I think this only occurred to me because I'm sleep deprived, but I think it has merit.
It would be really nice if OKCupid gave us the choice to view "similar users" who were not of the same gender as other users. Say we like someone, share their interests, like their temperament but we (or they) aren't gay, and having seen how well the "similar users" system works, we'd like to find someone of the OPPOSITE gender with those traits.
Similarly, I'd like it if this similar users feature would also not restrict us to the same geographical areas. Say we are in Maryland and our best old girlfriend is in California and we'd like to find someone similar to her where we live.
These are features I'd like to see. For now, though I must sleep. If this is a feature which already exists, or if you can spot a problem, or if you can add to this before I send the idea into the OKCupid feedback department, I'd really love to hear from you, so comment, please.
This next suggestion comes mainly from a bi girl who only likes gay girls and bi men. There is no such combination on the view matches page, resulting in having to repeat searches. She submits the monster.com approach. Open this link and then pull down the "categories" menu. Note that this drop down menu offers check boxes.
If OKCupid used the monster.com system, she could select Gay women and Bi men and that would be that.
I would like to interject that there appear to be a lot of trans women on this site, and eventually that two should probably be addressed as Trans men and Trans women, and under the current system that would just be too complicated, but with the drop down check box system it really would not be.
For those trans women it would also probably be beneficial to allow users to categorize themselves as trans compatible.
I just thought of a really good argument to present to those who operate OKCupid for why they should provide photo hosting for say up to 20 photos not otherwise meeting the requirements for profile photos.
Not only does it save considerable time trying to explain to new users why they need to have only certain specific sorts of photos for their primary images, BUT it also provides a means of REMOVING primary images without offending the users. Photos of tattoos, hair, pets, whatever, can be simply MOVED (not deleted) into this other category.
I would like it if when you read a profile which lists a town you are not familiar with, clicking on the name of the town enters it into some third party website, such as Google Maps and brings up the location.
I am assuming this is relatively easy to do, and probably does not even require permission of Google or whatever third party map provider is used. It would be most helpful because where I live, targets that are only five miles West of me (across the river) in Virginia, can take over an hour to drive to, and because I'm not familiar with that part of the world, I am constantly reading names of towns not far from me, which are really a pain to get to.
I suggested this several months ago on the other community where it was poorly received because people were up in arms about much more serious problems.
The idea behind QuickMatch is simple. There are a lot of people who are shy about saying, "Hey, you're kinda cool", but with QuickMatch they can meet the other halfway, they can express interest and have that interest conveyed conditionally upon on the other person also expressing interest.
Were QuickMatch to anonymously report each week how many people found you appealing in QuickMatch that week (as well as a total number), you might be more inclined to use QuickMatch. More importantly, you would not be as likely to ignore QuickMatch until someone who liked you left the service. Read on to see how that happened to me. ( Collapse )
Here's an idea I've thought about now and then but never thought to actually suggest or even discuss until I read it in the profile of OKCupid user emackenzied today.
Have you ever thought it might be nice to let others know where you work rather than where you live? You might have already tried listing yourself by alternative zip codes. Lots of people do this, especially if they normally "live" in one place but attend college in another.
Were OKCupid to allow two or more zip codes for such people it would not be any more dishonest than they/we are when we wiggle our own zip codes, but at least this way such people with elliptical orbits would be adequately listed for both places they frequent. ( Collapse )
This is an idea whose time may not have actually come just yet. I am of the opinion OKCupid has many more pressing issues to address. This idea was originally presented a couple days ago in the okcupid community by sebastian.
The improvement as I would propose it to OKCupid, were I to ever do so, regards NOT your average OKCupid user, but those I will refer to here as "Delicate"; People who are easily flustered by questions that embarrass or upset them or do not appear to apply to them. This "improvement" would serve to retain to users who would otherwise enjoy using OKCupid but for their inability persevere though seemingly repetitive questions regarding subjects they deem abhorrent. In order to accommodate these "delicate users" I propose a special "Opt Out" feature. ( Collapse )
You wouldn't, would you? Because you would read the post first and see if there were anything wrong with it first, and if you didn't see anything wrong you wouldn't.
Unfortunately OKCupid profiles persist in having an annoying little link in the lower left hand corner of each on that says only, Flag This Profile and not something more self-explanatory as, Flag This Profile as inappropriate
For those of you who are not already aware, inexperienced users, or just plain stupid ones, flag profiles they *like* all the time because they think "Flag" means "Give Tribute" or "Applaud". Maybe they think it is the "uber woo". I have no idea.
The only way to correct this exercise in stupidity is for OKCupid to change the button to be somewhat more self-explanatory. I intend to write them a letter about this. Before I do so, would anyone reading care to make other suggestions as to what the button should read instead?
Anybody here notice the new and improved OKCupid IM buttons? The first thing I noticed was that the offline handles are now "simpler" and I am assuming this is to reduce the cpu overhead of lot of saved profiles.
As for myself I've reduced my saved profiles by about 200 in the last few days. Most of these people had not logged on in a couple of years. I did notice that a few of the saved profiles marked "inactive" were people who have logged on in the past few months, so I'll probably regret deleting some of them but I really had to fix my OKCupid.
In case anyone isn't keeping track, the December 10th will be the six month anniversary of the changes that initially made OKCupid useless to me. It is nice to see that they eventually take complaints seriously.
This just in: Noticed it today. They must realize they are in over their heads and need some outside talent. I'm all for this. I know at least one geek mailing list I'd like to forward this to. For now, I'll just post in here in case anyone might notice it.
Join Us!
Right now OkCupid is looking for an HTML/CSS/JS pro with serious skills and high energy to join us full time in New York City. Starting now. If you'd like to be considered, send (1) a link to your web work,(2) a resume, and (3) an e-mail, all to jobs@okcupid.com. If you have friends who are smart, that's cool, tell them!
We own a Wii, by the way. Poker on Weds nights. And our office is huuuuge. People of all size fit.
