<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
(	O
often	O
abbreviated	O
as	O
OKC	O
,	O
but	O
officially	O
OkC	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
U.S.-based	O
,	O
internationally	O
operating	O
online	O
dating	O
,	O
friendship	O
,	O
and	O
formerly	O
also	O
a	O
social	O
networking	O
website	O
and	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OKCupid	B-Application
is	O
owned	O
by	O
Match	O
Group	O
,	O
which	O
also	O
owns	O
Tinder	B-Application
,	O
Hinge	B-Operating_System
,	O
Plenty	O
of	O
Fish	O
,	O
and	O
many	O
other	O
popular	O
dating	O
apps	O
and	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
was	O
listed	O
in	O
Time	O
magazine	O
's	O
2007	O
Top	O
10	O
dating	O
websites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
owned	O
by	O
Humor	O
Rainbow	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
OkCupid	B-Application
's	O
founders	O
(	O
Chris	O
Coyne	O
,	O
Christian	O
Rudder	O
,	O
Sam	O
Yagan	O
,	O
and	O
Max	O
Krohn	O
)	O
were	O
students	O
at	O
Harvard	O
University	O
when	O
they	O
gained	O
recognition	O
for	O
their	O
creation	O
of	O
TheSpark	O
and	O
,	O
later	O
,	O
SparkNotes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SparkMatch	B-Application
debuted	O
as	O
a	O
beta	O
experiment	O
of	O
allowing	O
registered	O
users	O
who	O
had	O
taken	O
the	O
Match	O
Test	O
to	O
search	O
for	O
and	O
contact	O
each	O
other	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
Match	O
Test	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
popularity	O
of	O
SparkMatch	B-Application
took	O
off	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
launched	O
as	O
its	O
own	O
site	O
,	O
later	O
renamed	O
OkCupid	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
,	O
they	O
sold	O
SparkNotes	O
to	O
Barnes	O
&	O
Noble	O
,	O
and	O
began	O
work	O
on	O
OkCupid	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2007	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
launched	O
Crazy	O
Blind	O
Date	O
,	O
a	O
no-cost	O
dating	O
service	O
that	O
set	O
people	O
up	O
on	O
blind	O
dates	O
with	O
little	O
to	O
no	O
notice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2013	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
relaunched	O
and	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
OkCupid	B-Application
platform	O
as	O
an	O
app	O
for	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
Android	B-Application
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2008	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
spun	O
off	O
its	O
test-design	O
portion	O
under	O
the	O
name	O
Hello	O
Quizzy	O
(	O
HQ	O
)	O
,	O
while	O
keeping	O
it	O
inextricably	O
linked	O
to	O
OkCupid	B-Application
and	O
reserving	O
existent	O
OkCupid	B-Application
users	O
 '	O
names	O
on	O
HQ	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
August	O
2009	O
,	O
an	O
"	O
A-list	O
"	O
account	O
option	O
is	O
available	O
to	O
users	O
of	O
OkCupid	B-Application
and	O
provides	O
additional	O
services	O
for	O
monthly	O
fees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2011	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
IAC/InterActiveCorp	O
,	O
operators	O
of	O
Match.com,	O
for	O
US$50	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Editorial	O
posts	O
from	O
2010	O
by	O
an	O
OkCupid	B-Application
founder	O
in	O
which	O
Match.com	O
and	O
pay-dating	O
were	O
criticized	O
for	O
exploiting	O
users	O
and	O
being	O
"	O
fundamentally	O
broken	O
"	O
were	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
OkCupid	B-Application
blog	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
the	O
acquisition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
press	O
response	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
's	O
CEO	B-Application
explained	O
that	O
the	O
removal	O
was	O
voluntary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2012	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
launched	O
the	O
social	O
discovery	O
service	O
Tallygram	O
,	O
but	O
retired	O
the	O
service	O
in	O
April	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
31	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
any	O
user	O
accessing	O
OkCupid	B-Application
from	O
Firefox	O
was	O
presented	O
with	O
a	O
message	O
asking	O
users	O
to	O
boycott	O
the	O
internet	O
browser	O
due	O
to	O
Mozilla	O
Corporation	O
's	O
new	O
CEO	B-Application
Brendan	O
Eich	O
's	O
support	O
of	O
Proposition	O
8	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
this	O
addition	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
popularized	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
"	O
sapiosexuality	B-Application
"	O
,	O
meaning	O
romance	O
or	O
sexual	O
attraction	O
based	O
on	O
intellectual	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
physical	O
,	O
traits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
removed	O
the	O
Sapiosexual	O
identity	O
on	O
February	O
11	O
,	O
2019	O
,	O
following	O
considerable	O
negative	O
feedback	O
,	O
specifically	O
quoting	O
an	O
article	O
on	O
Vice	O
Magazine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2018	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
appointed	O
Ariel	O
Charytan	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
formerly	O
senior	O
vice	O
president	O
of	O
audiobook	O
and	O
podcast	B-Operating_System
company	O
Audible	B-Application
,	O
as	O
CEO	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2018	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
became	O
the	O
first	O
dating	O
app	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
dedicated	O
space	O
on	O
profiles	O
for	O
LGBTQ	O
daters	O
to	O
share	O
their	O
pronouns	O
,	O
and	O
expanded	O
that	O
feature	O
to	O
all	O
users	O
in	O
July	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2020	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
released	O
a	O
feature	O
“	O
stacks	O
”	O
that	O
allows	O
app	O
users	O
to	O
view	O
and	O
sort	O
matches	O
based	O
on	O
categories	O
including	O
nearby	O
,	O
online	O
,	O
questions	O
pros	O
,	O
recommended	O
and	O
match	O
percentage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2021	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
launched	O
a	O
monthly	O
blog	O
series	O
,	O
called	O
Dating	O
Data	O
Center	O
,	O
which	O
shared	O
data	O
from	O
OkCupid	B-Application
matching	O
questions	O
and	O
responses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
that	O
same	O
month	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
found	O
that	O
daters	O
,	O
coming	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
2019	O
Coronavirus	O
Pandemic	O
,	O
were	O
looking	O
for	O
long-term	O
relationships	O
,	O
negating	O
the	O
commonly-held	O
theories	O
of	O
a	O
“	O
hot	O
vaxxed	O
summer	O
”	O
(	O
a	O
play	O
on	O
Megan	O
Thee	O
Stallion	O
single	O
Hot	O
Girl	O
Summer	O
)	O
in	O
which	O
daters	O
were	O
looking	O
exclusively	O
for	O
casual	O
relationships	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2021	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
expanded	O
identity	O
options	O
for	O
LGBTQ+	O
users	O
,	O
with	O
more	O
than	O
60	O
identity	O
options	O
,	O
including	O
20	O
sexual	O
orientations	O
and	O
22	O
gender	O
options	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
the	O
Live	O
Streaming	O
Service	O
was	O
introduced	O
,	O
this	O
includes	O
agreement	O
by	O
OkCupid	B-Application
users	O
to	O
the	O
Terms	O
and	O
Conditions	O
of	O
The	O
Meet	O
Group	O
,	O
Inc	O
which	O
allows	O
for	O
data	O
to	O
be	O
shared	O
between	O
other	O
dating	O
sites	O
and	O
with	O
other	O
Meet	O
Group	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
being	O
a	O
platform	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
less	O
centered	O
on	O
physical	O
appearance	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
co-founder	O
Christian	O
Rudder	O
stated	O
in	O
2009	O
that	O
the	O
male	O
OkCupid	B-Application
users	O
who	O
were	O
rated	O
most	O
physically	O
attractive	O
by	O
female	O
OkCupid	B-Application
users	O
received	O
11	O
times	O
as	O
many	O
messages	O
as	O
the	O
lowest-rated	O
male	O
users	O
did	O
,	O
the	O
medium-rated	O
male	O
users	O
received	O
about	O
four	O
times	O
as	O
many	O
messages	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
one-third	O
of	O
female	O
users	O
who	O
were	O
rated	O
most	O
physically	O
attractive	O
by	O
the	O
male	O
users	O
received	O
about	O
two-thirds	O
of	O
all	O
messages	O
sent	O
by	O
male	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
a	O
study	O
published	O
in	O
the	O
August	O
2018	O
edition	O
of	O
Science	O
Advances	O
by	O
researchers	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Michigan	O
and	O
the	O
Santa	O
Fe	O
Institute	O
found	O
that	O
users	O
of	O
an	O
unnamed	O
,	O
popular	O
,	O
and	O
free	O
online	O
dating	O
service	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
City	O
,	O
Boston	O
,	O
Chicago	O
,	O
and	O
Seattle	O
typically	O
pursued	O
potential	O
partners	O
ranked	O
on	O
average	O
25	O
percent	O
more	O
desirable	O
than	O
they	O
were	O
(	O
as	O
measured	O
by	O
the	O
PageRank	B-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Coupled	O
with	O
data	O
released	O
by	O
the	O
dating	O
app	O
Tinder	B-Application
showing	O
that	O
only	O
26	O
million	O
of	O
the	O
1.6	O
billion	O
swipes	O
that	O
the	O
app	O
records	O
per	O
day	O
actually	O
result	O
in	O
matches	O
(	O
despite	O
users	O
spending	O
on	O
average	O
about	O
an	O
hour	O
and	O
a	O
half	O
per	O
day	O
on	O
the	O
app	O
)	O
,	O
an	O
article	O
published	O
in	O
the	O
December	O
2018	O
issue	O
of	O
The	O
Atlantic	O
concluded	O
"	O
Unless	O
you	O
are	O
exceptionally	O
good-looking	O
,	O
the	O
thing	O
online	O
dating	O
may	O
be	O
best	O
at	O
is	O
sucking	O
up	O
large	O
amounts	O
of	O
time.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
revealed	O
in	O
a	O
blog	O
post	O
that	O
experiments	O
were	O
routinely	O
conducted	O
on	O
OkCupid	B-Application
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
photos	O
were	O
restored	O
,	O
users	O
who	O
had	O
started	O
"	O
blind	O
"	O
conversations	O
gradually	O
began	O
tapering	O
off	O
their	O
conversations	O
,	O
leading	O
OkCupid	B-Application
's	O
CEO	B-Application
Christian	O
Rudder	O
to	O
remark	O
"	O
it	O
was	O
like	O
we	O
'd	O
turned	O
on	O
the	O
bright	O
lights	O
at	O
the	O
bar	O
at	O
midnight	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
separate	O
A/B	O
test	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
used	O
a	O
placebo	O
number	O
instead	O
of	O
users	O
 '	O
true	O
match	O
percentage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2016	O
,	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
Danish	O
researchers	O
have	O
made	O
publicly	O
available	O
the	O
"	O
OkCupid	B-Application
dataset	O
"	O
project	O
,	O
containing	O
(	O
as	O
of	O
May	O
2016	O
)	O
2,620	O
variables	O
describing	O
68,371	O
users	O
on	O
OkCupid	B-Application
for	O
research	O
purposes	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
for	O
psychologists	O
investigating	O
the	O
social	O
psychology	O
of	O
dating	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2017	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
rolled	O
out	O
a	O
change	O
that	O
would	O
require	O
users	O
to	O
provide	O
their	O
real	O
first	O
name	O
in	O
place	O
of	O
a	O
pseudonym	O
as	O
was	O
previously	O
encouraged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
company	O
quickly	O
backpedaled	O
by	O
saying	O
that	O
nicknames	O
or	O
initials	O
would	O
be	O
acceptable	O
,	O
the	O
announcement	O
was	O
received	O
with	O
widespread	O
criticism	O
and	O
condemnation	O
for	O
potentially	O
raising	O
the	O
risk	O
of	O
harassment	O
of	O
individuals	O
,	O
especially	O
women	O
and	O
minorities	O
,	O
to	O
doxing	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
pointed	O
out	O
that	O
,	O
unlike	O
other	O
dating	O
sites	O
that	O
encourage	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
first	O
names	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
"	O
encourages	O
long	O
profiles	O
full	O
of	O
intimate	O
details	O
,	O
including	O
candid	O
answers	O
to	O
questions	O
about	O
sex	O
and	O
politics	O
"	O
,	O
making	O
connecting	O
that	O
information	O
with	O
a	O
real	O
name	O
more	O
problematic	O
to	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
OkCupid	B-Application
reported	O
on	O
Twitter	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
removed	O
Christopher	O
Cantwell	O
's	O
user	O
profile	O
for	O
being	O
a	O
white	O
supremacist	O
after	O
a	O
woman	O
reported	O
receiving	O
a	O
message	O
from	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
start-up	O
,	O
built	O
a	O
face	O
database	O
with	O
images	O
from	O
OkCupid	B-Application
,	O
due	O
to	O
common	O
founders	O
in	O
both	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
denied	O
any	O
data	O
breach	O
or	O
system	O
errors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
claimed	O
3.5	O
million	O
active	O
users	O
as	O
of	O
September	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
major	O
dating	O
site	O
to	O
offer	O
unlimited	O
messaging	O
free	O
of	O
charge	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
was	O
limited	O
in	O
late	O
2017	O
when	O
OkCupid	B-Application
's	O
official	O
blog	O
announced	O
the	O
site	O
is	O
"	O
getting	O
rid	O
of	O
open-messaging	O
"	O
and	O
making	O
sent	O
messages	O
invisible	O
to	O
the	O
sender	O
until	O
the	O
recipient	O
interacts	O
by	O
either	O
matching	O
or	O
replying	O
to	O
the	O
message	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
OKCupid	B-Application
removed	O
the	O
match	O
search	O
function	O
for	O
some	O
users	O
,	O
including	O
all	O
those	O
in	O
Australia	O
and	O
including	O
A-list	O
subscribers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Amid	O
the	O
coronavirus	O
pandemic	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
reported	O
a	O
23.4	O
%	O
decrease	O
in	O
monthly	O
active	O
users	O
in	O
the	O
final	O
quarter	O
of	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
generate	O
matches	O
,	O
OkCupid	B-Application
applies	O
data	O
generated	O
by	O
users	O
 '	O
activities	O
on	O
the	O
site	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
their	O
answers	O
to	O
questions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OkCupid	B-Application
describes	O
in	O
generic	O
terms	O
the	O
algorithm	O
used	O
to	O
calculate	O
match	O
percentages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
may	O
cause	O
privacy	O
problems	O
for	O
users	O
who	O
wish	O
to	O
leave	O
an	O
empty	O
account	O
before	O
they	O
delete	O
it	O
to	O
avoid	O
it	O
being	O
used	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
monetization	I-General_Concept
by	O
OkCupid	B-Application
.	O
</s>
