hop into people’s hearts.”
According to the Christian Science Monitor, two jointly owned dating services, Together and The Right One, were up 22 percent over last year during the two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on America. In a survey of more than 7,500 eharmony.com customers, 44 percent of respondents said they feel an increased desire to be in a long-term relationship.
Garde confirmed this increase in the Madison branch of The Right One.
“Lately, it seems that more people are seeking companionship,” he said.
The choice to use a dating service to find a partner is a personal one, often based on an individual’s social opportunities or lack thereof.
However, in times of national discomfort, people tend to seek companionship.
“As a general principle, when people are reminded of sudden death, they begin to think about how that experience might affect their own relationships,” author Gene Griessman told the Christian Science Monitor.
In the wake of America’s tragedy, there seems to be potential for increasing membership and a broader clientele for this nontraditional mechanism to meet people.
The events of Sept. 11 have motivated some people who were merely considering the services to actually join.
“I just needed a nudge,” Mel Gonsalves, a new member of The Right One, told the Christian Science Monitor. “And this whole tragedy — talk about a nudge.”
