Assignment03TeamDebate:

OkCupid(Pro)
CST373/Fall2014

JuanAmaral
MyronDarrylAmparo
DeneanDelmundo
AndrewFiola
BenjaminGama
NelsonLee
AlfredoLorenzo
BrettRoberts

Assignment03TeamDebate:OkCupid(Pro)

ProblemStatement:WastheexperimentconductedbyOKCupidethical?IsitethicalforOkCupidto
usetheirTermsandConditionstojustifytheircompanysexperiment?

OURSTRONGESTARGUMENT:Theusersagreetoallofthetermsandconditionsuponusingthe
OKCupidservice.Inaddition,OkCupidsactionsprovidedapredictablenetbenefitwithlittle
possibilityofharmtoitscustomers.
THEIRSTRONGESTARGUMENT:
Thetermsandconditionsaretoocomplicatedandconvolutedtounderstandintermsoflegal
jargon.
OkCupidbreachedthetrustoftheircustomersbyprovidingfalsematchmakingresults.
COUNTERPOINTTOTHEIRARGUMENT:
Examples,includingchangeandstorageofdataandusageofdataforresearchpurposesare
clearlyandexplicitlylistedintheTermsandConditionsandPrivacyPolicy.
ForthematchmakingresultstobefalsewouldrequireOkCupidtohaveknowledgeaboutthe
effectivenessoftheiralgorithmthattheycouldnothavewithoutperforminganexperimentlike
this.

ProblemDefinition:
OnJuly28,2014,ChristianRudder,thepresidentoftheonlinedatingserviceOkCupid,posted
anarticletoOkTrends,abloghostedontheOkCupidwebsitethathighlightsinterestingstatisticsand
trendsthecompanyhasobservedintheusageoftheservice.Ruddersposttalkedaboutthree
experimentsthecompanyhadrunoverthepastyear.Thefirsttwowerewidelypublicizedandobvious
tousersofthesite.However,thethirdandmostrecenthadnotbeenpubliclydiscloseduntilthatpost.
Inthatexperiment,asmallsegmentofOkCupidusersreceivedalteredresultsfromtheservices
matchmakingalgorithmsomeuserswithwhomtheywerepoorlymatchedweredisplayedasbeing
goodmatches,andviceversa.
Therevelationoftheexperimentwascontroversial.Inspiteofthefactthattheexperimentwas
wellwithinOkCupidstermsofservice,manyusersfeltthecompanyhadliedtothemandbetrayed
theirtrust.Theissueathand,then,iswhetherOkCupidshouldhaveperformedtheexperiment,and
whetherOkCupidstermsofserviceandprivacypolicymadeitsufficientlycleartousersthatsuchan
experimentmightoccur.

HistoricalContext

ExperimentslikeOkCupidsarefarfromunknownitsawellknownfactthatmanyonline
serviceproviderscollectagreatdealofdataontheirusers,oftenforthepurposeofprovidingtargeted
advertising,anditstandstoreasonthatthealgorithmsthatprocessthatdatamusthavebeenrefined

throughagreatdealoftrialanderror.Arecent,highprofileexampleisanexperimentrunbyFacebook
in2012,intendedtodeterminehowusersemotionswereaffectedbytheirnewsfeeds.Thestudyfound
userswithlesspositivecontentintheirnewsfeedsusedmorenegativewordsinstatusupdates,andvice
versa.ThisexperimentdrewagreatdealofcriticismfromFacebookuserswhenitwasrevealedmore
thantwoyearsafterthefact.(Bycomparison,OkCupiduserswerenotifiedaboutthealterationstotheir
matchdataimmediatelyaftertheexperimentconcluded.)NetflixandPandorabothrecommendmedia
tousersAnotherrelatedincidentisApplestrackingofiPhoneusersGPStoprovidearealtimemap
ofwheretheusersphoneislocatedat.Applestatedthattheyhavenointentionofkeepingtheirusers
informationtheonlyinformationtheyretainedwasbasicaccountinformationsuchasnameandcredit
cardinformation.Theyalsoaddedwhathasbecomeacommondefenseinsimilarcontroversies:that
theyholdjustasmuchinformationasanyotherbigtechnologycompany,withtheexceptionthatthey
dontconnectthedotstotheextentthatothercompaniesdo.Clearly,OkCupidsactionsarenot
unprecedentedinfacttheyseemtohavebeenunusuallyopenindisclosingtheexistenceofthe
experiment.

Stakeholders

Atthecenterofthisdebate,ofcourse,isOKCupiditself,includingitsexecutiveteamandother
employees,whoarealltosomeextentresponsibleforthecompanysactions.Chiefamongthemis
ChristianRudder,thecompanypresident,whohaspubliclydefendedOKCupidsactionsasnoworse
thanthoseofmanyfreesocialwebsites.Morebroadly,ifOKCupidsreputationoftrustworthinessis
permanentlydamagedbythisincident,theservicewilllikelyseesignificantlyreduceduse,tothe
detrimentofanyinvestorsandstockholders.
Othersocialnetworkingservices,fromdatingsitessimilartoOKCupidtomoregeneralsocial
networkslikeFacebook,mayalsobeaffectedbythefalloutfromthisincident.Mostdirectly,ofcourse,
OKCupidscompetitors(suchaseHarmonyandZoosk)standtogainagreatdealiftheycanattract
customerswhohaveleftOKCupid.However,thereactiontotheexperimentmayhaveamuchwider
effect.RuddersstatementthatwhatOKCupiddoesisnodifferentfrommanyotherfreeWebservices
doisavalidoneFacebook,forexample,hascomeunderfiremultipletimesforrunningsocial
experimentsonitsusers.Ifsuchservicescomeundergreaterscrutinyregardinghowtheyhandletheir
usersinformation,theymayfinditdifficulttoimprovetheirservicesatall!Ontheotherhand,those
servicesalreadyhaveaccesstotheresultsofOKCupidsresearch,whichhasrevealedsomevery
interestingfactsaboutwhatfactorsactuallyinfluencerelationshipcompatibility.
Ofcourse,thelargestandmostimportantgroupofstakeholdersistheusersthemselves,some
ofwhommayfeeltheyhavebeenunjustlymanipulatedbyOKCupidwithouttheirpermission.The
revelationofthisexperimentmaydrivethemawayfromOKCupidtoanotherservice,orevenaway
fromonlinedatingaltogether.Itmayalsocausethemtobemorereservedaboutwhatinformationthey
giveout,andmorewaryoftheinformationtheyreceiveontheWeb.

CompetitiveAnalysis

Throughthecompetitiveanalysislens,OkCupidsexperimenthasbroughttheserviceintothe
spotlight.Ithasbroughtextraattentiontothecompany,andasthesayinggoes,theresnosuchthingas
badpublicity.Indeed,OkCupiddoesnotappeartohavelostmuchbusinessinthewakeofthe
experimentbeingrevealed.AccordingtoSimilarWeb,awebanalyticsservice,OkCupidsInternet
trafficfluxedandsuddenlyincreasedaftertheexperimentwaspublicizedcurrentlyitstandsasthe344th
mostvisitedsiteintheworld,and122ndmostvisitedsiteintheUSA.Facebook,whosemood
experimentwassignificantlymorecontroversial,stillsitscomfortablyasthemostvisitedsitegloballyand
secondmostvisitedinUSA.Thenextsocialmediasite,Twitter,issurprisinglyfardownthelistat
number11.
TofocusonOkCupidsdirectcompetition,itisthesecondmostpopularrelationship/datingsite
ontheWebonlyPof.comsurpassesit,cominginasthe212thmostvisitedsiteintheworld.Onlyone
otheronlinedatingsite,Match.com,comesevenclosetoOkCupidspopularityat#386,andeventhat
hasbeendeclininginpopularitywhileOkCupidisstillontherise.OthercompetitorssuchaseHarmony,
perfectmatch,anddate.comareallrankedinthethousandsinsteadofhundreds,andhavelargely
continuedtodeclineinthewakeoftheJulyannouncementofOkCupidsexperiment.

EconomicFactors

OkCupidsbusinessmodelisbasedaroundtheideathatausercanusetheservicetoreliably
findromanticpartnersthatmatchtheirownpersonality.Itsintendedasatimesavingmeasure,allowing
busyorsociallyanxiouspeopletoensuretheymeetacompatiblepartnerwhilewastingaslittletimeas
possibleonbadmatches.Tothisend,OkCupidusesamathematicalalgorithmthatanalyzesitsusers
profilesanddeterminestowhatextentanytwousersareamatchforeachother.Usersthatare
potentiallygoodmatchesarethennotifiedofthis,enablingthemtolookateachothersprofilesand
contacteachotheriftheyagreewiththealgorithmsanalysis.
Thesitesincomeprimarilycomesfromadvertisingandthusisdependentongainingasmuch
trafficaspossibletherefore,areputationforreliableandsuccessfulmatchmakingisnecessaryforitto
thriveideallyabetterreputationthanitscompetitors!Inaddition,unlikemanywellknownonline
matchmakingservicesbutlikemanysocialnetworkingservicesmostofOkCupidsfeaturesarefree
toallusers,whichmakestheserviceparticularlyattractivetodemographicsthattendtobeshorton
money(suchasstudents).Italsoreliesheavilyonreferralsfromothersites26.27%ofthesitestraffic
comesfromexternalreferrallinks.ThisbusinessmodelseemstolargelybeasuccessOkCupidisa
giantwithintheonlinedatingindustry,asisevidencedbyits2011acquisitionbyInterActiveCorpfor
$50million,aswellasWorthOfWebscurrentvaluationofthesiteatawhopping$310million.
MostonlinedatingserviceslikeOkCupidhaveanumberofthingsincommontheyallask
similarquestionswhenanewusercreatesaprofile,rangingfromfamilyandpoliticstotheimportanceof
dailyshowers.Thatinformationisthenusedtomatchthemwithotherusers.Itwouldseem,then,that

OkCupidssuccessisduetotheperceptionbytheirusersthattheiralgorithmiseffectiveathelpingits
usersfindaromanticmatch.

TechnologicalFactors

Itseffectivelyimpossibletodivorcethisissuefromthetechnologiesinvolved.OkCupidis
attemptingtopromoteromanceandloveusingacomputeralgorithm.Fewdetailsareavailableabout
theinternalworkingsofthatalgorithm,forobviousreasons,thoughitseemstobebasedinlargeparton
(optional)personalityquizquestionsthatusersmaychoosetoanswer.WithOkCupidsrelativelylarge
userbaseoveramillionuniqueuserspermonthitseemslikelythatfurtherdevelopmentofthat
algorithmisdependentonsocalledbigdataanalytictechniques,onlypossiblewithmoderncomputing
power.Nonetheless,theyareattemptingtosolvewithnothingmorethanmathematicsandprogramming
ingenuityanproblemthatistraditionallyconsideredamatteroftheheartandsoul.Itispossiblethatthis
isthesourceofmuchofthecontroversysurroundingRuddersrevelationoftheexperiment:the
relationshipbetweenromanceandsciencehasalwaysbeentenuous,andsotheperceptionthat
OkCupidmayhaveinterferedwiththewaypotentialromanticpartnersvieweachotherwas
understandablynottakenwell.
However,onemustconsiderthepurposeofthealgorithm:OkCupiddoesnotforcepotential
matchestodateorevencontacteachother,andeventhosepeoplewhoreceivedalteredresultswere
stillfullycapableofviewingtheprofilesofthesupposedmatchesbeforedecidingwhetherornottodo
so.Inaddition,OkCupidmakesnoguaranteethatthealgorithmisinfallibleitssimplyameansof
recommendingpossiblematches.Withthatinmind,itsdifficulttoseehowalteringthealgorithms
resultsforsomeusersisabreachoftrustitwouldbeliterallyimpossibleforOkCupidtoknowthe
effectivenessofthealgorithmwithoutrunningexperimentsliketheoneinquestion.

Recommendations

ExperimentssuchasOkCupidsshouldbeconsideredethicallypermissible,astheyultimately
benefitthesitesuserswithlittleifanypossibleharm.Withoutthistypeofexperiment,serviceslike
OkCupidwouldbeunabletodeterminetheaccuracyoreffectivenessoftheirmatchingalgorithmatall.
Inaddition,itwasethicallycorrectforOkCupidtousetheirprivacypolicyasajustificationfortheir
experiment.Thepolicyprovidedbythesiteisclearandreadable,andexplicitlymentionsthepossibility
ofusingtheusersprofileinresearchdesignedtoimprovetheservice.AsRudderhimselfsaid,Most
ideasarebad.Evengoodideascouldbebetter.Experimentsarehowyousortallthisout.

ProsandCons

AllowingexperimentslikeOkCupidstocontinuecomeswithanumberofbenefits.Themost
obviousoneisthatOkCupidandserviceslikeitcancontinuetoimprovetheirmatchingalgorithms,thus

allowingtheiruserstomoreeasilyandreliablyfindromanticpartners.Moreover,experimental
confirmationofOkCupidsalgorithmputspressureuponsimilarservicestosubjecttheirown
matchmakingtechniquestosimilarrigor,thusimprovingtheaccuracyofonlinematchmakingingeneral.
Inaddition,Rudderspublicrevelationoftheexperimentmayserveassomethingofawakeupcallto
usersofallkindsofsocialnetworkingservices,helpingthemtobemoreawareofthepossibilitythat
theseservicesmightbedoingmorewiththeirdatathansimplyholdingontoit.
Thisisnottosaythattherearenodownsidesatall,ofcourse.WhileOkCupidsexperiment
wasinherentlybeneficialtoitsusers,sincethesitesrevenuestreamdependsonitsreputationfor
reliabilityandsuccess,manyonlineservicesmayhavelessaltruisticmotivesinmindwhenrunningsimilar
bigdataexperimentsontheirusers.TheinfamousFacebookmoodexperimentseemedtohaveno
othermotivethantodevelopwaystocontrolusersemotions,forexample,andlettingtheOkCupid
experimentgouncontestedcouldencourageotherservicestofollowinFacebookspath.

WorksCited

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