OKCupid.com - WTF - Find Your Ideal Match, With A Twist

The witty online dating website OKCupid.com has launched a new feature called, WTF, that lets you see how incompatible you are with another user. Sound weird? Here's how it works. First, you'll need to create a personal profile on OKCupid in order to use WTF. As OKCupid is a matchmaking service, you'll want to fill out your profile in a way that expresses who you really are. Here's where WTF comes in: Once you've finished you're personal profile, you can begin answering a literally endless series of questions (both user-submitted and site-generated) that allow you to express a strong opinion about something. After you respond, you also indicated the response that you would like for your potential match to have answered. Last, indicate how important their response is to you. A sample question is, "Would you date an atheist?" So, for example, you could put "Yes", indicated that you want your match to put "Probably", and say that the answer to this question is "Somewhat important". When you tire of answering questions, you can see how well you and another user matched up on questions to which both of you have submitted responses by requesting a WTF report. Essentially, a WTF report tells you "how well (or poorly) [you] matched, and a damage score that tells you mathematically just how much messing up that question hurt the match between you two". WTF will display the user's answers to each question and contrast them with yours so you can see where specific discrepancies lie. In order to do this, however, you'll need to submit a request that needs to be approved by the person whose WTF report you want to see. This process continues until ideally, you hunt down that elusive ideal match.

"What Is It?

The one sentence answer: WTF allows you to compare match questions with another user.

We're not really sure what WTF stands for. It's been said it means, "What To Fix," while others insist it means "Where's The Farm?"

OKCupid has already established itself as a popular matchmaking service, due in part to its breezy, devil-may-care outlook on love and relationships. The new WTF service is unique in that, unlike other dating services, it matches you up with people by comparing your differences and not your similarities. This type of retro-matchmaking could appeal to those disheartened with traditional online dating services, and the obvious degree of intelligence and comedic genius will attract even those NOT interested in serious matchmaking.

OKCupid leaves a few bases uncovered in terms of their explanation of the service; if there is and endless set of questions, how can the WTF reports be complete? Wouldn't a request for a WTF report from a user who hasn't answered the same questions that you have be an exercise in futility? Also, OKCupid claims that submitting a request for a WTF report can increase your compatibility with another user; does that imply that you can modify your answers to more closely match theirs? If so, doesn't that devalue the entire matchmaking system?