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The end of the affair
Two separate lawsuits filed against online dating services call into question the integrity of such sites and their value to users. Match.com is being sued for allegedly sending false romantic messages from company employees and even sending employees on sham dates. These efforts were reportedly made in order to convince users to renew subscriptions and tell friends about their success on the dating site. At the same time, Yahoo is being sued for breach of contract, fraud and unfair trade practices, for allegedly creating false profiles to give the site the appearance of having more attractive singles than they do.
Reactions to the news are mixed in the blogosphere. Some bloggers are shocked--shocked!--that any high-profile company would display such behavior. Others say the alleged practices should come as no surprise and that other sites, such as school alumni sites, use similar techniques to get and retain paying customers. Still others are withholding judgment until there is a ruling as to whether the allegations can be proved.
Whichever way the lawsuits end up, they do bring up interesting questions about a company's responsibility when providing social forums like these. And when countless people purposefully misrepresent themselves in online chat rooms and social networking sites with no major consequences, are companies obligated to do differently? Whatever the outcome, the news story will no doubt sour the love affair between some users and online personals sites.
Blog community response:
"You have mail... Now pay us $30 to read it. That's the basic trick right there. You get an email but can't see it, or if you can you can't reply to them with more than a virtual hug/wink until you pay some cash into it."
--Zaz.net Zaz.net on News.com Talkback
"Yahoo posting fictitious profiles? If they are responsible for all the fake Russian bride profiles on the site, they certainly deserve to be raked over the legal coals. But for some reason, I have a difficult time thinking Yahoo is responsible for the fakery. The Match suit plaintiff claims a Match employee went out with him to make sure he didn't cancel his subscription. Talk about viral marketing! This is a classic, however I would be shocked if the allegations are true."
--Corante
"Wow. What a scam. Faking interest in people who sign up for those services is terribly dishonest."
--Mesostinky on Digg.com
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Jennifer Guevin is managing editor at CNET, overseeing the ever-helpful How To section, special packages, and front-page programming. As a writer, she gravitates toward science, quirky geek culture stories, robots, and food. In real life, she mostly just gravitates toward food.
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