Ok, Cupid: We'll still date her, for her looks
OkCupid's founder Christian Rudder yesterday revealed that their matchmaking website has indeed been experimenting on its users. While some people were outraged, we were more fascinated by what we learned about online dating.
1. Pictures are worth more words than the actual text on your profile
If you're racking your brain thinking of what to write in your online dating profile, maybe you shouldn't.
Instead, go all out looking for the best filters of your best holiday snaps.
Because photos matter, honey.
According to OkTrends, a data blog run by its founder Christian Rudder, looks and personality were basically the same thing. What does this mean?
If this account holder (below) had a profile with zero text, you are likely to rate her highly.
As Rudder hilariously writes on his blog: "(She) is just so obviously a really cool person to hang out and talk to and clutch driftwood with."
It's official: Pictures ARE worth a thousand words.
2. Love is blind
When the site decided to take down all photos for one day to celebrate "Love is blind" day, this is what happened.
-People tended to respond to more messages
- Conversations were deeper
- Contact details were exchanged more quickly
Ah, we can have faith in humanity again... or not.
When the photos came back up after seven hours, these "deep conversations" melted away.
3. The power of suggestion
When I watched Tree of Life that starred Brad Pitt, all the self-professed film critics came up out of the theater raving about it.
Never mind that the movie was more like a slideshow of potential screensavers.
They must have read the good reviews, I thought. Hmmm...
OkCupid, which relies on match percentages to predict relationships, found out something similar: People like each other because they think they're supposed to.
The threshold for having a real conversation (or exchanging FOUR messages, in Cupid-speak) showed the same results.
So here you go.
Proof that looks and "because-we-told-you-so" matter more than anything else.
Sources: OkCupid, Yahoo News
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