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Home (http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/) Articles (http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/) The maths of online dating

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The maths of online dating
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You might not think that finding your true love and Like 4
mathematics have much in common, however
increasingly you would be wrong. Just like the fact
that more people are shopping online every year,
Related article
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.
R- I found this interesting
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 (http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/search-
dating sites need to have the best method for algorithms-help-online-
customers/)
matching people and this is where the mathematics comes in.
Search Algorithms -
Helping Tescos online
Assuming an online dating site has a large group of members, you need a way for people to be customers find what
matched to others who they have a chance of being compatible with. Users are asked to input data into they're looking for
the site, typically answering questions about their likes, dislikes and hobbies. The search is then on to (http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/s
create the best algorithm which can use this data and match people successfully. algorithms-help-online-
customers/)
* - Explains how people are Have you ever wondered how
matched (algorithm) online retailers seem to know
Different sites have different methods for matching what you want, even when
you only type in a
people, but the American dating site OKCupid
Read more
particularly likes to boast about its use of
(http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/search-
mathematics in order to match people. OKCupid algorithms-help-online-
even uses the tagline we use math to find you customers/)

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 ?- why do they go up to

250? why not 15 or
Somewhat important 10 100?
Very important 250

Example: How compatible are Alice and Bob?

Alice

Question 1: Do you like watching Question 2: Are you a

football on TV? tidy person?

Self Yes No

Wanted from Yes Yes

partner

Importance A little Somewhat

Importance 1 10 Total
score = 11

Bob

Question 1: Do you like watching Question 2: Are you a

football on TV? tidy person?

Self Yes Yes

Wanted from Yes Yes

partner

Importance Very Very

 Question 1: Do you like watching Question 2: Are you a
football on TV? tidy person?

Importance 250 250 Total =

score 500

How their match percentage is calculated.

Alices score: Over the two questions Alice answered a little important and somewhat important
meaning these questions are worth 11 points to her. Bob answered as Alice wanted on both questions
meaning that Bob got 11/11 and that he is 100% satisfactory to Alice.

Bobs score: Over the two questions Bob answered very important both times meaning these
questions are worth 500 points to Bob. Alice answered as Bob wanted on one of the questions meaning
Alice got 250/500 = 50%. Alice is 50% satisfactory to Bob.

OKCupid then take the two match percentages and calculates what is called the geometric mean. For
two numbers this means multiplying them together and taking the square root.

100 50 = 71% (nearest whole number)

Using this algorithm showed that Alice and Bob are 71% compatible. However, Alice and Bob only
answered two questions, which doesnt really give enough information about them. The site therefore
adds in another feature which incentivizes users to answer at least 100 questions.

You might already be wondering about how effective the algorithm is and whether it could be improved.
There is a lot of human psychology involved for example would Alice have really been honest that she
isnt tidy? Some other sites use different tools such as GPS, where users are matched with other people
who are geographically close to them.

In the future there are going to be more and more jobs for people who can use maths in a smart way to
improve the way people do things. Instead of improving a dating algorithm you could be working for an
online retailer making sure people are recommended the products which they like, or improving an app
which helps people plan their next journey.

If you like thinking in a logical, mathematical way, then maybe you would be interested in being a
developer, software engineer or data scientist.

Article by Hazel Lewis (http://www.mathscareers.org.uk/article/hazel-lewis/)

Teaching ideas and resources to support the learning of topics covered in this article can be found on
the National STEM Learning website.
(https://www.stem.org.uk/lx4dtn)

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