Most dating sites give stats about how well one person will get along with another. In my case, I can also see how unlike someone the dating site thinks I am. On any given day, the people who choose to look at my profile are 80-95% like me and 5-20% unlike me, according to the site. Today, however, my profile was viewed by someone who is supposedly 20% like me and 76% unlike me. I can't even begin to fathom what would make someone could be that different. I looked at his profile, which is quite thin on information, and found that he's in the military and Christian (but not too into it) but nothing that would make me think, "Wow, we'd never get along."
On a related note: two years on the site has made me look at my friends and family with the question of "what would our match percentage be?" For those of you who have used dating sites—and those of you who haven't—has this thought ever crossed your mind?
Lastly, I've got a date lined up for Thursday. Stay tuned for more details.
New Thoughts
3 years ago
7 comments:
Apparently on Eharmony it's pretty common for the site to be like, "Sorry...you don't match with anyone." When I was on OkCupid, I didn't put a lot of stock in the match percentage system. I know there are a crapload of questions, but if I had to write my own questions about things I found important, they might be pretty different from what the site gives you. I was not listed as a 100% match with myself, which I guess brings up some philosophical truth.
Have a good date! Let us know if you find some good drinks... :-D
First of all, I hope it's not creepy that I'm following your site as a stranger. But as a girl who's had a lot of bad relationships and been on a lot of bad dates, I find your blog really interesting and fun to read.
With that said, I'm really curious if their matching criteria would do well on a married couple. I have a feeling that if I was to try a match up with my boyfriend we'd be a low percent match. He doesn't fit my picture of the perfect date, but somehow we still match up well. But then again I don't really know the logistics of how they match people.
No, it's not creepy, Christina--thanks for reading.
As to your comment about your boyfriend, I once came across an ex on the site that I'm on and, as it turns out, our stats weren't great. I feel like the site's algorithms are pretty accurate, especially if one spends a good amount of time answering the questions that determine match percentages. Answering more questions, in theory, equals better results.
I feel like my current boyfriend and I would have tons in common if we were matched algorithmically, as we share a lot of the same pop culture interests and activities. But that doesn't explain the zing, you know? I've gone on dates with people who from the site who had a really high match percentage but completely didn't work in person. So . . I dunno.
Whether dating online or in the traditional sense, you have to be prepared to put up with some creeps. The nice part about online dating is you get a sense of the person you're about to meet. Granted, the meeting doesn't always turn out as planned, but I've had pretty good success meeting some very interesting people (although I'm still out there actively looking, which may mean I'm a bit picky).
I hope your date went/goes well.
I wonder if the site assumes that people who are similar are necessarily better suited to each other. There is that whole "opposites attract" thing going on. Sometimes what you are looking for in a partner isn't a carbon copy of yourself.
I love to be feminine and need support.
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