Studies

How do you create the perfect online dating profile? There’s been a lot of advice and speculation over the years, but brace yourselves – there is now a study that shows you how to create the perfect online dating profile. That’s right – it’s science.

Scientists from Barts, the London School of Medicine and The University of North Texas have discovered the secret to the perfect online dating profile. In an analysis of 86 psychology, sociology, computer, and behavioral studies, they found answers to questions that have stumped the online dating community for years. They have come up with a list of specific guidelines – from creating the perfect profile handle to the wording of your first message.

Here are some of the highlights:

Your profile handle.

Men prefer simple to complex names, and ones that indicate the person behind the handle is attractive (i.e. “Cutie” scores well). Women however prefer smart handles, ones that show the guy put some thought into its creation (i.e. "TheUniverseisVastlikemyMind" perhaps? Just kidding...). Similarity breeds affection for both sides however – if you call yourself “HotStuff” then likely the person called “SexyTime” will find you equally appealing.

Photos.

The research suggests women should have a “genuine” smile – that is, the crinkles on the corners of your eyes should be evident. The study also suggests women wear red and tilt your head slightly in your photo. Against previous advice, the science suggests you should post a photo with other people so you are perceived to have friends, although they suggest you position yourself in the center (a place of power).

Your headline/ who you are.

Be authentic. According to the study, if someone sounds strangely impersonal or looks like they spent a lot of time crafting their description, they will be perceived as liars. You should also aim to describe yourself more than the type of partner you want (70/30 ratio). Men prefer women who are “fit” but not body builder types with loads of muscles, while women prefer men who are risk-takers and courageous, even more so than if they are kind.

Descriptions.

People look for unintentional cues as well as what’s written in your profile. This is one reason why poor grammar is a turn-off – it signifies a lack of education, also a turn-off. Also, relating a story in a humorous way is a lot more attractive to potential matches than writing a general phrase like “My friends think I’m hilarious.” In other words, illustrate what you mean, instead of just saying something is true.

Messaging.

Unlike meeting in person, people tend to disclose more personal information more quickly if they communicate online. If you don't know how to start messaging a match, a good ice breaker might be: “What did you like in my profile?” – as it gets the other person thinking about you in a positive way.  Spontaneous humor also puts people in a good mood, and makes them more receptive. Don’t play the waiting game however – most people want to move quickly to see if there’s a connection.

Another year, another crop of studies trying to solve the problems of online dating. Maybe I shouldn't get so into them, but I can't help it. If science can help us get even a little bit closer to finding love, I'm all for it. The end of 2014 and beginning of 2015 predictably brought on a slew of new research with some interesting insights to share.

One study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found something that's unlikely to surprise you: men who post more selfies to social media sites are more narcissistic.

The research uncovered a connection between a penchant for posting selfies and four personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy and self-objectification. Narcissism and psychopathy were both linked to the number of selfies posted, while narcissism and self-objectification appeared to influence the tendency for men to edit photos of themselves online.

Online dating is a world of contradictions.

Christian Rudder, co-founder of OkCupid, is responsible for one of the most successful dating sites in the world – yet he has never been on a date with someone he met online. There is nothing more human or more inexplicable than romance – and yet Rudder seems to have turned emotions into science and found a formula for love.

Christian Rudder is the man behind the OkTrends blog, which he recently spun into a book called Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking). Miraculously, though it's hard to imagine anything colder or more impersonal than numbers, Rudder has managed to find humanity in his work. In his hands, data becomes revelations about human nature.

Amongst his findings was the not-so-surprising news that, no matter how old men get, they always find 22-year-old women most attractive. Women, on the other hand, tend to be most attracted to men around their own age. Rudder also caused a flurry of media attention when he reported that people typically rate potential matches of their own ethnicity as more attractive than others.

Naturally, claims like those don't come without controversy or criticism. Some have accused Rudder of presenting a damaging reductionist view of human behavior. Others have said it's impossible to understand what people want from love and sex via a faceless website in an industry that has a bad reputation for telling lies.

Not to mention the constant stories of outrage we hear over surveillance of citizens' Internet activities, or of exhaustion over companies using personal data for marketing purposes. In a world where privacy is increasingly a concern, studying the habits of OkCupid users may seem like a misinformed choice. And if that seems like a misinformed choice, imagine the backlash after telling OkCupid users that they'd been experimented on.

In 2014, the discontinued OkTrends blog returned from a long hiatus with a posted called “We Experiment On Human Beings!” The response felt predictably fierce to most of us, but Rudder maintains he was surprised by just now negative the public's reaction was. To him, it was merely the cost of admission: users get a free site, and in return they share their data.

To his credit, Rudder is happy to admit that the facts shared in his book are only “tiny windows looking in on our lives.” Data science is interesting, but not perfect. Ultimately, he believes his purpose is good and that the end of furthering social science fully justifies the means.

With over 29 million members, a buzzed-about blog, a #1 dating app, and more than 14 million followers across the social sphere, it's safe to say Zoosk knows a thing or two about online dating.

Using their dating expertise and data gathered from studying nearly 4 million messages and 430,000 profiles, the gurus at Zoosk curated the hottest trends of 2014 and made a few predictions for the new year.

Which online dating trends left us lonely in 2014 and which ones got us (digitally) hot and bothered? What does 2015 have in store? Check out Zoosk's infographic here, and some highlights below.

Messaging

In 2014, singles were least responsive between 2pm and 3pm, presumably because they were either deeply entrenched in work or snoozing off a post-lunch food coma. Men were most active in the morning, between the hours of 9 and 10am. Women, on the other hand, were night owls. The majority of their interactions occurred between 10 and 11pm.

Prediction: Moving into 2015, Zoosk predicts that our 'always on' culture will result in instant interactions all day, every day.

Photos

2014 saw a bunch of trends where photos were concerned. For men, outdoor photos increased messages received by 19% while selfies decreased messages received by 8%. For women, the trend was reversed – selfies increased messages received by 4%, while outdoor photos decreased messages received by 40%. For both men and women, posing with a friend or animal proved problematic, but full body photos increased messages by a whopping 203%!

Prediction: Duck face and bathroom selfies are out, along with mirror photos. Enlist a friend to take your full body shot instead.

Profiles

Honesty reigned supreme for men in 2014. Profiles that included “divorce,” “separate” or “my ex” received 52% more messages. On the other hand, sharing too much too soon scared off potential dates for women. Profile mentions of “divorce,” “separate” or “my ex” received 4% fewer messages.

Prediction: Zoosk predicts we'll all be over surprises in 2015. More and more daters will rely on technology to verify user authenticity.

Technology

Traditionally, online dating has rested on a foundation of surveys. Some are longer than others, but the end goal is always the same: categorize daters based on (possibly meaningless) questions. 2014 was no exception to the trend.

Prediction: Online dating will be about the opposite of “Do what I say, not what I do” in 2015. Instead of relying on your self-reported answers, dating services will increasingly learn your preferences based on your actions.

If you are among the 150,000 Tinder users in Ireland, your chances of finding a match are only one in a hundred - or about 1% - according to a new study.

Researchers for Ipsos MRBI, who surveyed people living in Ireland who say they use Tinder, discovered that dating app users’ chances for finding someone they click with are not that much greater than randomly meeting people at bars and pubs. In fact, the odds may be less favorable with apps, likely because there is the perception of browsing through a seemingly infinite number of eligible singles each time you log on to the app, making commitment seem unappealing. The more choices you have, the less willing you become to settle for just one person.

There is an addictive quality to apps like Tinder, according to its own figures. The average Tinder user spends between an hour and 90 minutes using the app every day, logging in 11 times. There are also an estimated 50 million active users of Tinder, compared to 864 million active Facebook users and 300 million active Twitter users – proving that the dating app has as much power to hold users’ attention as the major social media platforms.

Part of the reason for its low percentage of matches might be Tinder’s demographic, at least in Ireland - preferred mainly among fickle twenty-somethings who log on to the app several times a day. Only 12% of Irish Tinder users are between ages 35 and 44, and for those between 45 and 54, the number goes down to 3%.

Men are also less picky than women when it comes to saying yes to a dating app match. According to the study, they are three times more likely (46%) to swipe “like” on a woman’s profile whereas only 14% of women say yes to a man’s profile. The study also shows however that women invest a little more thought and time - women spend 8.5 minutes reading profiles on Tinder each time they log in, compared to a man’s 7.2 minutes (which are spent swiping).

So what does this mean for daters? The U.K. might not be much different from Tinder users all over the world. There is an accessibility and ease to the app, which has made it extremely popular and given its users a lot of options when it comes to meeting new people. But just like flipping through magazine pictures, sometimes it’s easier to just look at more photos than to reach out and contact someone, even if you find them intriguing. The real test is – can Tinder translate to real-world relationships?

Maybe your chances are about the same on Tinder as they are at your local bar. But until you reach out to try and meet in real life, you won’t know.

In case you haven't noticed, you are now living in a world where online dating is the norm. Millions upon millions of people use dating services around the world. In America, more than half of people say online dating is a good way to meet people. Estimates calculate that as many as one-third of US marriages now begin online. We're on Tinder on our lunch breaks, on our commutes, while we're on the treadmill...

Welcome to the future.

Technology is increasingly a part of our love lives, but... is it the best way to find romance? Is there any reason left to look for love the old-fashioned way?

Well, according to research from Cornell University and the University of Indianapolis, the personal connection – not your Internet connection – may still be most effective way to meet your match. The universities found that those who met their partners through family, friends, or other members of their community experienced “stronger ties” and the positive reinforcement that comes from dating in a more “socially acceptable” way.

Those who met online, on the other hand, were more self-conscious about their relationships, despite the fact that the stigma around online dating has been on the decline for years. Because they didn't meet through in-person connections, those people lacked the automatic support of friends or family. "Our results suggest that those who meet via weak ties perceive lower levels of support for their unions," reports the abstract.

As much as we like to think of ourselves as independent and unconcerned with the opinions of others, very few of us actually live up to that ideal. It is important to us to feel proud of our relationships and supported by those who matter to us. When those things aren't present, it can have a profound impact on the relationship.

"If you meet where there's a supportive social network, you receive encouragement to continue and deepen the relationship – especially when friends or colleagues say: 'We knew you guys were right for each other,'" Cornell's Sharon Sassler told Mic.com. Without that strong foundation, it becomes easier to question the relationship when it hits a rough patch.

Some dating services, like Hinge, are attempting to bridge the connection between in-person and online. Hinge only connects users who share mutual Facebook friends, decreasing the randomness factor while increasing the important elements of support and social approval. It's still online dating, but with a real-life twist.

It's one part old-fashioned, one part new-fangled, and maybe just the right combination of both to be the way of the future.