Dr. James, Houran has written an article at Onlinedatingmagazine warning singles to avoid falling for scientific matching hype that has permeated the online dating industry. Houran comes across as the tell-all scientist who knows the dark secrets of the dating industry while managing to stick up for his work at True.com and putting down the Chemistry.com and eHarmony blogs.
Dr. Houran tells us he has revealed in several papers that scientific matching tests “are often invalid and a waste of time and money.”
And then:
And yet, ignorant industry insiders with their own blogs and consulting services portray these developments as advancements that are good for online daters.
I don’t know if he is talking about me, but I am the first to admit that I don’t understand the first thing about the scalability factors associated with DISC-based personality tests and why one test may be better than another. These are profit-based dating sites after all, and leveraging their black-box personality test in marketing campaigns is par for the course.
It’s all marketing rhetoric to me because the explanation of how the tests operate and the results simply aren’t there or accessible enough for most online daters.
The dating industry would be better off validating personality tests and matching algorithms than worrying about background checks.
Just what is Dr. Houran’s angle here? I don’t know who is paying his bills, who his clients are or what he’s trying to accomplish in this anti-dating industry/blog rant. Going on ABC and doing Time magazine interviews is more self-serving than coming up with a real solution to help singles focus on realistic expectations.
James, I would be more than happy to read your papers, please send me copies and make yourself available to explain the finer points, thanks.
Finally, the irony of the Chemistry.com banner ad running alongside the article was amusing.
