Last updated on October 23, 2013 | by Aet Suvari

How Amy Webb Hacked Online Dating

This is a funny and surprisingly inspiring watch, especially for those of a geekier persuasion. How Amy Webb hacked online dating isn’t as ridiculous as it first appears…

It’s all about the numbers

For the first few minutes of Amy Webb’s TED talk I was pretty skeptical that her focus on the numbers was going to be of much practical use to her when searching for something as subjective as love and compatibility. That she copies and pastes her CV/resume to fill out her profile just makes things better!

Those feelings were only enhanced when she recounts what must be one of the worst first dates imaginable.

This is the bill she received when her IT guy date took her to a very fancy restaurant, eat and drank everything in sight, went to the bathroom… and never returned!

Researching the opposition

When Amy’s by the numbers approach wasn’t working she started looking into what was working for popular people on the site… then created ten fake profiles to ‘collect data’ for a month!

What she learned from those results helped her create a far more punchy and fun profile and a set of pictures that highlighted her attractiveness much more than the previous ones.

Amy Webb hacked online dating because it worked

The last part is where it gets kind of inspiring – all her algorithms and research actually work and she meets someone that scores high enough on her compatibility system to go on a date.

And that date turned into a marriage and the start of a family.

Closing thoughts

Online dating is neither good or evil. It’s just a tool, and like any tool it depends how you use it. Amy Webb hacked online dating by using the tool wisely and effectively by being sure of what she wanted and going after it without compromising on the big stuff.

Fair play Amy, you did a great job 🙂

About the Author

Aet Suvari has been reviewing and writing about the world of online dating since 2008 and the launch of Online Dating Help. A stickler for promoting ethical practices within the UK dating industry she champions the sites that get it right while highlighting those holding it back. You can follow her on Google+