3 ms·

I think the OkCupid questions in that period were great (submit your answer, what you'd like your match to answer, and how important you think the question is).

I think the OkCupid questions in that period were great (submit your answer, what you'd like your match to answer, and how important you think the question is). My ex found her now-husband on that site.

astrange 4y ago
I tried it around 2010 and it seemed very focused on personality quizzes and oversharing; besides wondering how all these people had 20 different favorite movies, my 100% match was someone I already knew and wouldn't want to date. Didn't seem to consider revealed preferences and the appeal of people who aren't exactly like you much.
- zarzavat 4y ago
  The hardest part of a dating site is getting new people through the door. The personality quizzes, in a very buzzfeedish way, were very effective at drawing people in. In fact they were a little too effective, because they drew in many people who weren't serious about dating and just wanted to fill out quizzes. What OKCupid failed at was being a usable dating site. The matching algorithm was awful.
heleninboodler 4y ago
When I was an OkCupid user, those questions seemed like a smart way to design matching at first, but the more profiles and match evaluations I looked at, I realized that the data they gathered was extremely dirty because too many people didn't understand this system. You'd see questions where they had filled out the "answers you'd accept" answer as if they were answering for themselves, or that they didn't realize they were supposed to check all the answers they would accept (thus rejecting people who actually aligned pretty well). A prime example is the question that asks "would you prefer to give a massage or receive one." You'd see all kinds of people saying they'd like to receive a massage, but they wouldn't accept a partner who said they'd prefer to give a massage.
- SturgeonsLaw 4y ago
  If a dating app is filtering out people who can't comprehend a simple question then that's a bonus
  - heleninboodler 4y ago
    Very Darwinian of you but it's not just a simple question, it's an oddly-presented survey whose directions are a little confusing and unlike any other survey you've ever taken. Proficiency on this task isn't really part of my dating criteria. I ultimately married a pretty smart person who utterly failed to understand it, but I had already learned to discount the "match percentage." When such a large percentage of people blow it, I tend to blame the UX, not the individuals.
  - naasking 4y ago
    Good surveys are hard. Good online surveys doubly so.
  - lelanthran 4y ago
    > If a dating app is filtering out people who can't comprehend a simple question then that's a bonus Conversely, if a question cannot be understood by, say, 25% of the population, it's not a simple question.

astrange 4y ago

I tried it around 2010 and it seemed very focused on personality quizzes and oversharing; besides wondering how all these people had 20 different favorite movies, my 100% match was someone I already knew and wouldn't want to date. Didn't seem to consider revealed preferences and the appeal of people who aren't exactly like you much.

zarzavat 4y ago
The hardest part of a dating site is getting new people through the door. The personality quizzes, in a very buzzfeedish way, were very effective at drawing people in. In fact they were a little too effective, because they drew in many people who weren't serious about dating and just wanted to fill out quizzes. What OKCupid failed at was being a usable dating site. The matching algorithm was awful.

heleninboodler 4y ago

When I was an OkCupid user, those questions seemed like a smart way to design matching at first, but the more profiles and match evaluations I looked at, I realized that the data they gathered was extremely dirty because too many people didn't understand this system. You'd see questions where they had filled out the "answers you'd accept" answer as if they were answering for themselves, or that they didn't realize they were supposed to check all the answers they would accept (thus rejecting people who actually aligned pretty well). A prime example is the question that asks "would you prefer to give a massage or receive one." You'd see all kinds of people saying they'd like to receive a massage, but they wouldn't accept a partner who said they'd prefer to give a massage.

SturgeonsLaw 4y ago
If a dating app is filtering out people who can't comprehend a simple question then that's a bonus
- heleninboodler 4y ago
  Very Darwinian of you but it's not just a simple question, it's an oddly-presented survey whose directions are a little confusing and unlike any other survey you've ever taken. Proficiency on this task isn't really part of my dating criteria. I ultimately married a pretty smart person who utterly failed to understand it, but I had already learned to discount the "match percentage." When such a large percentage of people blow it, I tend to blame the UX, not the individuals.
- naasking 4y ago
  Good surveys are hard. Good online surveys doubly so.
- lelanthran 4y ago
  > If a dating app is filtering out people who can't comprehend a simple question then that's a bonus Conversely, if a question cannot be understood by, say, 25% of the population, it's not a simple question.