El Brujo Posted March 29, 2013 Posted March 29, 2013 A few of the OLDSs have tried to attract new people by saying they have "a secret, proprietary algorithm for matching compatible members!" If their secret mathematical formulas work so well, why haven't they resulted in a tsunami of new happy couples---or stopped OLD from hemorrhaging members to meetups? I think the OLDSs are throwing darts at a target on the wall in the hope that one of those darts will hit the bull's eye.
january2011 Posted March 29, 2013 Posted March 29, 2013 They might have and it might also be marketing speak. OLD is great for "good on paper" but human attraction usually requires something more beyond checklists and percentages. That is, it's only one piece of the puzzle. For example, I was not attracted to one of my highest percentage matches on OKC. And after a few more communications with him to try to see if we there was anything else there to take it forward, I realised that he was a bit of a d*ck. He got very aggressive and abusive and I had to block him.
outsidethebox Posted March 29, 2013 Posted March 29, 2013 These various sites have put a lot of work into trying to come up with formulas for matching. And there have been a lot of matches made. They try to choose highest probability of match, but in end you'll get introduced to everyone within your stated preferences if you have that option. I've read here that on some you don't really have ability to constrain the matches and they just match you. (I find that hard to believe but I've seen it stated a couple of times. Even stated I find it hard to believe. If you say you require a non-smoker, then it would be unacceptable imo to match you with a smoker. Maybe they were saying constraints were not broad enough, I don't know. It was one of those Match whatever sites I think they were saying.) In any event, they want it to work, there are many things that make relationships easier or harder to establish that are quite predictable, but even when the probabilities match the essence of chemistry may not be there. But surely meeting those who have not been screened out is better than raw luck of what you can determine about strangers. I see nothing to complain about, but lots of complaints, and usually from less than inspiring by their words males.
soccerrprp Posted March 30, 2013 Posted March 30, 2013 This formula is nothing fancy. It simply scans preferences and matches as best as it can. Nothing magical. I've been matched with (esp. EHarmony) with people that I would never date and had to do my own searching (what if?) to find those that would not have been matched with me, but I find as a possible match. No longer on Match, EH, but i had some success.
Author El Brujo Posted March 30, 2013 Author Posted March 30, 2013 That's my point. The only way these secret matching technologies can really shine is when they attract new members who have no idea what the hell they want---such people are not exactly as rare as hen's teeth. Organizers of meetups seem to have a little better luck... they have a pretty good idea what kinds of people they want to attract. Start a run-of-the-mill nightclub group, and you'll get barhopping singles who like to drink. Start a hiking group, and you'll get single fitness nuts. Start a gaming group, and you'll get a lot of single geeks. I've seen it, and been to those meetups. Some of them have been responsible for over a dozen stable new marriages a year.
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