Dear Online Dating Diary: Zoosk Thinks I’m Ugly!
Oct 20, 2010 Dating True Stories
Mirror Mirror on the wall. I must be the ugliest of them all. Based on who Zoosk is matching me with, I’m convinced of it. I don’t want to make this kind of online dating news. Say it ain’t so!
While I am not Brad Pitt or Denzel Washington, Tom Brady or Derek Jeter, I don’t think I’m that bad looking. Even if you think I fell out of God’s ugly tree, I didn’t hit every single branch on the way down.
Since I write an online dating blog, I decided to explore the fast-growing online dating site and Facebook app, Zoosk. One of its features for single men and women is called the Zoosk Scientific Match System. It goes by the acronym ZSMS. Sadly, in my personal experience so far, I’m thinking ZSMS stands for:
Zero Science MatchMaking Skills.
Here’s how it works or doesn’t work. Every day I am sent an email informing me I have been matched with another woman. Both of us have been notified and asked to vote on each other’s profile within 24 hours. All responses stay anonymous unless both singles approve. Otherwise, neither person knows about the other person’s response.
There is nothing in my eyes with the Zoosk Scientific Match System that even remotely resembles the law of attraction. Yeah I know, I’m like every other guy trying to upgrade to find a woman who is too good for me. But c’mon, couldn’t the Zoosk computers once in a while match me with someone I’d consider to be sexy or at least attractive?
The reality is most of the women I’ve been matched with by Zoosk are so not my type upon first glance that I’m now fully expecting to hit the decline button. I don’t even need to scroll down to the online dating profiles any more.
It’s been so disappointing I’ve reached the point that I consider it a moral victory if once in a while I happen to weigh less than a woman ZSMS recommends for me.
In the Zoosk forum I can see that ZSMS calculates matches for Zooskers according to their search criteria. It claims that over time, ZSMS will learn more about your preferences and will work to find your best match. Here’s more of how they describle the Zoosk Scientific Match System:
“Think of it as being like DVRs that suggest television shows to you. At first, TV show suggestions are based on very basic criteria along the lines of, “If you like science fiction, you’ll like The X-Files.” As you tell the DVR what shows you do and don’t like, it comes up with better suggestions.
ZSMS is free to all Zooskers, so when you log in, just take a moment to accept or decline the match it suggests. If you decline the match, ZSMS will soon offer you another to choose from. The more you use it, the better your matches will get. If you and your suggested match both click “Accept,” you’ll both be notified and you can take whatever next steps you like.
ZSMS is not yet at the point where it’s using your search settings. For now, it’s selecting profiles based on pretty basic criteria, such as age and proximity…We’re tweaking it regularly, taking member feedback into account. We’re pretty excited about it. Soon, ZSMS will be making some pretty solid matches and bringing people together!”
The Zoosk Scientific Matching System is free to all members. So you have nothing to lose but your time, patience, confidence, hope, and so on. Until now, I’m scoring a big, fat zero with Zoosk.
Tags: online dating blog, online dating news, online dating profiles, zoosk