A quick Google search reveals there are dozens of online dating sites to consider using when looking for a partner. But, even though online dating offers so many options that are mere clicks away, most people won’t keep using these sites if they aren’t fruitful. With that in mind, some companies have started using big data analysis tools to improve the likelihood of good matches between users.
Personality Traits Are Not Enough
When signing up for a dating site, people must provide basic information about themselves, such as their ages, locations, and genders. Additionally, they’re usually encouraged to give other details, like whether they smoke, what they look for in partners, and their primary interests. As such, the registration form alone gives big data platforms plenty of information data scientists could depend on to help people find their possible soulmates.
But many of the online dating sites that rely on big data go beyond whatever people put on those forms. It’s also possible to use machine learning tools that analyze the photos that people upload. Then, the big data algorithms find people matches that look similar to them. For example, most people must get dating site images approved by administrators before those pictures go live on the sites.
It’s feasible, then, that part of the approval process might include comparing the uploaded file to a database of images to determine which fellow users appear the most like the individual in a photo. Alternatively, if a person’s dating site bio mentions being fond of partners who have red hair or athletic builds, a representative of a dating site could query a big data program to search collections of images for those characteristics.
One Topic Makes People Especially Likely to Get Dates
As it turns out, the ways dating site users populate their profiles with content also matters to a significant degree. More specifically, a study found that people who mentioned travel or destinations in their profiles were more likely to get responses than those who did not talk about travel. There are a couple possibilities for why that finding might have occurred.
For starters, if a person mentions that he or she has gone to a particular place that’s often romanticized in popular culture, such as Rome or Paris, potential partners could feel a mixture of mild envy and appreciation that the person has taken action by deciding to see the world. On the other hand, a dating site user might mention adventure travel as a hobby or say that they aspire to visit a certain destination. Then, the individual may be perceived as someone who’s not afraid to seize opportunities and possibly take risks while doing so.
Better Matches Could Lead to More Paying Members
Many people do a variety of things to maintain or begin a healthy dating life. They may read relevant articles about dating and relationships, plus ask friends who have partners for tips on how they could find people for committed relationships or pure pleasure.
And, when things go exceptionally well on dating sites, people may be more likely than not to sign up for premium memberships. In most cases, adults can start using dating sites for free but have to pay fees to unlock certain features. Frequently, it’s not possible to get a person’s contact details to send messages outside of a dating site without being a premium member.
If individuals are continually satisfied by the kinds of matches that dating sites generate for them, the likelihood goes up that they will decide paid memberships are worth the investment. That’s another reason why it could be so advantageous to dig into data instead of mostly depending on guesswork and experience.
Online dating has become a big business, and that’s largely due to how many people have found suitable matches through them. Although big data probably didn’t result in all those success stories, it undoubtedly played a role in some of them.
