User:Rhutama/sandbox

OKCupid
OKCupid was founded by Harvard University geniuses who also found SparkNotes. The idea of OKCupid actually came from the prototype of SparkNotes. Both of these websites have similarity in which both allows people to take quizzes and tests about their personality. The difference is that OKCupid take the results of these tests and quizzes further to a point of finding a match (See Matches). OKCupid is now deemed as one of the popular online dating websites with more around 10 million users since its debut in 2004 and 1 million active users.

Online Dating Culture
OKCupid, like other dating websites has change dating culture as we know it. In the olden days, people go to bars and clubs in order to “meet people”. But nowadays, people do not need to be out and about to meet people. One can be sitting down in front of the computer in his/her room and still meet people. Online dating website allows people to “search” for potential dates at their own convenience. Within the anonymity that the Internet gives, people are becoming very picky and direct in their approach. OKCupid has a number of instances where people directly ask for sex, without even introducing him/herself first to the potential dates. In extreme cases, people have been sending pictures of their vital organs before starting a conversation. One blogger expresses her intention to use OKCupid. She says, "After I got divorced last year, I wrote an OkCupid profile in which I let it be known that I'm down for casual sex. I don't enjoy meaningless sex -- which I had the last five years of my marriage -- but I am all for high-octane adult fun. And since I had spent the last 20 years married, I was in no hurry to get back into another long-term, monogamous relationship" (Jagger 2014). This then raise the question what does dating means in the realm of online dating. Is it really dating as in the traditional sense where people get to know each other's likes and dislikes through dinner, or is it looking for casual sex?

Matches
Match searches allows people to "shop for partners". People are able to filter and sort out the "types" of people they would like to date. The match system also allows users to use advance filtering, which gives for more specific credentials. But who comes on top of your list and how does OKCupid rate the matching percentage between another uses more than meets the eye.

OKCupid uses mathematical algorithm in order to find the matching percentage between potential lovers. One of the founders, Christian Rudder, explains this algorithm on a TEDTalk video. When signing up as a new user, OKCupid while asking basic questions such as your gender, age and sexual orientation, it will also asks you to take quizzes and personality tests. These questions ranges from the topic of favorite food to political ideology. In each of these questions there are three components that are integral to finding your match. The first one is how you answer the question, the second component is how you want your potential partner to answer the question, and the last component is how important the question is to you. When the three components are combined that is your data. Then, that data will be use for comparison with other people's data in order to find your match.

That is how OKCupid generates matching percentage. This means the more you answer the questions, the more match you will likely have. One guy found it difficult to find love in Los Angeles, a city of more than 3 million people on OKCupid because he only answered few and random questions and the questions he chose were unpopular. Fortunately for the guy he was a hacker so he broke the code and used random sampling questions from women in Los Angeles and San Francisco to find his true love. However, love is certainly a complex matter and is it really possible to find love through mathematical algorithm. The answer may vary from person to person. OKCupid works for some, but not for all.