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Signing up with Match.com.

The first signup screen at Match.com is deceptively simple. What username do I want and what is my birthdate?

Both questions, however, pose interesting challenges. With regards to the username, it’s not clear what the consequences are of getting stuck with a dorky name. [Yes, you're stuck with the username forever and other users get to see it, so put some thought into making one up.]

But the date of birth question, that’s interesting because some less scrupulous people will be tempted to lie. Men will like so they can date younger women, and women will lie so men will find them more attractive.

I’ve noticed that some online dating services let you change your date of birth after you’ve registered. This is not something I’d program into a dating site. There’s no reason that a person would be changing their date of birth unless they're lying, and lying isn’t something I’d want to go out of the way to encourage.

posted July 31, 2005