Take the Data out of Dating in the Internet System - Essay Example

Summary and Response to the Article: Take the Data out of Dating by Alexis Madrigal The narrator was attending a friend’s Jewish wedding ceremony where he learnt the meaning of the word kadosh that connotes the act of putting apart or elevating one thing above the others. Marriage is holy because it involves choosing and elevating one person above the others. Person Goggle search engine is said to be a kadosh generator because it helps millions of people find the one right person to spend a life time with (Alexis 165) Although the marrying couple met through a friend, this trend is decreasing with time. Statistics show that 74% of singles turn to dating sites to search for their mates. Dating sites such as eHarmony, Match.com and OkCupid use algorithms to pair coupe bases on answers given to predetermined questions. However, even the algorithm software find prognosticating love challenging because the data mining software requires much tuning to create a perfect march. This would involve observing the singles for long periods to obtain sufficient information, a task that is equally difficult. Therefore, the dating sites don’t offer perfect solutions to singlehood. They just connect people with similar interests based on algorithm results. OkCupid site is aggressive in tracking its users to stimulate a three way system that allows a user to send a note, receive a reply and make a follow up. The company quantifies things that people guess but don’t want to prove. For example, all women are attracted to white men based on the men’s looks. Black women get less hit rates but respond more to messages. Asked if the site can customize its algorithm to bring out more statistically correct racial combination, the response was negative. The company said that if they knew the demographic and psychographic factors that would facilitate racial combinations, they would successfully make perfect matches, say combining Hispanic and Indian singles. If dating sites existed in 1950s, how would interracial matches be made? Should white men show up more because women prefer them? These are some of the issues that online dating pose (Alexis 166). The algorithms restrict the volume of information available to users. Without noticing, the algorithms reinforce dominant societal values. Although they are too useful to be discarded, algorithms cause perversity and doesn’t ensure the long-term value of the relationship. Goggle delivered matches offer desiccated choice and only through deviating from predictions can a person set himself apart. The author’s main point/thesis is that online dating, doesn’t guarantee a person to get the perfect match/ the right person to spend a life time with. Algorithm is very useful and cannot be discarded. However, people need to be more aware of algorithms’ perversity that is slowly invading their lives. Dating web pages offer a short-term match that doesn’t support the long-term value that a relationship requires. Statistical probability is not equivalent to correct, just or fair. The Web generated kadosh is vain and offers desiccated relationship choices. It is only after people deviate from web page predictions that they prove their worth, unique capabilities that set them apart from others (Tierney, John 24). Therefore, web generated relationship matches are imperfect because they are based on predictions. The matched couple may be very different in real life. In addition, people often give misleading information that doesn’t compare to their lives. Therefore, online dating can make a person fall in love with a dream, because the real person is the opposite of what they display in their online account. The writer claims that although it is rare for couples to meet offline through social functions, this situation is ideal. Websites pose serious issues but don’t provide perfect solutions. For example, it is difficult to make perfect racial combination. White men seem to have a better chance to meet mates than other races. In addition, black women are less likely to find mates compared to other women. These factors raise questions such as: should white men appear more for dates? Should black women hide their race to increase the chances of meeting a perfect mate? These issues make people hide their identity and give false information to increase their chances of getting a perfect mate. In addition, using software to make a perfect match based on answers given to set questions seems vain. A perfect match would require a lot of personal information. Data-mining software requires much tuning in creating perfect matches. This would involve tracking singles lives to obtain fine details about their lives, which is impractical. Therefore, while algorithms are useful in connecting couples, people should be aware that the matches are not perfect. (Hitsch, Günter & Dan 137) I support the author’s main point that online coupling doesn’t provide perfect matches/ the right person for marriage despite many singles turning to online dating to find soul mates. The author begins excerpt with an analogy about a wedding he attended at St Cruz. He is impressed that the couple met through a friend, because this time honored way of connecting people is slowly experiencing a natural death. Statistics show that 74% of singles turn to dating sites to search for mates. However, what most people don’t comprehend is that webpage matches are not perfect because they are based on algorithmic results (Fiore 17). There is high probability that the algorithm software could make wrong matches because people gave misleading information or system errors. It is complex to make a perfect match because this would require the data- mining software to track an individual to obtain information on different perspectives of their lives. Since tracking person’s life is not possible, the sites depend on the information given by a user to make a match. The sites don’t verify the authenticity of the information. Therefore, the match that results from such algorithm is based on misleading information. The author’s assertions that only through deviating from predictions can one prove a person’s unique traits and set them apart from the rest is entirely true. It is impossible to measure the true values that a person holds through online dating. The article claims that algorithms were made to restrict the amount of information available to users. By drawing from the data that people use daily in their lives and without noticing, algorithms reinforce dominant societal values. The dominant values are too general to define an individual and set them apart from the rest of the human type (Hitsch, Günter & Dan 132). Therefore, online dating depends on probability which cannot be translated to mean correct, just or fair perfect matches. For example, the excerpt argues that black women get less requests and respond to messages more. Does it mean that they are less attractive and if so, how fair is it for them to be vigilant to respond to messages and still get less hit rates? Furthermore, women seem to prefer white men, do the other men have a fair chance to compete with white men for soul mates? Issues like these are sensitive and dating sites don’t conclusively address them. This makes some of the matches very imperfect and impractical in real life. Use of algorithm doesn’t offer perfect matches that tally with the qualities and values that singles could be looking for. For example, the author asked Yagan, an official at OkCupid if the site customized its algorithm to bring more statistically successful racial combination. He replied that such measures were not considered yet. He said that if the site would find out the right combination of demographic and psychographic predictors, they would perfectly make interracial combinations. The implication is that the sites are not able to make successful racial combinations (Fiore 15). Singles who would like to try interracial dating are less likely to meet them because the sites don’t facilitate this. Since the site only promotes dominant social values, it is very difficult for a user to find a person who is unique at face value. After matching, the couple can only discover their true values and character through meeting in person. Therefore, though algorithm makes it easier for singles to meet, the success of the resulting relationship depends on their efforts to meet and discover their unique differences that set them apart and creates a lasting bond. I support the author’s main point because online dating doesn’t provide solutions to societal issues. For example, if dating sites existed in the 1950s, they would have problems dealing with interracial matches due to the racial discrimination that existed that time. This would have denied the discriminated race a chance to find true love. Moreover, online dating supports vanity in our society. People aren’t who they portray themselves to be in social sites. People inflate their character and present themselves as morally upright and achieved persons to increase their changes of meeting perfect matches (Tierney, John 21). While answering the questions, they give the answers they feel are required rather than what they really feel about the asked issues. For instance, no one would admit to be a murderer, liar or unfaithful in a dating site. As soon as a user answers all the questions, a perfect match is generated based on wrong information. This makes dating casual and a vanity affair. Relationships based on online dating have low success rates due to vanity and casualness promoted by dating sites. Online dating fails to provide perfect matches because the information given is insufficient to cover all the aspects of a person’s life. Perfect matches require the algorithm to have a lot of information for example family history, personally traits, moral values and principles, education, interests and hobbies among others. All this information is never included in the dating sites. In addition, the dating sites are required to verify authenticity of the information given to make perfect authentic matches (Truong, 57). The site officials admitted from the excerpt that this is difficult and may result in infringement of users’ privacy. As a result, the suites rely on scanty unverified information to match couples. How then, can a reasonable mature person trust these sites to find the right life partner? In summary, although algorithms are useful and much needed, they don’t produce perfect matches for couples. This is because they rely on scanty and unverified user information to make statistical predictions of perfect matches. These predictions cannot be translated to mean fair, just and correct matches. People should be aware of the perversity that comes with algorithms. Short-term dating matches don’t measure the long –term value that relationships hold. Goggle generated Kadosh only offer desiccated choices. Only through deviating from statistical predictions can we find a person’s unique traits that differentiate them from others. Works Cited Fiore, Andrew T., and Judith S. Donath. "Online personals: An overview."CHI04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. ACM (2004): 13-25.Print Hitsch, Günter J., Ali Hortaçsu, and Dan Ariely. "Matching and sorting in online dating." The American Economic Review (2010): 130-163. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/12/take-the-data-out-of-dating/308299/ Tierney, John. "Hitting it off, thanks to the algorithms of love." The New York Times (2008): 20-25. Print Truong, Vu Hao Thi, et al. "Online dating service providing response status tracking for a service subscriber." U.S. Patent Application 11/057,075. Print Read More