Dating websites that claim they can find your perfect match with a scientific algorithm are full of it, according to a team of psychologists.

"To date, there is no compelling evidence that any online dating matching algorithm actually works," said Eli Finkel, a social psychology professor at Chicago's Northwestern University, in a press release.

"For years, the online dating industry has ignored actual relationship science in favour of unsubstantiated claims and buzzwords, like 'matching algorithms,' that merely sound scientific."

"If dating sites want to claim that their matching algorithm is scientifically valid, they need to adhere to the standards of science, which is something they have uniformly failed to do.

In fact, our report concludes that it is unlikely that their algorithms can work, even in principle, given the limitations of the sorts of matching procedures that these sites use."

But Markus Frind, a spokesman for the Vancouver-based dating site Plenty of Fish, disagrees. He said his site uses "a field of mathematics called data mining ... that is used in virtually every industry."

"Our matching algorithms work just fine. If you say you don't want to date a smoker, it doesn't make any sense for us to show you smokers. It doesn't make any sense for us to show you people outside of plus or minus six years of your age, it doesn't make sense to show men who are shorter than a woman. It also doesn't make any sense to show a female doctor a carpenter," he said.

"It's very easy for us to predict people you will never date. It's also very easy to predict what kind of relationships will fail. The goal of a matching algorithm is to show you people that you would actually date and stay in a relationship with."

But the report, which will be published in the next issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest, maintains a solid relationship needs a lot more than shared interests and similar viewpoints.

"Developers of matching algorithms have tended to focus on the information that is easy for them to assess, like similarity in personality and attitudes, rather than the information that relationship science has found to be crucial for predicting long-term relationship well-being. As a result, these algorithms are unlikely to be effective," said Finkel.

The report takes further aim at online dating as a whole, noting that browsing through profiles commodifies the dating experience.

"Thus far, the industry certainly does not get an A for effort," Finkel added.

source
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/02/06/online-dating-science-debunked

They told me that I was unmatchable.

You forgot to compensate for the online gaming/Thug Battle variable.

only two kinds of rythm I am interested in and algo is not one of them...

thug battle eh, you play?

Currently 5th in HOF.

hmm stalker

wow you got far since last I been there, nice to see im not the only lonely gamer lmfao

So, the odds of my finding a man for a long term relationship online are slim to none? I'm shocked.

lol you little devil

lol you little devil you, wink

If you send me your nudes I'll give it a shot....

finding LTR begins with meeting people

the internet provides the same opportunity for that INITIAL action, as any other venue or location does,,,

whether and how people follow up on that opportunity is another question

True. The odds of my finding a man for a long term relationship offline are also slim to none.

Negative, Ghostrider. The pattern is full.

I am sure that some day I will find the perfect android.

"To date, there is no compelling evidence that any online dating matching algorithm actually works," said Eli Finkel, a social psychology professor..........

STOP!!!!

Right there! How the hell this thread made it beyond that line just blows my mind.....

What the hell would a man named "Eli Finkel" know about going out and getting freaky....(how freaky would you get with the Finkel?)

I may as well get circumsized again.

I don't know about the statistics of online dating..but I may well get a t-shirt made up that says "How Freaky Would You Get With the Finkel?" Hahahaha...all t-shirt credit to you of course.

Please don't....


is it flatterng...?

Oh yeah...

Still..I would feel the need to kill myself to not dishonor my dogs.

...cause I feel ashamed to admit....I have been drunk enough in the past to have probably have done the Finkel...

God...I feel so dirty now.

I'm sure we've all been that drunk. But now that I think about it..I don't really WANT to know how freaky people have gotten with the Finkel...which I'm sure I'd find out if I wore the shirt. So maybe not. WHEW. That was a close call!

Oh ffs, that article doesn't present any reliable sources other than POF?? Please...and all those "researchers" sound too bogus to ignore. I feel like I lost neurons reading it.