What We Need More Of Is Science: Online dating in the digital age

[Howard Alan Treesong]

OKCupid's dating science blog has been data-mining millions of profiles to reach some really amazing conclusions about what people say vs. what people do. It's like sociological hardcore pornography.

The latest one is about the science of profile pictures, and check this fact out: the MySpace Shot is the single most effective photo type for women.



Not only that, girls actually like it when buff guys pose without a shirt:



Or at least young guys: the effectiveness of the “abs pic” decreases sharply with age.



Also, the older a woman is, the more effective it is for her to show her breasts:



This stuff is amazing. I am getting all recursivelyenumerable up in here. Previous mind-blowing posts include Everyone Is Actually Racist Forever and histograms of the best words to use in a first message to get a reply.

WE ARE APPROACHING THE OMEGA POINT OF QUANTIFYING MALE-FEMALE INTERACTIONS.

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[Eric P]

i could have told you everyone is racist.

[Fragamemnon]

Amazing post. I never knew they had a stat/science blog going.

The racism article is especially interesting, and surprisingly reinforces a lot of the common beliefs by some racial groups in terms of what is 'available' and what's not. Fascinating.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I also love how they use your Zodiac sign as a control group

Here's a humdinger of a data point:

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I also was kind of surprised to find that optimum first message length is 200 characters or fewer. Twitter am cry. :'(

[BobFromPikeCreek]

I love these articles.

[Flannel Boy]

That's not good.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

(Image removed from quote.)
That's not good.

erik: No Shirt just keeps getting better. It defies logic.
Chet: I can't believe it's so much better than All Dressed Up.
erik: Science is not about your feelings.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

Holy shit at the part about the irrelevance of showing your face. Wow.

[Yeti]

1: be literate.

Father Mike  :'(

[Kestastrophe]

What exactly is a "myspace shot"? I don't do the social networking scene

[Howard Alan Treesong]

What exactly is a "myspace shot"? I don't do the social networking scene

Google Image Search Myspace Shot

(self-photographed, high camera, dutch angle, sultry look)

http://www.igooh.com/notas/tene-mucho-cuidado-con-las-bellezas-que-aparecen-en-myspace/

[Madrun Badrun]

1: be literate.

Father Mike  :'(

I can always just post shirtless with a bunch of animals around.  In fact I think I will go to the petting zoo now. 

[Fresh Prince]

I think you need to be fit

[Yeti]

1: be literate.

Father Mike  :'(

I can always just post shirtless with a bunch of animals around.  In fact I think I will go to the petting zoo now. 

 :'(

[Yeti]

1: be literate.

Father Mike  :'(

I can always just post shirtless with a bunch of animals around.  In fact I think I will go to the petting zoo now. 

 :'(

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[Madrun Badrun]

lol the post is right, I just missed "pics" after "shirtless". 

[Flannel Boy]

With your gut? Keep the shirt on.

[Bebpo]

Where is the modifier for "sharp knees"

[BlueTsunami]

Photographing chubs from a higher angle is widely used photographic technique. Gotta' unmask that chin and jawline somehow  :'(

[Madrun Badrun]

With your gut? Keep the shirt on.

I'll place animals in front of me so as to conceal the nasty bits.  I think standing behind a black bear will do. 

[Moran]

What exactly is 'doing something interesting'? It's weird that pictures with animals>travel photos though.

[Joe Molotov]

What exactly is 'doing something interesting'?

[Cormacaroni]

[Brehvolution]

So posting a shirtless myspace shot would get me double the women?

[Madrun Badrun]

no.  A myspace shot would get you double the men. 

[Boogie]

Not only that, girls actually like it when buff guys pose without a shirt:

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Oh shit.

And all this time I was trying to keep my online dating photos classy.  No wonder I've been crashing and burning online. 

TIME FOR A NEW STRATEGY, BITCHES.

[Boogie]

(Image removed from quote.)
That's not good.

exxcellent.

[Madrun Badrun]

Boogie riding his horse in just his mountie pants and hat

[Fresh Prince]

Boogie riding his horse in just his mountie pants and hat

That would work. Topless and with animals. I like the way you think.

[CajoleJuice]

Look at my horse. My horse is amazing.

[Cormacaroni]

Boogie riding his horse in just his mountie pants and hat

...brandishing a no-knock warrant!

[Fresh Prince]

Look at my horse. My horse is amazing.

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[Boogie]

Boogie riding his horse in just his mountie pants and hat

That would, of course, work well.

However, I have security concerns about plastering my pic in uniform on my profile on a dating site.

[Madrun Badrun]

but it would only be half-uniform!

[Fresh Prince]

And if you were headless it'd improve your chances!

[Madrun Badrun]

In before PD asks how a headless man would give a chick head and GS replies like he knows a thing or two about headless head.

[Brehvolution]

Boogie riding his horse in just his mountie pants and hat

That would, of course, work well.

However, I have security concerns about plastering my pic in uniform on my profile on a dating site.

Organize a mountie calendar.

[Madrun Badrun]

god I hate people. 

[Flannel Boy]

 

[Flannel Boy]

Clearly, I need to move to somewhere warmer.

[Madrun Badrun]

bi people tend to think they are smarter then?  what's the  about?

[Flannel Boy]

bi people tend to think they are smarter then?  what's the  about?

 

[Madrun Badrun]

bi people tend to think they are smarter then others?  what's the  about?

 

:'( 

what's the about

[Flannel Boy]

Nearly 40% of OKCupid users believe that they are geniuses. Seems  worthy.

[Madrun Badrun]

My guess is that would be the general numbers anywhere. 

[Flannel Boy]

My guess is that would be the general numbers anywhere. 

Although many people do suffer from illusory superiority, OKCupid members seem especially susceptible to overestimating their positive attributes.

[Madrun Badrun]

Maybe if you were bi you'd gain some self confidence Malek. 

[Flannel Boy]

I would, at the very least, double my dating pool and double my chances of scoring.

So 0 x 2 = 

[Flannel Boy]

Fascinating that girls dont give a fuck bout travel. I must have met some weird types then.

 

Just because women don't like travel photos used for profile pics,  doesn't mean they don't like to travel.

[Flannel Boy]

I guess, you'd think that be indicative of what they like though.

Here's the main problem with travel photos:



You're tiny. From the photo, a woman really doesn't know whether you're attractive or you have giant acne scars.

[Madrun Badrun]

I would, at the very least, double my dating pool and double my chances of scoring.

So 0 x 2 = 

You're assuming that the extra confidence would come from scoring.  It may come from a feeling of being different ect. 

[Flannel Boy]

We're talking about travel photos in general. In most of them, people tend to try to capture the surrounding landscape, buildings, people, etc. To make sure that these things aren't obstructed, the person in the photo has got to be standing a fair bit back.

Here's an example of a girl's profile pic (first profile on my search):

[Flannel Boy]

 

[Mupepe]

Travel photos don't matter for two reasons:

Just because you have traveled somewhere doesn't mean you do so often.  most people have been to at least one interesting place.  Maybe you used to travel and don't anymore?  Too many questions

and

The initial grab for most of these people based on the data (shirtless pics, myspace pose, etc) is sexual attraction.  Traveling with someone is a relationship/couple deal.  We're looking for a 'would fuck me in the backseat of my car near a catholic school while i rub his sweet abs' deal. 

[Cormacaroni]

.