General News

When last we talked, we reviewed the findings of OKCupid's photo experiment called "Don't Be Ugly By Accident." We laughed, we cried, we were told that iPhone users supposedly have more sex than people who use phones of other brands.

But now it's time to examine the study with a more critical eye, to figure out what the data actually means. Do the results really have practical uses, or is OKCupid just telling us that we all need makeovers?

The first conclusion the experts at OKCupid draw is that the "type and brand of camera you use has a huge effect on how good you look in your pictures." In general, they found that more complex cameras, such as those that have interchangeable lenses, took better photos than simple point-and-shoot cameras. Camera phones took the photos that were deemed the worst.

Analysis: If you're like me, you read that and thought "Did we really need a study to tell us that? Isn't that obvious? Of course a better, more expensive camera is going to take superior pictures!" But astute readers will notice that, while the quality of the camera will almost always affect the quality of the pictures it takes, that's not the whole story. High quality cameras, like the Panasonic Micro 3/4s mentioned in the article, are most likely owned by professionals (or, at the very least, people who have studied and have a strong interest in photography), so it should come as no surprise that the photos taken by them are usually considered better than other pictures.

I have already mentioned the article's next, and most striking, conclusion: that iPhone users have more sex than other people. But is that really true?

Analysis: iPhone users might have more active sex lives than other mobile phone users, but OKCupid's study doesn't prove it. The graphs included in the article measure the average number of sexual partners users of iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry devices have had by age thirty - but "a high number of sexual partners" is not the same thing as "having more sex."

The study's third finding, that using a flash ages the picture's subject, can probably be filed away under "O" for "Obvious." It shouldn't surprise anyone that people look younger under lower, more forgiving light that hides wrinkles and blemishes, and older under harsh, direct light.

The last two results of OKCupid's study are "that the best pictures have a very shallow depth of field," and "there are peak times of day to take a good picture." The article even includes of couple of graphs, examples, and an image from Wikipedia to prove the point.

Analysis: Both things are very likely true, but once again, we have to consider who is taking the pictures. In most cases, the people who understand the technical details and terms of photography, like depth of field, aperture, and how to use natural lighting to the greatest effect, are professionals and photography enthusiasts. It is common sense that pictures taken by experts will turn out better than other photos.

Overall, while the experiment leads to a few interesting observations, most should be taken with a grain of salt or two, and the study's most useful advice can be found at the end of the article: "In conclusion, the data strongly suggest that if you're single, you (or someone you know) should learn a little bit about photography. Technique can make or break your photograph, and the right decisions can get you more dates."

To find out more about this free dating site, read our review of OkCupid.

Opps, we missed this Chemistry free weekend by a day. Still, it is not too late to give them a try since the free communication weekend ends Sunday, August 22, 2010 at midnight. What does a free communication weekend give you at Chemistry.com you may ask? Well, a new member will be able to create a profile, take the personality test, receive matches and communicate with those matches, all at no cost and with no credit card required. You receive most features that a paid member at Chemistry would.

The last Chemistry free communication weekend was during the same weekend in July (see Story). This type of promotion is the ninth time Chemistry has run one. To find out more information on this popular dating service which delivers highly targeted matches based on your personality, read our Chemistry.com review.

From an article over at Madison.com about seniors and how popular online dating is with this demographic, they talked briefly about Match.com. In the piece, Match.com's public relations coordinator, Jaklin Kaden, stated that over 6 percent of Match members are 60 years old or older. For Match members 50 or more, this statistic jumps to 22 percent.

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

eHarmony commissioned a new marriage metrics study from Harris Interactive in 2009. They have released the statistics from the study this week in part to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. The last Harris Interactive study done for eHarmony was in 2007 (see Story); it concluded that 236 eHarmony users get married every day. This was based on data from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007. So, it has been about 3 years since this statistics has been updated. Let's see what Harris Interactive found out.

What they found was that the number of marriages per day resulting from eHarmony has doubled. On average, 542 people are married every day in the United States because of meeting online at eHarmony. Wow, this means there will be another 271 happy couples who married today, thanks to using the dating site eHarmony. This new data came from an online study from Harris Interactive which they ran during July and August of 2009. 7,994 people responded to this study, aged from 20 to 54 and who were married between Jan 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009. If you calculate it out, during this 18 month period, 148,311 eHarmony couples got married. This equals to 4.77 percent of all new marriages in the United States.

For more on this story you can read the 2009 summary of the eHarmony Marriage Metrics Study. For more about this dating site and how it matches members together, read our popular eHarmony review.

I notice that Passion.com got a much needed homepage facelift recently (bottom left). The bottom right image is what the Passion.com homepage has looked like probably for the last 4 years or more (it has been a while). The white to pink gradient background of the new look in much better and it doesn't make the homepage feel as "busy" ascetic wise or as blocky. I also noticed that they have removed any mention of FriendFinder. I guess this is to make the service have a more distinct image and reputation. I think the new look with the softer appearance will work for them and attract more females, which is the hardest thing for most casual dating sites to do.

For more information on this dating site, read our review of Passion.com.

According to a United Kingdom dating site for cheating spouses 22 percent of their members attended private school. This is more than twice the national level. There study further revealed that 15 percent of members had attended a religious school. The dating site has over 500,000 members which equal about 2.5 percent of the married population in the United Kingdom.

For more on this story, read the press release.