The maths of online dating maths careers
The maths of online dating
This means that online dating is big business and consequently the sites that are best at helping people to meet their future partners are going to succeed in the market. This means that online dating sites need to have the best method for matching people and this is where the mathematics comes in.The maths of online dating
You might not think that finding your true love and mathematics have much in common, however increasingly you would be wrong. Just like the fact that more people are shopping online every year, more people are also dating online. The online dating industry is worth an estimated £300 million each year in the UK and 25% of all new relationships are thought to start from online dating.
This means that online dating is big business and consequently the sites that are best at helping people to meet their future partners are going to succeed in the market. This means that online dating sites need to have the best method for matching people and this is where the mathematics comes in.
Assuming an online dating site has a large group of members, you need a way for people to be matched to others who they have a chance of being compatible with. Users are asked to input data into the site, typically answering questions about their likes, dislikes and hobbies. The search is then on to create the best algorithm which can use this data and match people successfully.
Different sites have different methods for matching people, but the American dating site OKCupid particularly likes to boast about its use of mathematics in order to match people. OKCupid even uses the tagline “we use math to find you dates” and writes on its website “we do a lot of crazy math stuff to help people connect faster”. Because OKCupid is so convinced that their use of mathematics is what helps them to be successful, they are very open about their algorithm. Some other sites might be more secretive about their methods, as they want to keep their competitive edge.
How OKCupid use maths to match people.
OKCupid asks users to answer questions, giving three answers for each question. Users need to firstly answer for themselves, then state what they would like their future partner to answer. Finally they are asked how important the question is to them.
There are four options for how important a question is to someone and the algorithm assigns a numerical value to each answer.
| Level of Importance of question | Point Value |
|---|---|
| Irrelevant | 0 |
| A little important | 1 |
| Somewhat important | 10 |
| Very important | 250 |