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Data, A Love Story: How I Gamed Online Dating

Description

I was tired of terrible first dates. When I decided to try online dating, I wasn’t going to let my profile mugshot and a few lines about me decide my fate. Instead, I did what any enterprising young woman in my position would do: I gamed the system! I created a series of male user profiles, registered a bunch of accounts and logged in as men. For weeks, I studied all the women using that service and collected data on the ones who seemed most popular.
I eventually compiled everything into a deep data analysis. Then, I logged back into the service – this time as a woman – and created a profile using my own information, but skewed to the trends I uncovered. Within a week I had the most popular profile on the service. Two months later I was dating the person who would later become my husband.
Most people don't understand their audiences. In this session, I’ll detail how I gamed online dating...and what that means for anyone trying to land a committed relationship with their users.

Questions Answered

  1. Does listing "Arctic Baby Seal Hunter" as your job give you a statistical advantage over other online daters?
  2. Why (and how) are the algorithms used on dating sites broken?
  3. What are the top five words popular online daters use in their profiles?
  4. In the online dating world, do scotch drinkers prefer redheads?
  5. Who *is* this guy you married?! (Preview answer here: http://www.webbmediagroup.com/bri)

Tags

dating, gaming, data science

Meta

Event
Interactive
Category
Solo
Theme
DIY, Hacker and Maker
Level
Intermediate

Speakers

Organizer

Amy Webb Webbmedia Group

Additional Supporting Materials


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