What is The Matchup?
The Matchup is an Internet Online Dating Service provided Free to the students, alumni, and faculty of Boston's most reputable colleges, universities, and institutes. It is made possible through research funding from the MIT Media Lab's eRationality group and volunteer effort.

The Matchup offers the same, yet upgraded, features as its predecessor with many possibilities for additional features and protocols. For example:

• Member Search - Faster and More Accurate.
• Photo Uploads - Allows Seven Images to be Uploaded.
• Communication - The New MatchMail™ Protocol.
  • Messages remain local to the system.
  • Guarenteed delivery. No more lost messages.
  • Notification when the recipient has read your message.
• Privacy - Better Management of Blocked and Ignored Users.

Possible features to come:

• Community Message Board/Forum
• New Matching Algorithms.
• Inverse-Search Matching.
• MatchIM™ Live Chat.

Who is Eligible?
Anyone with a valid email address from one of the recognized college communities listed on The Matchup is eligible to register for the service. If you feel that your college community should be recognized by the service, email The Matchup, and let us know.

The Evolution of The Matchup.
Over the years, students have sporadically organized matchmaking services at both MIT and at Harvard, but there has little effort to connect students on an ongoing basis or bring students from different schools together. There was still a real need to link people from Boston's academic communities and to do so with a robust professional website.

In the spring of 2004, student organizers planned to build a completely new online dating/communication website for Boston's most reputable colleges, universities, and institutes called The Matchup. Those plans were acted upon in the summer of 2004. On July 23, 2004, The Matchup was launched with a very reliable structure, flexible implementation, and professional design. Please let us know what you think. Thanks and enjoy.

Privacy Policy:
The Matchup's information is kept private and not given to any third parties. User information is shared only through the anonymous user profiles on the service. Note that all information except password and email addresses are included in the user profile. This means, for example, that people will be reading your profile information and essays.

Email addresses are not included in user profiles. To contact others you'll have to use the internal messaging system through which you can reveal your direct contact information, if you'd like. We may occasionally email The Matchup's members about special events or changes to the service.

The Matchup may try to improve the service by studying data flows and trends in conjunction with academic researchers. These studies will never involve user identities or any other content included in personal correspondence.

User Rules and Disclaimer

The Matchup is provided as-is; use at your own risk. You must be 18 years of
age and live in the United States of America to participate. The Matchup may be
terminated at anytime. You understand that by using The Matchup you may be
exposed to content that is offensive. The Matchup assumes no liability for the
profiles or behavior of participants.

As a user, you agree not to use the service to impersonate any other person or
to harass any other users. You agree to not place advertisements on your
profile or messages for purposes other than personal online dating, networking,
or communication. Also, you agree to comply with all federal and state laws and
your college's policy on behavior. The Matchup reserves the right to deactivate
your account or censor any aspect of your profile or messages at its discretion
at any time and for any reason.

The Matchup provides a means for users to seek out other users for friendship
or dating. As a user, you may receive messages from other members. You
understand than in response to unwanted correspondence, you can block or ignore
any user's messages or deactivate your account. You understand that any
information entered becomes the property of The Matchup, however, The Matchup
core-administrators will protect all personal infromation from anyone outside
The Matchup team.

You agree to indemnify and hold The Matchup harmless from any claim arising out
of your use of the service, content you send or receive trough the service, any
material you receive as a result of using the service, your violation of any
user's rights, privileges, privacy, or security, any user's violation of your
rights, privileges, privacy, or security, or the use of any information about
you by any user or The Matchup.

Every time you log on to The Matchup you reaffirm that you have read and
understand the User Rules and Disclaimer. The User Rules and Disclaimer are
subject to change.