“Matchmaker, matchmaker,” may just be a tune from Fiddler on the Roof, but this close to Valentine’s Day, people are inspired by the idea that something or someone beside themselves is responsible for true love.
During a homeroom period in January, some Penn Manor students spent time filling out a matchmaker test. At a cost of $2 this test will be redistributed around Valentine’s Day with a list of students who answered the test in a similar way. The test may seem like just a little joke, but do people actually take it seriously?
“People say they don’t care about (the test), but it really just depends who shows up on their list,” sophomore Kate Harrold said.
Other students agreed with Harrold’s statement.
“No one takes it seriously when they fill the test out,” said Karli Heiserman, “but when they get the results back it’s different because you’re getting people you know.”
On the other hand there are people who say they never thought of it as serious.
“It’s all just for fun and a joke, nothing more really,” said Alex Flurry, “Most people in high school won’t normally walk up to someone and say they like them. A piece of paper wouldn’t change that even if they took it seriously.”
So would having a matchmaker test in high school inspire someone to try online dating services later in life?
After all, the popularity for online services has been on the rise this year and according to The Internet Journal up to 30% of American singles currently use online matchmaking sites.
“It all depends if the list has good people. If no one’s on it that they like, they probably wouldn’t think about it,” said freshman Willow Eimm.
“In high school, they at least know the people. Online they could get anybody,” Harrold said.
The answers on someone’s test may not be completely true either. People have been known to lie.
“Some people screw around with their answers, and don’t mean it,” said Catie Shipley, “No one would be able to tell if they actually made a good match.”
Although people may mess around with the results, more and more singles are using dating websites, and the cost isn’t cheap.
Match.com has a rate of $35 per month, and Chemistry.com is around $50 per month. However, eHarmony takes the Valentine’s cake for the highest cost of an online dating service with a price of $60 per month according to Consumer Dating Review.
So whether it’s a joke or taken seriously, the matchmaker tests are sure to spark up thoughts of love and compatibility this time of year.
By Lindsey Ostrum