Don't pour your soul out into an email, don't send an online mix tape and whatever you do, don't write any poems longer than a limerick or a haiku. According to popular dating site OK Cupid, only 32% of dating site messages receive a response. Of the successful efforts, the majority of first contact messages are brief. The ideal message length from men to women is between 200-300 characters and from women to men it's a mere 50 characters. This doesn't bode well for chatty romantics, but power Twitter users may find themselves in their element. ]]>
In a recent blog post, the company writes, "Almost 16% of first messages are over 2000 characters (roughly 400 words), and the average is 743! We've found that the most effective messages are much shorter."
After crunching the numbers, it appears that response rates to heterosexual males are extremely low. The baseline rate of reply to messages from men is only 22% and for women it's over 40%. Essentially, messages sent by men are only half as likely to get replies than messages from women. It would be interesting to see how this dynamic shifts for same-sex dating sites. Nevertheless, one thing is certain across the board - brevity is the key to getting a response. Apparently "being yourself" is less about painting a picture and more about linking to one. Says OK Cupid, "After about 360 words (1800 characters), you start scaring people off, like the online equivalent of a face tattoo."
Given that Twitter offers the ability to link to videos, photos and profiles, what are the chances that microblogging dating has a future? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo Credit: Lead - Postcards From Home and Inset - Lord Khan
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