Post Date: January 4, 2022

In the online dating world, different people might have different reasons for browsing dating sites. Some may be just passing the time, while others may be looking for casual dating or serious relationships. In most cases, the attractiveness of a user is a deciding factor. How does the OkCupid dating app measure attractiveness?

OkCupid measures attractiveness based on a ranking system. Ranking factors are your pictures, how many likes they get, and how filled out your profile is.

Understanding how OkCupid measures attractiveness might be tricky because the attractiveness scale can sometimes lead to brutal results.

To clear up your confusion, in this article, I have provided all the information on how OKCupid measures the attractiveness of its users. I would recommend reading the whole thing to be better informed.

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How Does OkCupid Measure Attractiveness? 

Like all dating sites, users of OkCupid interact with the help of their profile, their likes, and their photos. As a result, through the site’s placing system, it chooses potential matches. The app then decides to display them on your timeline. In short, attractiveness is based on the clicks, likes, and frequency with which the “attractive” profiles are visited. 

Furthermore, attractiveness is not just based on your looks and outfit. If you have a funny or captivating bio, or if your overall profile is interesting, you can enhance your overall appeal. This will attract the best profiles for you. 

Hence, users whose profiles and pictures have a higher rating will mostly come across people who fall under the same category. The attractiveness scale of these two people is very close. Hence, they have a shot at being a match.

In turn, people whose profiles have a lower rating will only come across users who have similar ratings as well. 

Your region also plays a factor when it comes to measuring attractiveness. If a certain region consists of a lot of attractive people, you are likely to come across more people from the same region. This will also help you make matches that are convenient for you. This is because you can actually find your potential partners nearby. 

In addition, with PhotoFeeler, you can get an actual review of your profile. This can help estimate your attractiveness and how you appear to other users. 

Tips To Increase Attractiveness 

Attractiveness is just a mere concept that solely depends on the perception of other people. Yet, since we are living in the era of technology, where statistics help make dating matches, math itself can help increase your attractiveness rating.

Keep in mind that these tips are based on the overall interaction and activity of users. 

First Impression

You can instantly stand out from other people if, instead of the basic “hey” or “hi,” you use some other form of greeting.

It can even be the classic “how you doing”, yet it will catch the attention of whoever you want to impress. 

Profile Picture

In most cases, a lovely smile does the trick.

Yet, you can have more interactions if your profile picture speaks a language or consists of something your users can relate to. It can be standing in front of the Eiffel Tower or reading a book. People who have been to Paris or loved that specific book are more likely to connect with you. 

Grammar

Incorrect grammar or abbreviations of words are likely to lead to fewer responses to your messages. In addition, a stronger vocabulary is also said to impress the other party. 

Taking Attractive Photos

Photos that were taken with an interchangeable lens camera have been known to fall under the attractive radar. When using a camera, avoid using the flash and instead rely on natural lighting. This will add to the attractive appeal. 


❤️ Pro Tip: If you’re sick of finding people who are just looking for one-night stands, we recommend trying eHarmony.

It’s one of the highest-rated online dating apps in the world. eHarmony users are actually actively looking for relationships. Give it a try here for free and see if you can tell the difference.

Does OkCupid Hide Attractive Users? 

It can be harsh to hear, but if you are not coming across attractive people, the primary reason might be that you have not been deemed attractive by others. Hence, your rating is low, and you only come across people who are not attractive. 

So no, OkCupid does not actually hide attractive users from you. The site simply does not display them to certain users, depending on the context. This does not necessarily mean that you are not good-looking. Other factors play a role too. 

If your bio is unflattering or all your pictures do not highlight your overall appearance and face quite well, you will naturally get low ratings.

As a result, you will not come across attractive users because the app knows, with the help of statistics, that such people will not take an interest in your ordinary profile. 

However, OkCupid is working on a feature that will enable premium users to hide certain profiles. Premium users will pay a monthly fee of this amount.

This feature will enable them to filter out preferences they dislike. Examples can be short men, skinny women, etc. As offensive as it may sound, the intention of the app is to cater better to its users. 

Apart from these, the incognito mode will allow you to stay hidden from other profiles while being active. This only applies to profiles that you haven’t already liked or messaged.

OkCupid’s Algorithm Of User Matching

According to OkCupid, the algorithm behind the site is actually quite simple. Like all dating sites, it determines if two people are suitable for dating or not. To get the most accurate matches, OkCupid designed its questions for its users in a unique way. 

Instead of asking basic questions or opting for a simple introduction, OkCupid went for in-depth questions.

The questions revolved around whether the user regularly brushed their teeth, if they wanted kids one day or not, etc. The users who had similar answers to these questions are likely to be a match since they have common ground. 

Moreover, to ensure that its users do not match with the wrong people, each question had three additional algorithms that the users had to answer.

These were the user’s answers, the answer to the same question that the user might expect from a potential partner, and lastly, the significance of said question to the user. 

With this data, OKCupid can efficiently analyze if two people are the right choice for each other or if they should keep looking for other matches.

In addition, since the platform is online, it must be computerized. This means there must be numerical inputs.  

Hence, each of the questions had various numbers assigned to them based on their significance to you. Afterward, the numbers are added and converted to a percentage out of a total scale.

This calculation is done for both users. Instead of averaging the two percentages from both users, the percentages are multiplied and then squared. 

This is because dating has a wide range of categories and qualities, and OKCupid does not want to diminish them. It wants to cater to mutual attraction. Averages are likely to give a high percentage if the percentage of one user is incredibly high and that of the other is incredibly low. This can lead to incorrect matches. 

If you want some real-life examples to understand the concept better, you can check out this video. 

Conclusion 

As you can see, OKCupid can do wonders for one’s self-esteem, in both good and bad ways. Yet, I hope this does not deter you from using the app. After all, beauty is subjective. 

If you liked this blog, learn more about OkCupid in these articles:

About the Author

Julia has over 10+ years in the mobile dating app space as a consultant and analyst. Her work has been featured on top websites like Mashable and Women's Health Mag. She writes these blogs to help singles find their true love and life long companion!