OK Cupid has a horrible match percent algorithm. Basically someone who has a check list of things that their match cannot be will answer lots of questions as “this matters a lot to me” and “any of these options are acceptable except for this one extreme one that nobody will click anyway.” The stupid algorithm will inflate this person’s match percent with everyone.
So, if you look at people with high compatibility with you, that says more about their question answering style, than how much you have in common.
This is why the algorithm is horrible in theory. In practice my one example is that I am getting married in a month to someone I met on OKcupid with 99% compatibility.
A good website design could change the answering style. Imagine a site where you don’t fill out all the answers at once. Instead it just displays one question at a time, and you can either answer it or click “not now”. The algorithm would prioritize the questions it asks you dynamically, using the already existing data about you and your potential matches—it would ask you the question which it expects to provide most bits of information.
Also, it would use the math properly. The compatiblity would not be calculated as number of questions answered, but number of bits these answers provide. A match for “likes cats” provides more bits than “is not a serial killer”.
Very consistently people that I know and like, when I see them on okcupid, have a high match percentage. When I meet okcupid people with a good match percentage, I usually like them. This seems to imply the algorithm is a lot better than your theoretical worst example of it. I think your situation is much more of a problem if you don’t answer enough questions.
Perhaps the way people tend to answer questions does not change very much from person to person, so this problem does not show up in practice.
However, if you are willing to change your style for answering questions, it is probably possible to game OKcupid in such a way that you get 90+% with anyone you would care about.
Selfdefeating The entire point of OKcupid is to find someone you will actually click with. Inflating your own match percentages artificially just makes OKCupid worse for you. Of course, this doesnt help if the site just isnt very popular in your city.
Eh. Radical: Have the government do this. Literally, run a dating site, have sex-ed classes teach people how to use it, and why gaming it is bloody stupid. That should result in maximum uptake, and would cost a heck of a lot less than a lot of other initiatives governments already run trying to promote stable pairbonds.
Now, how to get this into a political platform…
Still pointless! There is no upside to having a bunch of people you are not actually compatible with think the mirage you constructed is a good match. If they are not a match with your honest profile, you do not want to waste theirs or your own time.
If your actual goal is to have a bunch of one night stands, then make a profile that out and out states that so that you will be matched with people of like mind. Dishonesty in this matter is both unetical and nigh certain to result in unpleasant drama.
Proper use of this kind of tool is an exercise in luminosity—the more accurately you identify what you are truely looking for, the better it works.
Also, see radical proposal: If a site of this type is run by the government, sockpuppets are obviously not going to be an option—one account per social security number or local equivalent, because that is a really simple way to shut down a whole host of abuses.
OK Cupid has a horrible match percent algorithm. Basically someone who has a check list of things that their match cannot be will answer lots of questions as “this matters a lot to me” and “any of these options are acceptable except for this one extreme one that nobody will click anyway.” The stupid algorithm will inflate this person’s match percent with everyone.
So, if you look at people with high compatibility with you, that says more about their question answering style, than how much you have in common.
This is why the algorithm is horrible in theory. In practice my one example is that I am getting married in a month to someone I met on OKcupid with 99% compatibility.
A good website design could change the answering style. Imagine a site where you don’t fill out all the answers at once. Instead it just displays one question at a time, and you can either answer it or click “not now”. The algorithm would prioritize the questions it asks you dynamically, using the already existing data about you and your potential matches—it would ask you the question which it expects to provide most bits of information.
Also, it would use the math properly. The compatiblity would not be calculated as number of questions answered, but number of bits these answers provide. A match for “likes cats” provides more bits than “is not a serial killer”.
Very consistently people that I know and like, when I see them on okcupid, have a high match percentage. When I meet okcupid people with a good match percentage, I usually like them. This seems to imply the algorithm is a lot better than your theoretical worst example of it. I think your situation is much more of a problem if you don’t answer enough questions.
Perhaps the way people tend to answer questions does not change very much from person to person, so this problem does not show up in practice.
However, if you are willing to change your style for answering questions, it is probably possible to game OKcupid in such a way that you get 90+% with anyone you would care about.
Selfdefeating The entire point of OKcupid is to find someone you will actually click with. Inflating your own match percentages artificially just makes OKCupid worse for you. Of course, this doesnt help if the site just isnt very popular in your city.
Eh. Radical: Have the government do this. Literally, run a dating site, have sex-ed classes teach people how to use it, and why gaming it is bloody stupid. That should result in maximum uptake, and would cost a heck of a lot less than a lot of other initiatives governments already run trying to promote stable pairbonds. Now, how to get this into a political platform…
Not if you have an honest account too so you can check compatibility while still broadcasting higher compatibility than you actually have.
Still pointless! There is no upside to having a bunch of people you are not actually compatible with think the mirage you constructed is a good match. If they are not a match with your honest profile, you do not want to waste theirs or your own time. If your actual goal is to have a bunch of one night stands, then make a profile that out and out states that so that you will be matched with people of like mind. Dishonesty in this matter is both unetical and nigh certain to result in unpleasant drama. Proper use of this kind of tool is an exercise in luminosity—the more accurately you identify what you are truely looking for, the better it works.
Also, see radical proposal: If a site of this type is run by the government, sockpuppets are obviously not going to be an option—one account per social security number or local equivalent, because that is a really simple way to shut down a whole host of abuses.