Dater’s Index

Emily McDowell at mcsweenys.net chronicled her experience with online dating with her Dater’s Index. Here’s a selection:

  • Number of first dates I went on from the Internet between January 2009 and November 2010: 40
  • Percentage change over the previous decade: +3,900
  • Estimated percentage of profiles containing the description “fun-loving”: 80
  • Estimated percentage of people who do not actually love fun: 0
  • Estimated percentage of single people in Los Angeles who both work and play hard: 85
  • Number of first dates resulting in trips to the E.R.: 1
  • Estimated number of times I swore off online dating: 5
  • Number of first dates it took before meeting the right one: 39
  • Number of times we flaked out on each other before we actually met: 3
  • Time, in months, that we have now been happily living together: 9
  • Likelihood, in percent, that I will tell you online dating is the best thing ever: 100

Find the full version here.

Love Hurts – A Series from Strangers

In this series, Strangers host Lea Thau takes a look at her own life and why she’s struggling to find a partner, including interviewing men she’s dated in the past.

If you’ve ever asked yourself “What’s wrong with me?” after a breakup or a long stretch without a date, these episodes are for you.

https://soundcloud.com/kcrwstrangers/love-hurts

Love Hurts 2
Love Hurts 3
Love Hurts 4
Love Hurts – The Follow Up
Love Hurts – One Year Later

 

OkCupid – 6 Weeks In

OKC Pic.jpg

Six weeks ago, I signed up for OkCupid. It’s my first attempt at online dating and also the first time I’ve actively tried to date.

Here’s how the numbers stack up:

Number of first messages I received:………..61
Number of first messages I sent:……………….0
Number of first messages I responded to:..8    (13%)
Number of first messages I received
that were one word long: ………………………….12    (20%)
Number of one word long first
messages I responded to:…………………………..1    (8%)
Total number of likes I got: ……………154
Total number of likes I gave: ………….4
Total number of 1st dates: …………….3
Total number of 2nd dates: ……………3
Total number of 3rd dates: …………….1
Total number of 4th dates: …………….1
Total number of 5th dates: …………….1
Total number of 6th dates: …………….1

Total number of one word long first messages that I responded to
that resulted in a 6th date: ………………….1  (100%)

So far, online dating has been surprisingly easy. I went on dates with three entirely decent guys. I’ve had no bad dates and one is going unexpectedly well! It’s still really early and anything could happen, but I’m excited to see where it leads.

T.I.S.H.S.A.B.H. #1

I have a growing list of articles, video clips and books that I’ve been meaning to share, but haven’t for various reasons, such as a lack of enough content to turn it into a full post or just plain laziness.

I’ll now be posting these Things I Should Have Shared Already But Haven’t (abbreviated, for your convenience, as  T.I.S.H.S.A.B.H.) in a series of very brief posts.

T.I.S.H.P.B.H.

In our first edition of T.I.S.H.S.A.B.H., we have this book:

Data, A Love Story

and the associated TEDtalk by the author:

It has dating. It has math. It should be on this blog.