Udate update
Balls.
I just paid up (£16.95 for a month), and the mails from other users are basically just saying welcome to the site, and don't forget to fill out this or that in the profile. Two of the four mails were from people asking me to add information I had already added since they mailed. This includes the sporty person I mentioned previously.
I'm feeling somewhat scammed, though I'm sure there is nothing illegal in what they do. Looking at the site, I see that users are encouraged to mail new joiners to welcome them. Of course, new joiners can't see that all that's being said is "welcome and good luck" until they subscribe. No refunds, obviously.
Udate sent me two emails to my own email account. The first told me that three people had e-mailed me. The second mail was had the subject line "Several women are keen to meet so..." - Hotmail cut off the title at this point.
Looking at it again, the full subject shown in the opened mail is "Several women are keen to meet someone like you." (I've added the italics). The people listed in the mail are people that I happen to match highly for in the database. (My exact rating varies from person to person in the list). So far as I can see, these women have made no indication that I personally am of any interest to them at all.
Surely they don't tailor their subject lines to fit the number of characters displayed in the most popular e-mail services? No, that would be a very mean thing to do. That would be misleading and manipulative.
Being alerted to the fact that I happen to match (to some reasonalby high degree) a person's preferences is fine. What makes me feel a bit sick is the way that udate does it. Apart from the subject line, why not send me a list of all those people for whom I rate as their number 1 match? That would seem the logical, not to say the blindingly obvious thing to do. Do they not do that because it might be clear that the list is computer generated, and so less likely to result in my signing up?
Now I've signed up, I wouldn't be surprised if I start getting sensibly targeted mails about people for whom I actually am the best match. After all, the better the matches, the more likely I am to stick-around and keep paying up.
I can't yet comment on how well the actual dating side of the site will work. I still have some hopes. Who knows? Others haven't been particularly impressed. Maybe this will work out. Maybe not. Either way, I've learned a few new things to look-out for when avoiding rip-offs. And I may, just maybe, be very glad I stumped up the cash.
I've also learned that the combined power of vanity and hormones will part people from their money amazingly effectively. Even mine.
2:09:40 AM 
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