The most popular users on dating sites OkCupid and Match.com get many times as many profile views as the least popular, and Wired set out to track some of the characteristics of these superstars. In a series of data visualizations and infographics released this week, the site illustrated a number of features from popular profiles, including the most common keywords. Surfing and yoga appear in the profiles of both males and females, while the band Radiohead and the movie Pulp Fiction are associated with more popular females.
In fact, higher-brow cultural interests are generally correlated with greater attractiveness, as are profile photos that show smiling and eye-contact with the camera. Men who use good grammar, using the word “whom” in their profiles, get 31% more contacts from women, while women who refer to themselves as “girl” get 16% more attention than those who refer to themselves as “woman.”