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Kevin Carmony, recently-resigned CEO for desktop Linux vendor Linspire, today unveiled his new venture, Dating DNA, LLC. Dating DNA provides free and open Web Services which bring 1-click compatibility scoring and other sophisticated dating features to Social Networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Craigslist.
No news that daters have been leaving paid dating sites in droves for social networks or that social networking search and matching is sorely lacking for the most part. Turns out Dating DNA wants to do something about it.
A person’s “dating DNA” is represented by a unique 9-digit number, exclusive to that individual and theirs for life. Users can get their free Dating DNA Number by visiting www.datingdna.com and answering a series of questions about themselves and their dating preferences, a process which takes around 15 to 30 minutes.
Through a patent-pending system devised by Carmony, Dating DNA encapsulates over 300 pieces of information down into a single 9-digit number, including all the particulars about a person and the type of people they prefer to date. For example, encoded in the number is a person’s hair color, height, line of employment, religion, if they have children, political leanings, and hundreds of other pieces of information. Encoded in the number are also the person’s dating preferences, such as do they prefer to date a non-smoker, someone who likes pets, someone who wants children, someone who owns their own home, and so on, as well as the weight a person places upon each of the different criteria.
Once someone has their Dating DNA Number, they can exchange their number with those they meet, either online or off. By visiting the Dating DNA website, users can compare their Dating DNA Number with someone else’s number, and within seconds, generate a one-decimal compatibility score, ranging from 1.0 to 10.0, as well as view a compatibility summary and detailed reports. (See examples at www.datingdna.com/screenshots.)
Unlike traditional dating sites where literally anyone can view a user’s profile and photos, and then contact them, Dating DNA keeps all information and photos private, except from those who meet or exceed a “Compatibility Threshold,” set by each user. Users can also browse other Dating DNA users, but will only be shown those who meet or exceed their Compatibility Threshold.
Central to Dating DNA’s strategy, is providing open APIs to their Web Services which allow developers to bring Dating DNA’s 1-click compatibility scoring engine to other sites and devices. For example, there are Dating DNA-powered applications for Facebook and MySpace. Widgets will soon be released for Craigslist, iGoogle, Apple’s iPhone, and the Chumby web appliance, as well as many other sites and devices. Dating DNA’s Web Services allow developers to quickly and easily incorporate sophisticated dating compatibility tools to hundreds of Social Networking sites and web devices. Developers can learn more.
What does a Linux CEO know about personality profiling? I hope that Dr. James Houran and Fernando Ardenghi will check out the system and leave a comment. Those guys live for tearing apart profiling systems and explaining what works and what doesn’t. DISC, Big-5, it’s all greek to me. Here’s an example of their conversations about matching systems.
Category:Personality Testing Tags: datingdnaBlog reactions
6 responses so far ↓
1
Andrea (Check me out!)
// Dec 20, 2007 at 8:00 pm
I checked it out. I was quite impressed. It took me about 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire, but I found it tended to ask all the right questions. It doesn’t try to get into the “psychology” of compatibility, but sticks with the basic things that the USER knows about themselves, such as do they want to date a smoker? Someone with children? And so on.
You can start meeting people right away once you get your number, using their “browse” feature, which is pretty cool. It presents you with other Dating DNA users who score a certain level with you, and you can choose to either add them to your history file, delete them, or skip them. I like how it allows you to delete users you’re not interested in, so I don’t have to keep seeing those people appear in future browses.
I also added their Facebook application to my Facebook page and was equally impressed with that. Now, anyone visiting my Facebook page can get their compatibility score with me with just one click (assuming they also have a DNA #).
The site is free, very well organized, easy to use, and you can tell they invested a decent amount of resources into this “free” dating site.
Andrea
2
Fernando Ardenghi (Check me out!)
// Dec 20, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I checked datingdna last Nov 21, 2007 when I read a comment at
http://app.businessweek.com/UserComments/combo_review?action=all&style=wide&productId=24295&pageIndex=3
Unfortunately datingdna uses an ipsative instrument which includes
* “What you are like”
* “What your criteria is for meeting someone”
* “How much weight do you place on each criteria”, it means you can tune/synthesize/improve your compatibility/affinity with other members changing those weights!!!
From http://www.datingdna.com/?a=faq
“Can I change my answers to the questions I was asked when getting my Dating DNA Number?
Sure. Simply login to your account and you can update any of the questions at anytime …. .”
The compatiblity report resembles WeAttract’s, used at YahooPersonals
with 2 details:
you can tune a threshold (a level to receive contacts and allow them to fully view your profile)
and
you can see the range of compatibility of one person to others, and know if there are persons more compatible than you.
When it says “Scores 9.0 or higher - These scores indicate an extreemly high level of dating compatibility and are very rare. Less than one in 5,000 matches on Dating DNA fall within this range. ” Oh, how do they know that? They have only one decimal figure in the compatibility score.
What most caught my attention is the paragraph that says (it is so funny, I am still laughing)
“Does a high Compatibility Score mean I’d for sure hit it off with that person?
No, because there are so many other important factors to consider which can’t be determined by Dating DNA, such as physical attraction, voice, laugh, personality, chemistry, how well you get along with their family, and many others. However, a high score does mean you are compatible with most of the ‘basics’, which is a good place to start. Dating DNA is not so much about finding you the perfect partner (you’ll have to date and spend time with someone to find that out), but is more about saving you time from dating those you KNOW you’re not interested in”
In other words, it is only a sophisticated way to search in a database!!! that could be full of *retouched/improved* profiles (remember datingdna uses an ipsative instrument)
———————————————-
Any serious online dating site willing to launch personality profiling should use the 16PF5 test.
The 16PF5 is a normative & well known test used by job recruiters, ready from 1949, available in different languages and no other actual online dating site is using it!!!
My effort is directed to prove that temporal patterns of relationship variables may indeed play a significant role between mates / prospective mates with last stage: only high level on *personality* *similarity* between mates.
*personality* measured with the 16PF5 normative test in different languages.
*similarity* calculated using quantum math equations with the quantitative method I had invented, named LIFEPROJECT METHOD.
Kindest Regards,
Fernando Ardenghi.
Buenos Aires.
Argentina.
3
Emilee (Check me out!)
// Dec 21, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I went through the Dating DNA (www.datingdna.com) process and found this free site very interesting and fun. I really like the way it allows you to do a one-click compatibility check with anyone online or off, if they too have a Dating DNA number. Someone should have thought of this quick compatibility scoring method years ago. I added their application to my Facebook page and now all my friends immediately know their status with me. It would be great if everyone had this on their Facebook page so I can see how I rate with them. I’m looking for a 10.
4
Cindy (Check me out!)
// Jan 30, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I check out datingdna.com and was also impressed. For a “free” site, I must say, I was very surprised at the quality of the site. I found it very easy to use and navigate. I personally am glad they don’t ask silly questions like “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?” but sticks to the basic, logical things most of us care about when deciding if we should date someone.
There are so few men I want to date anyway, it’s nice to have this fast way to weed out most of the “I know I’d never date this guy” guys, and then let ME decide, through dating those I at least on paper look compatible with.
I give dating dna five stars.
Cindy
5
Andy K. (Check me out!)
// Feb 2, 2008 at 11:31 am
Very interesting concept. I gave it a go and was also very impressed. I think they’re on to something here. The tie-in to social networking is certainly the way to go with online dating these days.
AK
6
Roger (Check me out!)
// Jun 2, 2008 at 6:15 am
I heard about this application at Apple.com. Dating DNA is the only online dating site I’ve found with a dedicated application for my iPhone.
I think Dating DNA hits the target. I LIKE the fact it doesn’t try to get into “personality profiling.” I mean, will it really help a dating site by asking me silly questions like, “If you were a tree, what kind would you like to be?”
The site is free, isn’t cluttered with any advertising, and seems to ask all the right questions. My only complaint is that because it’s new, it still has a limited user base, but I’ve found all the users were real people, serious about dating.
Roger
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