# Anyone else have an Okcupid account? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433 "2008-01-05T20:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/61 "2008-01-27T17:25:36Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] This is just a guess, but I’m thinking that I know how people can manipulate the system so that their match percentage is pretty high with many people and their enemy percentage is low. If they answer many questions, then pick three out of the four for what they want the other person to answer, then it’s likely that they won’t alienate too many people. Does that sound plausible? And then if they’re logged in and don’t log out, they’re also high in the rankings of people who just checked in. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but what THEY answer is also going to affect the percentage, as well as what I set as “very important” and “key” questions. I suppose the method you suggest would make it easier for them to get higher percentages, but it’d only take them so far, I suspect. Some of the MatchMe questions are so inane. [/non sequitor] ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/62 "2008-01-27T18:15:17Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] This is just a guess, but I’m thinking that I know how people can manipulate the system so that their match percentage is pretty high with many people and their enemy percentage is low. If they answer many questions, then pick three out of the four for what they want the other person to answer, then it’s likely that they won’t alienate too many people. Does that sound plausible? And then if they’re logged in and don’t log out, they’re also high in the rankings of people who just checked in. [/QUOTE] Oh, is that manipulating the system? I’ve done that for several questions when it was not so much that I wanted a match to choose a certain answer, but rather that I wanted a match who wouldn’t choose a certain answer, but any of the other choices were equally fine. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/63 "2008-01-27T18:21:24Z")
I just started fiddling with my account again last night. Some of you will see me as having stalked you out of curiosity. My friend in Austin TX asked me to recommend a dating site for him a few days ago so I gave him OKCupid to try. He got FIFTEEN messages in the first 2 days (all legit) and has three dates this week already! He is one of those smart AND good-looking guys. Obviously the most desireable dude in Austin. I noticed the same zip code quirk as **Tuckerfan** did, though. All of my matches were from the Cincy/Kentucky area. When I clicked on someone who lives under 20 miles from me, it would say they were over 200 miles away. I switched my zip code to the next town over and that fixed the problem. I also emailed OKCupid about it (a coupld weeks ago) and never got a reply or a fix. Anyway, I’ve gone to a lot of dating sites in my time and I think this one is “it” for me for a while. If anything, I can’t beat the price! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/64 "2008-01-27T18:39:49Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] Oh, is that manipulating the system? I’ve done that for several questions when it was not so much that I wanted a match to choose a certain answer, but rather that I wanted a match who wouldn’t choose a certain answer, but any of the other choices were equally fine. [/QUOTE] Oh, I do the same for a lot of questions. If you did that for all the questions, though, perhaps you’d be more likely to have higher percentages. (I think the system might be a little more complicated than that, though - like it takes into consideration _how_ important you think questions are, not just the answers you give.) ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/65 "2008-01-27T19:46:08Z")
What a person rates a question will also affect your percentages with them. If you rate something irrelevant, and someone else rates that same question as mandatory, that will cause your enemy percentage with them to go up. Everyone I seem to get along with the best is really far away. Perhaps I’ll emigrate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/66 "2008-01-28T08:20:09Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] Yeah, but what THEY answer is also going to affect the percentage, as well as what I set as “very important” and “key” questions. I suppose the method you suggest would make it easier for them to get higher percentages, but it’d only take them so far, I suspect. [/quote] You’re right, I think. I tried to read that page about how they score and it was just too mathematical for me. And they didn’t talk about enemy percentages anywhere that I could find. > [@Haze](#): > > Some of the MatchMe questions are so inane. [/non sequitor] And some of them would be answered differently by men and women, I think. Or maybe that’s just the sexist in me. But there were a few that I thought that I would answer differently than I answered if I were a guy. > [@Kat](#): > > Oh, is that manipulating the system? Oh sorry, that’s not what I meant. I was just wondering how people could manipulate the system is they were intentionally trying to do so. The way you’re doing it is the way it was intended, I think. > [@Telperien](#): > > Everyone I seem to get along with the best is really far away. I’m finding it fascinating that even after 200+ questions, there are still some people that have 0% enemy percentages with me. I don’t know how those percentages are calculated, but the thought that there are several people who haven’t answered in contradiction to my answers fascinates me. . . especially since I contradict myself sometimes! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/67 "2008-01-28T08:27:22Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] I’m finding it fascinating that even after 200+ questions, there are still some people that have 0% enemy percentages with me. I don’t know how those percentages are calculated, but the thought that there are several people who haven’t answered in contradiction to my answers fascinates me. . . especially since I contradict myself sometimes! 😃 [/QUOTE] I’ve done over 1,200 questions and still find people who’re 0% enemy. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/68 "2008-01-28T09:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] I’ve done over 1,200 questions and still find people who’re 0% enemy. 😕 [/QUOTE] Wow, cool stuff!! So do they look like they match you based on their profiles? Or are you just trying to tell me that it’s not uncommon to have people be 0% enemy with you? If so, I didn’t know that either. Do you know how enemy percentages are calculated? This is getting me very curious. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/69 "2008-01-28T11:31:21Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] Wow, cool stuff!! So do they look like they match you based on their profiles? Or are you just trying to tell me that it’s not uncommon to have people be 0% enemy with you? If so, I didn’t know that either. Do you know how enemy percentages are calculated? This is getting me very curious. [/QUOTE] I’ve no clue as to how the enemy percentages are figured, and I don’t really pay much attention to the matches as all of them tend be either very low or very far away geographically. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/70 "2008-01-28T14:28:25Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] Wow, cool stuff!! So do they look like they match you based on their profiles? Or are you just trying to tell me that it’s not uncommon to have people be 0% enemy with you? If so, I didn’t know that either. Do you know how enemy percentages are calculated? This is getting me very curious. [/QUOTE] All I really know about it, myself, is that enemy percentages have something to do with how important a question is to you. For example, I have a friend who hates children, doesn’t want any, and will not date someone who has any. He answers all children-related questions accordingly, and rates such questions as mandatory so he will have higher match percentages with people who feel the same–and, naturally, higher enemy percentages with those who don’t. One thing you can do is run a WTF report with someone, and that will show you not only what questions you disagree on, but how much percentage damage that did to your match score. Zero percent enemies are very common, actually. I match myself 97%, but then I’ve answered 2,300 questions. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/71 "2008-01-28T21:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] I’ve done over 1,200 questions and still find people who’re 0% enemy. 😕 [/QUOTE] Same here. But it’s rare. I think it has to do with how many they’ve answered too. I’ve noticed some people who are a “good match” for me percentages don’t get higher or lower anymore even though I’ve answered a lot more questions. I figured out why when I clicked on their profile to see how many they’ve answered. Turns out I’ve usually hit the “Intersection” of questions with them of as many as they’ve answered. So really, there’s no way I can get any possible higher with those people. Not unless THEY answer more questions. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/72 "2008-01-29T00:05:16Z")
I have a (very short) profile up there. I’ve met some very cool people through the site. It’s a pretty good place for those of us who aren’t looking for a serious monogamous thing. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/73 "2008-01-29T00:36:37Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo] **Idle Thoughts** , there’s a question about that very thing there. . . to the effect of . . . if you found someone, would you take down your OK Cupid profile? I think I skipped that one. Maybe to answer yes and have it be mandatory would work. [/QUOTE] Snipped. I wouldn’t, no, but I’d change my status to “Seeing Someone” and not get involved deeply with anyone else after that. Which is a lot more than I can say for some others. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433/74 "2008-02-11T02:46:16Z")
I just noticed this thread AND just logged back into my account a few days ago. I might actually try this time. I am **1mariemarie1**. I will get a picture up soon. I guess that would help, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-an-okcupid-account/432433.md?page=3)