The dating site also keeps enough data to crack the code of human relationships
Posted 11.03.2011 at 12:00 pm
7 Comments
Amazing Databases: OKCupid
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For the past two years, the four Harvard graduates behind the dating site OkCupid have been studying user data for insight into human behavior and sharing the results publicly. The site has seven million active members, each of whom answers an average of 200 personal questions.
In the process of messaging, chatting, exchanging photos, searching for each other, and winking at one another, they generate billions of data points that the company mines to study some often-delicate issues. Many of the findings are posted on the OkTrends blog, and some should make us uncomfortable: Black women reply to messages more frequently than any other demographic, but they receive the fewest responses from members of every race, including other black people. In contrast, white men receive more responses than members of any other group, yet they respond to women 20 percent less often than non-white men do.
Not all the findings are quite so heavy. Want to know what works in profile pictures and first-contact messages? If you’re a guy, be self-effacing; if you’re a woman, choose conversation-worthy photos over cleavage shots.
Check out the other nine most amazing databases in the world here.
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Sure, create a data base to match people up. People with simulariets can have a great time when all goes well. What the data base leaves off and users will not provide is how humans respond when things go wrong.
Life is not a perfect place and relationship are never perfect. It is a absolute must to know how the other person acts during hard times.
i love databases
Looking at my sentence structure and use of grammar, I suck at any online dating. Poor me would not stand a chance. lol.
@GeeWillikers
You got a point. A successful relationship is based on the ability of a couple to be able to weather the hardship. The beginning of every relationship (thus every new chapter in it as well) has a honeymoon period. That fades into a realm that could be easily disturbed by internal and external stressors that threaten to shred the fabric of the relationship. Of course that's less to do with compatibility and more to do with the misunderstanding people have about how relationships are suppose to work. That's why 50% of all marriages fail. Even compatible companions don't have happy endings. The scientific question is why (thus the answer provided beforehand).
BTW, I'm not sure what you mean by your sentence structure, but if your target is illiterate persons of limited verbal talent (which makes up the majority of what you see on the web) then your problem could be you write too properly for your target group. Not really sure what you mean though. At least I don't have a problem understanding what you write.
The only problem is the persistence of duckface. I didn't know OKCupid was founded by Harvard folks until now, looking at the trends blog there is a lot of interesting information. You have to wonder about the validity and margin of error when citing their userbase. I wonder if they have considered refining their studies and following up with users to get more reliable information.
In ancient times one family would meet another family and choose who would marry.
Now for the future, it becomes digital.
Rather than go on a date.
We go to data!;)
If you input the relevant data honestly you CAN find the perfect partner for you here :D My husband and I found each other on OK Cupid and we couldn't be happier!!!
Now if you are not going to be honestly and thoughtfully answering the questions well....garbage in, garbage out :p