eHarmony Blog.com

The Archived tab is the hottest change in eHarmony’s communication process: Closing a match is now similar to “Block User” in social networks and other dating sites.

1. The most touted benefit is the related “Auto-Archive” option, which is on by default for everyone. With Auto-Archive, matches who close you out disappear from your “New” and “Communicating” tabs and your Who Has Viewed Me list without notice. Out of sight is out of mind. While Joe will have to get used to Jane disappearing from his Communicating tab hours after he writes her a heartfelt message, I think he’ll prefer this than a blatant close attached to an impersonal or judgmental reason.
2. HINT: Matches don’t know that you archived or unarchived them or not.
3. HINT: Nobody else controls your Archive tab, that is, nobody can tell eHarmony to move him from your New tab to your Archived tab. Matches go to Archived either because you put them there, or because they closed you on their end and the Auto-Archive thing moved them to Archived.
4. Unless one of you has initiated communication, you can Archive a match, which means you tuck him away from your New and Communicating tabs, yet altogether still open. This is exactly what the old “Maybe” tab was. I don’t want to close you, but maybe if you’re the Last Man on Earth I’ll say hello, maybe if you upload a photo or improve your profile I’ll reconsider, maybe if you initiate I’ll give you another look, but honestly you’re just clogging up my active pile.
5. Limitation: You cannot Archive a match who is waiting for a reply. You can only Reply, Close … or ignore the fella as she sits there in your Communicating tab… for days and weeks and months. Oh, just close her already, for goodness sake! You cannot unarchive a match either.
6. TIP: Think a profile is a dead account? Archive it. If she’s interested or if she initiates, returns or replies, then the conversation automatically goes to the Communicating tab. If she uploads photos or updates her profile, then she appears in your Match Updates list. If she’s dead, then good riddance she’s out of your lists.
7. Unless one of you has initiated communication, closing matches is now an 8-step process. This implies no one will bother insta-closing anyone anymore. This benefits men really: Gentlemen could have two chances to impress the ladies: First thing in the morning when she reviews him, and later when he initiates communication.
8. Complaint: closing matches takes 8 steps. Yes, but only if neither has initiated communication. Also, Archived matches will raise for attention only if they do something. Therefore if they’re dead accounts, they’re as good as closed.
9. UPDATE: One-click Closes eHarmony Blog offers a gadget that will close matches in one click. Check it out.
10. UPDATE: One-click Archiving eHarmony Blog also offers a gadget that will archive matches from whatever stage of the process. Hint: Try it out with closed matches.
11. Complaint: Updates from Archived matches will pollute my Match Updates list. Okay, first of all, let me congratulate you for having so many active matches. You can Close each of these matches with two clicks, exactly as you would block annoying Farmville addicts. But if you’re collecting guys because you hope they’d initiate communication with you, I’m afraid I have no solution; the Archived tab isn’t the problem.
12. Mutual closes are still around, but I doubt people will bother. Before, mutual closes or sending Final Messages were the only ways to remove matches from the New and Communicating tabs. That’s why members were so accustomed to doing it. Now, Auto-Archive takes care of this chore.
13. You can also Reopen closed matches like you would Unblock a person in Facebook, if you care and as long as they haven’t mutually closed. When you reopen, you (1) reappear in her New or Communicating tabs, (2) move to the top of her Recent Activity sort and (3) appear in her Match Updates stream. It’s a useful trick to get someone’s attention, don’t you think?
14. Reopening matches requires a subscription, just like Final Messages did. Let me repeat: Close those who closed you if you don’t want them to be able to reopen. But why on earth would you purposely stop someone who wasn’t interested in you from changing her mind?
15. Final Messages are gone — If “He’s Just Not That Into You”, then there’s no means to convince him (except see the next item). If you’re one of those who use Final Messages as a trick in your match management, then I’m sorry for your loss. Based on the above, I think the change is for the better, moving forward.
16. Reopen requests are still available via the patented eHarmony Customer Care manual method.
17. Close reasons are gone — Good riddance. eHarmony has always been saying that close reasons don’t matter; they took a long time to walk the talk.
18. Want them back? We put up a poll to find out whether readers miss them. Go and get counted.
19. The biggest drawback is with match-ups who closed because of missing photos. If you use this “Photo Nudge + Closed because of no photos” technique, the only solution for you now is to reopen all of them. I’d imagine customer support phone lines burning with complaints about this.

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