Please Note: these criteria will likely change over time
to better serve our users. They are subject to modification at any time.
- Last Name:
An account holder may specify up to two "global" last names for herself
and one alternative last name for herself specific to each friend.
A friend who seeks this account holder must specify a last name
whose letters match the letters of one of these account holder's
last names exactly. All non-letter characters of the last
name (spaces, hyphens, etc.) are ignored in the match process. Also,
the match is case-insensitive.
EXAMPLE: An account holder has the last name "Smith-Wesson" and no
alternatives. A friend who seeks this account holder can
uses any of "Smith Wesson" or "Smith wesson" or "smithwesson" to successfully
specify the last name of the account holder. However, the slightest
letter misspellling, such as "Smith-Weson," will cause the match to fail.
If you are unsure about the spelling of the last name of a friend you
seek, you should create a separate friend entry for each possible
spelling. Eventually we may allow for slight spelling errors,
but currently we do not.
- First Name:
An account holder may specify up to three "global" first names (or
nicknames) for herself and one alternative first name for herself
specific to each friend. Please include only those first names or
nicknames that you think people would actually use to identify you
when seeking you. In nearly all cases, people who seek you should
(and will) use your true first name unless they don't know what it is.
A friend who seeks this account holder must specify a first name
whose first three letters match the first three letters of one of
these account holder's first names exactly. Any non-letter characters of
the first name (i.e., spaces or hyphens) are ignored in the match process.
The match is case-insensitive. If a first name is three characters
or fewer, then the name must be matched exactly.
EXAMPLE: An account holder has the first name "Eliza-Beth" and the
global alternative "Liz." A friend who seeks this account holder can
use any of "Eliza" or "Lizzie" or "el-i-sweetie-pie" to successfully
match the first name of the account holder. (Remember: only the first
three letters matter.)
- Year when met:
Two friends who seek each other each specify the year in which they think
they met. A match in the year is considered successful if EITHER of
the following condtions apply: (i) the difference between the
specified years is 4 or less; OR (ii) the difference between the
specified years is within 75% of the number of years that have passed since
their average.
EXAMPLE 1: One of two friends thinks they first met in 2002. The other
friend thinks they met in 2006. The difference is 4 years, so the match
in the year when met is considered successful.
EXAMPLE 2: One of two friends thinks they first met in 2002. The other
thinks they met in 1996. The difference is 6 years. The average of the
two years is 1999. Currently (at the time of this description) it is 2008.
Thus 9 years have passed since the average of when the two friends think
they met. Since the 6 year difference is within 75% of 9 years (i.e.,
within 6.75 years), the match in the year when met is considered successful.
- Age of friend when met:
Since we request the year of birth from all users, we can determine
(within 1 year) how old each prospective friend actually is in any given year.
We look at the difference between the age a user estimates the
friend to be in they year they met (according to the user) and
the prospective friend's actual age in that year. A match in the age of a
prospective friend is considered successful if that difference is EITHER:
(i) 5 years or less; OR (ii) within 40% of the prospective friend's actual age.
A match between prospective friends will be successful only if both
friends correctly estimate the age of the other according to this criteria.
EXAMPLE: You seek a friend whom you think you met in 1995. According
to our birth-year records, a prospective friend that we find for you was 28
in 1995. Thus if you guessed your friend's age in 1995 to be anywhere between
17 (40% less than 28, rounded to the whole year) and age (40% greater than 28), then the match in that direction would be considered successful.
- Location:
For each friend that you seek, we ask you for three locations:
(i) where you lived at the time you met this friend;
(ii) where your friend lived; and
(iii) where the two of you actually met, if different from one of the first
two locations. We filter based on each location only if we can find
the specified locations in our databases of towns and cities. Currently our
databases cover most towns and cities in the USA (including Puerto Rico)
and Canada, but no locations anywhere else. Thus, if you specify a location
outside the USA or Canada, we will not filter friend prospects based
on location. If cities or towns specified by both friends are in our
databases, then we require that all locations that should match be
within 150 miles of each other. Our purpose in location matching is
to remove prospective friends who match in name, age, and year criteria
but who were clearly NOT the friend being sought since they lived
in a completely different part of the planet.
EXAMPLE: Tom states that his friend Susan lived in
Milwaukee, WI, when they met, and that Tom himself lived in Madison, WI.
Susan states that her friend Tom lived in Madison, WI, while she lived
Racine, WI. Why Tom confused Milwaukee with Racine we'll never know,
but ALL of these locations are well within 150 miles of each other, so
it doesn't really matter. The match in locations will be considered
successful.
- Description of Friend or Friendship:
We do not use these descriptions at all when we identify prospective friends,
but these descriptions are probably THE most effective tool we have for
you to establish for yourselves whether any of the friend prospects we identify
for you are truly the friend you seek. You should provide as much detail in
these descriptions as you are willing to share.
