General News

At last - we've made it to the final part of our review of OkCupid's newest study, "The REAL 'Stuff White People Like,'" a look at the role ethnicity plays in online dating profile writing. We've already discussed the interests of white people, black people, Latinos, and Asians, so it's time to wrap up our examination with a quick look at the lists for Indians, Middle Easterners, and Pacific Islanders.

Let's start with Indian men. Like Asian men, they describe themselves as simple foodies who are entrepreneurs and engineers, but go a step further by announcing that they are "happy go lucky" and "loving guy[s]" as well. Food ("cuisines"), business ("consultant," "developer," "trading"), movies ("Bollywood"), music ("Red Hot Chili Peppers"), and literature ("The Alchemist") are also important to Indian men. "Cricket" takes the top spot on their list, followed by "Hindi" and "a software engineer."

Indian women share several interests with Asian women, like travel ("exotic destinations," "my passport"), cuisine ("vegetarian," "Indian food," "Thai food"), and chocolate (specifically "dark chocolate"). Various forms of entertainment are also prominent features on the list. "Bhangra," a form of dance and music, is the most-used term, and several movies ("Bridget Jones," "When Harry Met Sally"), books ("The Kite Runner," "Anna Karenina"), authors ("Jane Austen," "Salman Rushdie"), and recording artists ("Norah Jones") make the list.

The top 5 words and phrases for Middle Eastern men are "Arabia," "studying," "Arabic," "Iran," and "I'm a simple guy," indicating an interest in countries and heritage. "Lebanese," Egypt," "Persian," and "Palestinian" are also frequently used terms. Like Asian men, Middle Eastern men are interested in "different cultures." Like Latino men, they describe themselves as "very funny." And like black men, Middle Eastern make an "I am cool" announcement.

The list for Middle Eastern women reveals a preoccupation with physical appearance - "petite," "big eyes," "sexier," "hairstylist" - and an interest in a diverse set of musical and literary amusements, like "Cat Power," "Baudelaire," "Tolstoy," and "Damien Rice." "Chocolate" makes another appearance, but so do several very unique choices, such as "archery," "Darjeeling," "Brooklyn," and "grape leaves."

Men from the Pacific Islands are proud of their heritage ("Hawaii," "Filipino," "Samoan," "Islands," "ukulele"), but also love California ("Bay Area," "San Diego"). They describe themselves as "tall, dark, and handsome," "chivalrous," and "always down," and seem to be inordinately fond of "[their] abs." An interest in "surfing" will probably not come as a surprise to many, but an interest in "cowboys" and "gummy bears" that's so strong those terms made it into the top 50 might.

Women from the Pacific Islands overwhelmingly put "Alicia Keys" into the #1 spot, followed by "hula," "my girlfriends," and "kickboxing." They depict themselves as "quick-witted," "fashionable," and "strong," with a fondness for travel ("Venice," "my passport," "road trips"), food ("Trader Joe's," "Food Network," "home cooking"), and medicine ("medical field," "health care"). They also list "chivalry" at #42, making them a good match for the "chivalrous" Pacific Islander men!

So what can you take away from all of this seemingly-random data? While it's interesting to see how men and women of different ethnicities describe themselves, most of the lists exemplify racial stereotypes. We are not necessarily looking at who these people really are; we are seeing the kind of person they choose to portray themselves as.

One thing, however, is certain: almost everyone loves Alicia Keys.

To find out more about OkCupid, please read our review of OkCupid.com.

Cupid Media let us know that FilipinaHeart.com has now been renamed to FilipinoCupid.com. This change in the name is to better reflect Cupid Media and its network of dating sites (most of their sites end in cupid.com). This is purely a cosmetic change and will not affect any members or features of the dating site.

Good news for all singles that have access to the internet through their mobile phone. Match.com now offers matchMobile for free with all paid subscriptions. This means members can now access Match.com to update their profile, search for singles and to communicate with members all through their phone either by using Match.com's mobile website (which can be accessed by visiting m.match.com) or with one of their smart phone applications (available on the iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Palm). Members can also have Text Alerts sent directly to their phones to notify them when a Match.com member has sent them a message.

To find out more about this popular dating site, read our review of Match.com.

Dancing, music, humor, and organized fighting.

These 5 things are the interests that appear most frequently on OkCupid's list of the stuff Latino men like, a part of their newest study of online dating trends. The importance of music and dancing to the culture is clearly exhibited by both the men's list and the women's list: the terms "merengue," "bachata," "reggaeton," "musica," and "salsa" appear in both lists, always in the first half. Latino men also appear to have, in Christian Rudder's words, "an interest in telling you about their sense of humor" and "an interest in industrial strength ass-kicking." "I'm a funny guy," "comedy," "very funny," and "outgoing and funny," make the men's list of most-used words and phrases, as do "boxing," "Marines," "MMA," "UFC," and "law enforcement."

The interests of Latina women are, for the most part, exactly what you would expect from an online dating profile. Family is mentioned ("familia," "family-oriented," "mom's"), as are friends ("amigos," "my girlfriends"). Career and schooling make appearances as "education," "medical field," "my B.A." and "social worker." Movies, music, and physical appearance are also important ("Sixteen Candles," "Juanes," and "mascara"). Latina women break the mold, however, with "I'm terrified of," a phrase which appears at #42 on their list. OkCupid's team delved further into that unusual phrase, and discovered that the words that typically come next are "insects" and "the dark," "though one expert tautologist is 'terrified of being scared' and another woman is 'terrified of Martians.'"

Simplicity dominates the lists for Asian men and women. "I'm a simple guy" occupies the second spot on the men's list, while "I'm a simple girl" takes the third spot on the women's list. Asian men are also careful to mention their specific heritage in their profiles. "Taiwan" is the #1 term on the men's list, with "Korea," "Singapore," and "Korean" following in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th positions. Food ("pho," "a foodie," "sashimi") and sports ("cricket," "tennis," "badminton") are important to Asian men, but not as important as education and occupation. "Freakonomics," "mechanical engineer," "an engineer," "entrepreneur," "analyst," "Malcolm Gladwell," "finance," "accountant," "pursuing my," "investing," "electrical engineering," "investment," and "currently studying" all make the list.

Asian women also describe themselves as foodies (with a particular interest in "chocolates," which is #2 on their list), but show an interest in cooking the food as well as consuming it ("Food Network," "Anthony Bourdain," "new recipes," "cooking and baking," "cookbooks"). Like the women of every other culture, Asian women enjoy music ("Jason Mraz," "Michael Buble," "Norah Jones") and movies ("Slumdog Millionaire," "Sleepless in Seattle," "A Walk To Remember"), but what really makes Asian women stand out is their worldliness and urge to explore. "Different places," "different cultures," "trying out new things," and "my passport" appear on their list but, with the exception of a couple of overlaps with Asian men, not on any other lists.

Rudder does not provide commentary on the lists for Indians, Middle Easterners, and Pacific Islanders, so join us next time for a breakdown of the final 3 cultures and a look at effectiveness of the study.

On September 15th, 2010 SpeedDate.com announced that they had reached 10 million users. SpeedDate is different than other dating sites because their main focus is to connect singles in real-time via internet video chat and mobile phones (with an iPhone application). Members go on five minute online dates to determine if chemistry exists between them. These short dates puts the emphases more on communication and less on the dating profile. Other popular mainstream dating sites tend to work the other way around. This is the first time that a speed dating site has reached the 10 million member mark.

For more on this story, read the press release. To find other related dating services, you can check out our Speed Dating reviews category.

According to StuffWhitePeopleLike.com, white people are into:

• Ray-Bans

• The Ivy League

• Dinner parties

• Studying abroad

• Expensive sandwiches

• Whole Foods

And according to OkCupid's newest study, " The REAL 'Stuff White People Like,'" white people are also fond of the Red Sox, NASCAR, boating, and proving how country they are.

Prompted by questions like "What is it that makes a culture unique?" and "What tastes, interests, and concepts define an ethnic group?" and even "Is there any way to make fun of other races in public and get away with it?" the research team at OkCupid examined the profiles of 526,000 randomly-selected users and separated them into groups based on their self-stated race. They then analyzed the text in each profile, and "isolated the words and phrases that made each racial group's essays statistically distinct from the others." Using the data they collected, the OkCupid team attempted to uncover "the interests, hobbies, tastes, and self-descriptions that are specially important to each racial group, as determined by the words of the group itself."

Their findings are divided not only by ethnicity, but also by sex, and are arranged in the form of word clouds that indicate the frequency with which each word or phrase is used. White men, it appears, are big fans of the works of Tom Clancy - his name was the phrase most frequently used in their profiles, followed by "Van Halen," "golfing," "Harley Davidson," and "Ghostbusters." "The mind of the white man," writer Christian Rudder cheekily comments, "is the world's greatest sausagefest.....there is not even one vaguely feminine thing on his list, and as far as broad categories go we have: sweaty guitar rock, bro-on-bro comedies, things with engines, and dystopias." As you might expect, movies, television, sports, and motorized vehicles all feature prominently in the white man's word cloud.

White women are also interested in sports and motorized vehicles, it seems - 3 of their top 5 terms are "the Red Sox," "boating," and "NASCAR" (in fact, NASCAR appears higher on the women's list then on the men's list!). Chick-flicks, music (especially country), exercise, and make up and clothing make appearances on the list as well. "It's also amazing," Rudder notes, "the extent to which their list shows a pastoral or rural self-mythology: bonfires, boating, horseback riding, thunderstorms."

Next, Rudder examines the "stuff black people like." Black men showed concern for their appearance and attitude, using phrases like "I am cool," "tall, dark, and handsome," "calm," and "laid-back guy" to describe themselves. Black women exhibited strong interest in music ("gospel," "Alicia Keys," and "neo soul" were the 4th, 5th, and 6th most-used terms, respectively), church, and The Color Purple, which was the second most frequently used phrase.

The number one term on the lists for both men and women is "soul food," which appears to be very important for both sexes but even more so for women. Soul food and black women, Rudder mentions, was the single strongest phrase/group pair that the OkCupid researchers discovered. Religion also appears powerfully in both lists. Though it was not among the top phrases for any other race, 13 of the top 50 phrases were religious for black men and women, meaning that "black people are more than twice as likely than average to mention their faith in their profiles."

Up next: we review Rudder's data on the stuff liked by Latinos, Asians, Indians, Middle Easterners, and Pacific Islanders, and evaluate the accuracy of OkCupid's study as a whole.