How to win at Online Dating | Hannah Fry | Head Squeeze

Hannah Fry, Head Squeeze's Dr Love, shows you how maths can help in the online dating game.

00:27 Mathematicians game the online system

Recently, mathematician Chris McKinlay made the news, after writing a computer program to trawl an online dating website for him.


01:24 OK Cupid and statistics.
OK Cupid was founded by mathematicians, and they've been using statistics to look at online dating for almost ten years. They've found that Iphone users claim to have more sex

And that curvy women's body confidence changes over time.

02:10 Why it's maybe better to be ugly
The people who get the most messages on OK Cupid aren't necessarily the most attractive. OK, there's a bit of a trend, but it's not that significant. The people who get the most messages seem to be the ones who divide opinion -- the people some think are gorgeous, and some think are ugly.

04:43
To make sense of this, we come down to game theory. If you're sending a message, you want to maximise your chances that the person will reply. So they go for people they think are amazing, but who other's maybe won't like. So, be proud of what makes you different!

Last year, Hannah Fry told you how to find the perfect partner using optimal stopping theory.
And if you you're still looking for a match, Greg Foot has some more details for you in his science guide to falling in love.