users away?

>>Phone confirmation is used successfully in web environments like local.Google.com and eBay and others to solve the hassle-factor vs. security issue. The process itself is extremely quick, non-intrusive and online dating /social networking companies are buying in. Phone confirmation doesn’t have the “creepy factor” of giving away credit card info or your SSN online. Try it yourself on the phoneconfirm.com demo site. Its painless. It is a quality vs. quantity reality that any identity confirmation will drive some users away who wish to stay completely anonymous and attract others knowing that profiles are verified. For online dating website owners it delivers a level of accountability online daters are demanding and the best online dating sites are stepping-up to address.

There are many ways to thwart phone verification systems. Throwaway phone

numbers, anonymous calling services, Skype, etc. If anything, the service

may bring peace of mind to online daters.

>>True, there will always be work-arounds. However, the majority of misrepresentation on online dating websites/social networking (myspace etc…) is due to “ease of bad behavior,” so to speak (as in its easy to repeatedly create profiles that say your 21 when in fact your 12 on myspace.com) Phone confirmation simply acts as a deterrent to a majority of these fake profilers, etc…. These phone “work arounds” are expensive and very time consuming. The scammers typically go somewhere else that is easier to target.

One thing seems clear, phone verification systems seem easier to implement

and less expensive than background checks. I think I would rather know if

someone was an axe murderer or pedophile as opposed feeling warm and fuzzy

that they have a cell phone.

>>Implementing the service IS very simple. As for axe murderers etc…This is a different story. (Although it would be possible to cross check online profiles confirmed phone numbers with known pedophile phone numbers….) For all anyone knows YOU could be an axe murderer :-) Obviously to verify background, companies need SSN and

other sensitive info and at significant cost. With phone confirm there is a deterrent, at a fraction of the cost, for all but the most determined axe murderers since at least with phone identity confirmation there is another layer of information that

uniquely identifies an ax…, err online user.

I definitely want to demo this and go through the entire process.

>>Demo is available on http://www.phoneconfirm.com. Give it a try and let us know what you think.