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If OKCupid has all of these messages, couldn't they algorithmically rate your message (based on sender patterns, receiver patterns, and/or site wide patterns) b

If OKCupid has all of these messages, couldn't they algorithmically rate your message (based on sender patterns, receiver patterns, and/or site wide patterns) before you send it. While it wouldn't be perfect, it would act like the minimum reading level from most grammar checks. (This feels like something that must have been tried, or dismissed, before.)

jiggy2011 12y ago
Thing is that people who comment on HN are used to writing longish form text with correct spelling and grammar. There are also many people who have a lower education level but still want to use OKCupid and might be a good match for someone.
- sarciszewski 12y ago
  > grammer lol
  - jiggy2011 12y ago
    Touché , edited!
    - acheron 12y ago
      Muphry's Law! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law
Bootvis 12y ago
I believe it will increase message quality but maybe not in a good way: now it's easier to train oneself in sending message that score well but are still a bad conversation starter. What gets measured, gets improved. Unfortunately, measuring real success is quite hard because successful stop using the dating site.
- slig 12y ago
  > Unfortunately, measuring real success is quite hard because successful stop using the dating site. IIRC, when the user disables/deletes his/hers OkC account, they can specify the reason: "met someone on OkC (they can type the other person username)", "met someone elsewhere", "not interested anymore", etc. So they probably have lots of good data on success.
  - potatolicious 12y ago
    Assuming the self-reporting is truthful. How many people are selecting the "this sucks I give up" box? Self-reporting in general is fraught with problems, doubly (quadruply) so when it's something as close to the ego as dating. Also assuming the account is shut off at all as opposed to simply idled.
- jared314 12y ago
  > Unfortunately, measuring real success is quite hard because successful stop using the dating site. Real success is extremely hard to quantify, which is why i'm not suggesting that as the goal. The goal is to grade spam messages, and encourage people to not repeat known spam patterns. (And, if you show the score to the recipients, it also acts as a spam filter.) Encouraging / forcing people to write less spammy messages might improve the overall message quality, just by increasing the cost, in effort and time, of sending the messages. It also provides some minimum level of feedback to the people who get zero responses from their messages.
pessimizer 12y ago
They have actually done the work: http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/online-dating-advice-exactly-what-to-say-in-a-first-message/ http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/online-dating-advice-exact...

jiggy2011 12y ago

Thing is that people who comment on HN are used to writing longish form text with correct spelling and grammar. There are also many people who have a lower education level but still want to use OKCupid and might be a good match for someone.

sarciszewski 12y ago
> grammer lol
- jiggy2011 12y ago
  Touché , edited!
  - acheron 12y ago
    Muphry's Law! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law

Bootvis 12y ago

I believe it will increase message quality but maybe not in a good way: now it's easier to train oneself in sending message that score well but are still a bad conversation starter. What gets measured, gets improved. Unfortunately, measuring real success is quite hard because successful stop using the dating site.

slig 12y ago
> Unfortunately, measuring real success is quite hard because successful stop using the dating site. IIRC, when the user disables/deletes his/hers OkC account, they can specify the reason: "met someone on OkC (they can type the other person username)", "met someone elsewhere", "not interested anymore", etc. So they probably have lots of good data on success.
- potatolicious 12y ago
  Assuming the self-reporting is truthful. How many people are selecting the "this sucks I give up" box? Self-reporting in general is fraught with problems, doubly (quadruply) so when it's something as close to the ego as dating. Also assuming the account is shut off at all as opposed to simply idled.
jared314 12y ago
> Unfortunately, measuring real success is quite hard because successful stop using the dating site. Real success is extremely hard to quantify, which is why i'm not suggesting that as the goal. The goal is to grade spam messages, and encourage people to not repeat known spam patterns. (And, if you show the score to the recipients, it also acts as a spam filter.) Encouraging / forcing people to write less spammy messages might improve the overall message quality, just by increasing the cost, in effort and time, of sending the messages. It also provides some minimum level of feedback to the people who get zero responses from their messages.

pessimizer 12y ago

They have actually done the work: http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/online-dating-advice-exactly-what-to-say-in-a-first-message/ http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/online-dating-advice-exact...