Algorithms and Turkey’s record of online dating

Like most functions of daily life, dating is becoming something that you can do online very fast. Some countries are fast adaptors, some are not. Turkey is catching up.

A recent study by Dilşah Ece Eren and Selenga Gurmen at Istanbul’s Özyeğin University found that 60 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 50 used online dating apps, 30 percent of whom said such apps are better platforms for meeting someone new. However, they also found that the higher the romantic expectations a person has, the more superficial they find online dating, said Eren and Gurmen.

This need for higher romanticism usually creates a gap between expectations and reality.

That’s actually what OkCupid claims to be good at, because their algorithm sorts you by your answers to many questions so that you can match with someone who is more likely to be compatible with you on all levels.

OkCupid is an American-based, internationally operating online dating, friendship, and social networking website that features multiple-choice questions in order to match members. It is supported by advertisements, by paying users who do not see ads.

Mashable review says in their review that OkCupid is a hip dating site that’s way less lame than competitors.

The application asks you questions about anything, like do you make your bed every day? Or how long do you want your next relationship to last?

The least skipped questions in 2017 are as follows:

• Are you the type of person to tell a homeless person to get a job?
• Would you date someone who keeps a gun in the house?
• Is your duty to religion/god the most important thing in your life?
• Are you afraid of death?
• Do you feel obligated to help fellow human beings?
• Should immigrants be required to learn the official language of the country they are living in?

These types of questions help the algorithm find you a better match, but when aggregated it also gives an idea about what people care about in their lives and relationships. Some of their recent findings are as follows:

About climate change:

• 97 percent of people in France are concerned about climate change
• 91 percent of people in Italy are concerned about climate change
• 86 percent of people in Turkey are concerned about climate change
• 78 percent of people in the U.S. are concerned about climate change
• 74 percent of people in Israel are concerned about climate change

About family life, people in Turkey answered as follows:

• 51 percent of people say it’s important their family gets along with their partner’s family
• 49 percent of people say it’s not important their family gets along with their partner’s family
• 61 percent of women and 48 percent of men say it’s important their family gets along with their partner’s family
• 52 percent of men and 39 percent of women say it’s not important their family gets along with their partner’s family
• 79 percent of people said it would be difficult to date someone with a strict family versus 21 percent who said it wouldn’t be
• 85 percent of women and 76 percent of men said it would be difficult

About love, people answered diversely:

• 58 percent of people in Turkey believe you can learn to love somebody (26 percent are unsure and 16 percent do not think so)
• 57 percent of people in the United States believe you can learn to love somebody (31 percent are unsure and 12 percent do not think so)
• 48 percent of people in the United Kingdom believe you can learn to love somebody (38 percent are unsure and 14 percent do not think so)

Just with these questions, we can deduct that although Turkish people are learning to become individuals, we still care about what our families think, and not just about our partner, but our partners’ families too, and we are open to trying to love people we really don’t know.

Let’s see how OkCupid and other applications will change our dating mentalities. Will algorithms do a better job than us?