# Screw you, okcupid web site designers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [September 7, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855 "2019-09-07T22:00:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/1 "2019-09-07T22:00:16Z")

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A minor thing to bitch about, but I’m pissed. I’ve been using the okcupid dating site for a couple of years. They have a rather frustrating messaging system where you basically have just one chance to send a message to someone. After you send them a message, you cannot send them another unless they reply to you. You can’t even see their profile any more until they reply to you.

They also have a terrible UI feature where pressing ENTER while typing a message would **send** the message. I discovered this when I started a message with a salutation and then pressed ENTER to move to the next line. Boom, the message consisting solely of “Hi Ann” was sent. Needless to say, I did not make a great first impression on Ann and never heard from her. EVERY okcupid user I’ve talked to about this has said they’ve been bitten by it.

Then I discovered that there’s a setting to disable send-on-enter. Great, problem solved. Then some time later, the same thing happened again – I inadvertently sent a single line message by pressing ENTER. WTF? I checked the setting and somehow it had reverted to send-on-enter. By then I had discovered that shift-ENTER adds a newline without sending (completely intuitive, right?), so I just started using that.

So a couple of days ago I found a profile of a woman who looked very interesting to me. Shared interests, seemingly compatible personality, etc. I spent some time preparing and then today started writing a message to her. I wrote “Hi Amy” and carefully pressed shift-ENTER. No problem. Then I noticed a button at the bottom of the message window that said “Add intro”. Hm, I never noticed that before. I wonder what it does. Adds an introduction to my message? That doesn’t really make sense. So just to see what would happen, I clicked it. Yep, boom, single-line message sent, and I don’t expect I’ll ever hear from Amy. Apparently okcupid has changed their website so that the button that was previously labeled “Send” is now labeled “Add intro”. WTFFF? What was wrong with “Send”, which tells you what it will actually do, while “Send intro” is ambiguous at best? BTW, “intro” is not even a word, you morons! And if you make a change like this, maybe tell us about it?

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/2 "2019-09-07T22:12:37Z")

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I just opened up OKCupid for the first time in a while and it’s nearly unusable now. I tested your message thing and it works just as you described. (Sorry, Heather). It used to be a way more fun site.

It turns out that three women wrote to me during my hiatus. Go me!

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/3 "2019-09-07T22:17:43Z")

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That seems really

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/4 "2019-09-07T22:42:02Z")

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> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> That seems really

😃

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/5 "2019-09-07T22:48:41Z")

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Fortunately it’s not the only online dating platform.

I met my wife on eHarmony. Our 6 year anniversary is this month.

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**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/6 "2019-09-07T23:09:17Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> I just opened up OKCupid for the first time in a while and it’s nearly unusable now.

Seconded - OKC is completely useless now. They’ve made it into a stupid game.

Also, I don’t at all believe the site anymore. I keep getting “likes” and notifications that someone has sent me a message. Either it’s impossible to find out for sure, or they’re just trolling people.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/7 "2019-09-07T23:45:44Z")

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> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> Fortunately it’s not the only online dating platform.
> 
> I met my wife on eHarmony. Our 6 year anniversary is this month.

Sure there are others. We know that. OKCupid was great six years ago. It’s also free.

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/8 "2019-09-07T23:59:17Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> Sure there are others. We know that. OKCupid was great six years ago. It’s also free.

OKCupid was more than merely great. There is no other. And it’s gone, long gone. Utterly useless.

What broke it for me was when they made it so that you _were not allowed to read_ messages from someone who _had written messages to you_ unless you had first gone onto that fucking DoubleTake screen where you pretend it’s Tinder and swipe left and swipe right; and you have to have swiped in an affirmative direction on this person’s picture.

They’d tell you via email “you got a message from somebody” then you’d go onto OKCupid and it would not display the message until you played the DoubleTake game.

I’d like to find the people who bought them out and ruined it, and break their feet bones, slowly.

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/9 "2019-09-08T00:33:11Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> Sure there are others. We know that. OKCupid was great six years ago. It’s also free.

Free is nice. eHarmony certainly wasn’t free.

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/10 "2019-09-08T00:41:45Z")

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> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> Free is nice. eHarmony certainly wasn’t free.

You get what you pay for.  
Give it a minute…

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**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/11 "2019-09-08T01:00:34Z")

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> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> You get what you pay for.

I’d happily pay considerably more than [Match.com](http://Match.com) or eHarmony charge to have classic OKCupid back. I wouldn’t give you a dime for a year’s worth of access to any of the others.

I want the 10,000 questions and the algorithm that matches people based on them. Not 16 shallow questions and freaking photo.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/12 "2019-09-08T01:02:42Z")

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> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> Free is nice. eHarmony certainly wasn’t free.

It was not only free but much better than eHarmony for where I lived and the matches that I would get. My needs are met now through Tinder and Bumble.

> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> I’d like to find the people who bought them out and ruined it, and break their feet bones, slowly.

The [match.com](http://match.com) group bought them. The also own plentyoffish, Tinder, Hinge and, apparently over 40 other dating companies.

eHarmony is a parent company that owns a few other sites as well.

Facebook has just started rolling out a dating function that is going to attempt to take them all down.

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**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/13 "2019-09-08T01:55:45Z")

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I joined ok cupid a couple of months ago. I got quite a few very aggressive responses and it freaked me out so much that I just kind of abandoned the site.

I feel bad about all the folks I’m not responding to, but man, it’s just too much for me. It’s very difficult to tell who is real.

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/14 "2019-09-08T01:59:15Z")

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> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> You get what you pay for.

Hah! 😃

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/15 "2019-09-08T02:27:24Z")

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> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> What broke it for me was when they made it so that you _were not allowed to read_ messages from someone who _had written messages to you_ unless you had first gone onto that fucking DoubleTake screen where you pretend it’s Tinder and swipe left and swipe right; and you have to have swiped in an affirmative direction on this person’s picture.
> 
> They’d tell you via email “you got a message from somebody” then you’d go onto OKCupid and it would not display the message until you played the DoubleTake game.

Oh god, +1000 on this. I so hate this process.

“You got a message.”  
“Great, show it to me.”  
“Oh, you can’t see it yet. Try to find it.”  
“How?”  
“Oh just look around. You’ll probably find the person who sent it, sooner or later.”

Jesus fucking Chrsit. What is the point of this? She sent me a message. I want to read that message. LET ME SEE IT.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/16 "2019-09-16T04:12:40Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> I just opened up OKCupid for the first time in a while and it’s nearly unusable now. I tested your message thing and it works just as you described. (Sorry, Heather).

Haha. Heather just wrote me back even though my message just said “hi”. It’s on, baby! Now look what you guys just got me into.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/17 "2019-09-16T05:02:15Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> Haha. Heather just wrote me back even though my message just said “hi”. It’s on, baby! Now look what you guys just got me into.

You get a reply without even trying? I must be doing something wrong.

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**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/18 "2019-09-16T10:32:19Z")

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I’m not on any dating site these days, but I’m starting to get “hit on” on twitter. I have a very attractive “doctor” who I decided to reply to, just for fun because I was pretty certain he was not really who he was pretending to be.

He moved to how much money I have within minutes. My last reply to his question of how I support myself was “LOL”. He’s still tweeting me even though I have stopped responding to him.

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**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/19 "2019-09-16T15:32:49Z")

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> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#):
>
> He moved to how much money I have within minutes. My last reply to his question of how I support myself was “LOL”.

Aww, c’mon answer him - ‘A cup, a witty cardboard sign\*, & a busy corner’

- Need $ for booze, Need first class airfare home, etc.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-you-okcupid-web-site-designers/839855/20 "2019-09-16T15:41:47Z")

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> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> Aww, c’mon answer him - ‘A cup, a witty cardboard sign\*, & a busy corner’
> 
> - Need $ for booze, Need first class airfare home, etc.

“Will [del]work[/del] beg for food”

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