Welcome to the New Matchmaker.com

This summer, Matchmaker.com has emerged as an old favorite with a new flair. Not only is the site now a member of the Better Business Bureau, but the Date.com affiliate is now offering its members new navigation tools.

The first of Matchmaker.com's new features is Your Community. In the past, Your Community was divided by factors like religion, geographical region and age. At the new Matchmaker, the database is open, affording singles access to profiles from M&M as well as the parent site, Date.com.

Another new feature is the innovative chat room. The chat room is more high-tech than ever, if you've got a webcam (Doesn't everybody?), then you've got video chat. Of course, you'll have to purchase a $.25 a day Gold Membership for this elite honor, but that's a small price to pay to actually see who you're talking to. You do want to make sure that they pictures on their profile weren't taken in July of 1986, twenty years has a way of adding a few pounds and getting rid of a lot of hair.

While e-mail has become to the twenty-first century what the Pony Express was on the frontier, instant messenger has changed the face of online communication. With one of those thrifty Gold Memberships, you can eliminate the waiting time between e-mails by conversing via Matchmaker's new IM system. Finding someone to IM is as easy as logging on to the Internet. First click on the Who's Online navigation bar on the main page. From then click on Who's Online/IM Online and pick a chatting buddy.

Matchmaker.com has now made Searching for the one more in depth. In addition to basic searches, there's now an advanced search option. You can search for Who's New, Who's having a Birthday This Week, Who's Online and even Featured Members. Even with a Basic membership each day you will find your inbox filled with potential dates. Matchmaker's Cupid delivers a daily picture book of other singles that meet your criteria.

The brainchild of the creators of Date.com, Matchmaker.com offers many of the same perks as DC. For instance, Matchmaker.com members have access to Date.com's online webzine. Replete with dating advice, articles and member success stories, the newsletter is a great tool for distinguishing between a bad first date and a real winner.