final paper

Jayme MedvidFinal Project

Silent Sparks

For my final presentation, I have created an online dating site called Silent

Sparks. Silent Sparks is a very simple concept to understand. My site will be a

combination of many things. It will incorporate algorithms and simple matching

techniques. This will be an online dating site that is also available in a Smartphone

application form in order to allow it to be easily accessible for everyone at all times. The

signup process for my online dating site would be quite simple. For starters, each person

will be required to pay for a background check in order to ensure the safety of all

members of the site. Next, there will be a ten-dollar per month fee in order to weave out

people who are not seriously looking for a partner. However, this will allow those who

are actually serious to become involved for a very small fee. The first month of service

will be free so that people could try the site out without having to commit to the price

until they are certain this site is something that they are interested in using. The

background check will not be required until the end of the first month; at the same time

the first payments will begin. I view my online dating site almost as a game, where levels

must be achieved in order to unlock a new level with better features for communication.

In order to start one’s profile, there will be many simple questions. These

questions will contain all general information such as age, gender, sexual orientation,

religion, race, race preference, kids, etc. Based off of these questions, a pool of people

will be generated as potential matches as long as half of the responses coordinate with

another members. Next, each person will answer three simple questions pulled from a

pool of fifty questions created by me. These questions will be random questions such as

“what is your favorite beer,” “do you like math,” “what is your favorite color,” “what is


your dream car,” “do you enjoy romantic comedies,” etc. These will appear on the basic

portion of the profile. The user will then create an anime figure of some sort to represent

themselves to other users. This will also appear on the basic profile. The only things that

appear on the basic profile are the anime photo, the three questions, the gender, and the

state the person is located in. The user will then begin to create their real, or unlocked

profile. This will include real photos of themselves, all of the information given In the

sign up process, and anything they choose to post to their “page”; very similar to a profile

on Facebook. Their phone number or email must also be provided. After creating their

own profile, they will create ten of their own questions to ask potential matches.

From the starting questions, a pool of potential matches was generated based on at

least fifty percent common interests and common background. From here, a large screen

will pop up with the people who have the highest percentage in common. For example, if

someone has one hundred percent in common, they will appear first. Their anime figure

and their three questions will appear. The user will then decide if they are interested in

“lighting the fire,” or “move on.” If a user chooses to move on, another basic profile will

appear and they will go through the same process. If the user chooses to “start the fire,” a

message will be sent to the potential match with one of the ten questions the user created

in the beginning, and this will be the start of level one. This question will be asked to the

potential match and will be answered. The potential matches response will be returned to

the user’s inbox along with one of the potential matches ten questions. The user will then

rank the response of the potential match on a scale of one to five and answer the potential

matches question. This process is repeated on the potential matches side. There will be a

“fire extinguisher” accessible at all times if either user choose they are no longer


interested in associating. Once all ten questions are exchanged back and forth, the total

scores of all questions will be added up. If each user does not have at least a score of

thirty, they will not be able to continue to talk. If they both have a score of at least thirty,

part of each profile will unlock. The aspects that will unlock at this point will be age,

name, religion, and race. At this point they will be able to decide if they want to “keep

the fire going,” or “extinguish the flame.” If both users decide to “keep the fire going,”

then the next step will be ten more questions, however, they will be generated by the user

through each interaction, almost like messaging, however, the characters will be limited

to 140 characters so there is only room for a basic question and basic response. The same

scoring system will be used for this round, which I will call level two. If after level two,

the users continue to contact one another, based on score and preference, other features

will open. This will open all of the other personal information on the profile as well as

personal posts. However, no photos will be displayed at this time. The users will be able

to message one another openly. In order to make sure the users are not sending photos,

photo exchange will not be allowed in messaging at this point. Also, any phone number

or email sent to or from a user will alert a red flag and communication will be terminated.

Once the users have exchanged fifty messages back and forth, they have reach level four.

Before level four begins, they will be asked, yet again, if they would like to “keep the fire

going,” or “extinguish the fire.” If contact is continued, the rest of the profile will open

and video chat will be unlocked. This will be considered level four, also known as,

“Sparks Flying.” After three ten minute or more video chat sessions, a phone number or

email will be displayed for each user and then they will be able to contact each other


without using the website. However, this kind of contact cannot be made any soon than

reaching “Sparks Flying.”

Much research has shown that the physical attraction between people on an online

dating site can be deceiving. Many times, this can be misleading and cause people to not

get to know the people they may be meant for. We have discussed the means of physical

attraction in class and how it has to do with online dating. I also find an article by Toma,

(2010) that discusses the results of a study based on these ideas. Toma showed that there

is a significant pull and the effects of physical attractiveness on online dating is very

strong. This article shows that the main component into online dating is the physical

aspect. Therefore, I created my website so that the physical aspect of dating is the last

thing encountered in developing a relationship. I believe that relationships should first be

based on connections and emotional ties rather than physical attraction and “butterflies”

in the stomach by seeing someone. I believe online photos are deceiving to begin with

and nobody can actually get a true idea of what a person looks like until they encounter

one another in person.

Also, I developed the idea of unlocking questions without having an actual

conversation and using an algorithm system to unlock levels. I did this because people

pretend to be someone they are not online. The entire idea of my online dating site is to

have an honest, meaningful relationship that has real sparks; not fake ones. We have

discussed this concept in class that people are able to hide behind a screen online and are

not always honest about who they are. Therefore, I found an article by Larose (2005)

relating to this idea. Larose discusses how people act differently when they are talking to

someone online. Many people are shy and afraid to show others who they really are, and


it is easier to hide behind a screen. Also, it is easier to lie about who one is, what they

look like, how much money they make, and ones personality. Online dating is completely

different than dating in that it allows a person to pretend to be whoever they want to be.

With my online dating site, the likelihood of this will be eliminated. My site will make it

difficult for people to pretend to be someone they are not based on the questions and

algorithms.

According to Social Semiotics, a journal from the school of media in Australia,

“technologies are meant to enable us to contact more people, more often, and in this way

network with others. Applied to dating, this would appear to be a good thing, as people

would thereby benefit from having additional choice. However, the flip side of the coin is

that, because of the increased choice, we get a case of information plenty, not scarcity:

too much information, too many choices, too many potential (and potentially

unsatisfying) mates….filtering begins at the initial screening process as daters try to catch

out incongruous behavior before investing too much energy in someone unsuitable. The

photograph is particularly important, as is choice of words,” (Best&Delmege, 2012, pp.1-

2). In this article, Best (2012) describes the problems with online dating. She stated that

there are too many choices for people on online dating sites. That is why I have a rule on

Silent Sparks that each member can never be interacting with more than five other

members at one time. This eliminates the option to be overly interacting in order to be

certain that the potential match is one hundred percent perfect based off of what they see

online. She also states that the photograph has a dramatic pull on whether a member

would be interested in another member or not. This is why I have the rule on my online

dating site that each person cannot view the other member’s photo until they have


unlocked a level. This strengthens the relationship between the two members before

being able to judge the member based on the level of physical attractiveness.

According to the media multiplexity theory discussed in class, relational partners

add more media as their relationships progress. They will normally start with one

communication channel and add others without giving up the initial means of contact. By

beginning Silent Sparks with a messaging aspect, then adding video chat, email, and

telephone, this forces the users to enhance their relationship with adding different

methods of communication without giving up the initial one they started with. Also,

strong ties are formed when partners communicate through more channels. By beginning

a relationship with such a strong foundation as there is in Silent Sparks, I believe that

when a user finds “the one,” they will be able to work out their relationship due to the

foundation it was built on by using my online dating site, Silent Sparks.

I also made the most basic step of my site based off the birds-of-a-feather effect

discussed in class. The users each had to have a certain percentage of things/interests in

common in order to even be put into the same pool of potential matches. However, I did

not make this percentage too high because at times opposites do attract. Compatibility is

a huge factor in any relationship. Compatibility is used measuring stated preferences as

well as revealed preferences.

According to an article by Lieland (2005), online dating sites are a very risky and

dangerous place. There are no types of precautions that one could take in order to protect

themselves against predators or fraudulent users. A website called True.com ordered

background checks and ended up rejecting five percent of their users because of their

criminal convictions. I could only imagine what these types of people would do when


given the opportunity to take advantage of emotionally weak people just looking for

someone to love. Therefore, I require a background check for my users so that I can

ensure the safety of each and every person using Silent Sparks. In class we discussed the

woman who was beaten and raped while using Match.com, one of most prestigious and

expensive online dating sites out there. By requiring a background check as well as a

monthly fee, I hope to only attract a crowd of users that is serious about finding a

potential mate and will not take advantage of any of the users.

I also found another article to support my theory that less is more when it comes

to online dating. According to CyberPsychology & Behavior, “more options lead to less

selective processing reducing users’ cognitive resources, distracting them with irrelevant

information, and reducing their ability to screen out inferior options,” (Wu, 2009, p. 315).

I specifically created algorithms and matching techniques in order to filter out a good

portion of users and create a pool of potential matches for each user. I personally believe

that when each user is allowed to search through every profile and user on an online

dating site, they never appear to be content. There are just too many options of potential

matches, each with different characteristics that the searcher may or may not be interested

in. Contrary to popular belief, there is not a perfect person out there, ever. However, I

feel as if due to the large pool of users on online dating sites as well as the easy ability to

access several users information, users continue to search for the perfect person. This

perfect person does not exist, but there may be a person that is a perfect match for the

user, yet their standards are so skewed due to the large pool of people that they will never

give this a chance. Therefore, I believe by creating a smaller pool for each of my users as

will assist in preventing this from happening. The other rule I created in order to prevent


unrealistic selection due to a large pool is that each member can only be interacting with

a maximum of five users at a time. This prevents users from interacting with several other

users and they may not even be seriously interested in any of them. I know from personal

experience that on online dating sites such as Tinder, MeetMe, and Plenty of Fish, each

user can interact with as many other users as they want at any given moment in time. I

have came back to my phone with messages from ten different guys on Tinder. I feel as if

due to this overwhelming amount of messages to answer to, I do not personally dedicate

any real thought or effort to any single conversation. I also feel as if there are way too

many options on these sites and it appears as if every guy would be a great match for me.

However, I could be messaging the perfect guy for me, along with fifteen other guys, and

not put the effort into the conversation. I would never know if we could have had real

sparks flying in this moment due to my disinterest because of several messages to answer

to. So, I believe these restrictions and limitations on Silent Sparks will assist in users

reducing the amount of time and effort into finding the perfect match because of less

options offered, unlike other online dating sites.

So, in conclusion, I created an online dating site that is also accessible through a

Smartphone application. I did this in order to ensure an easily accessible matching site at

all times in many locations. My online dating site is similar to that of a game with levels

that must be achieved in order to unlock more features of potential matches profiles as

well as the user’s own profile to the potential match. For level one, the only things that

will appear on the profile will be an anime photo as well as three random questions. With

this, a user can choose whether they interested in beginning communication with this

other user or not. From here, ten questions will be exchanged with a simple scoring


system in order to determine compatibility. If the score is high enough, they may

continue contact with ten more questions generated by themselves in level two. The same

scoring system will be used for this level. In level two, age, name, religion, and race will

appear on each user’s profile. With this information, they can continue whether to

continue communication or not. If continued at level three, an open messaging feature

will be unlocked as well as the rest of the profile except photos. In order to reach level

four, the users must exchange fifty messages and choose to continue communication. At

level four, also known as sparks flying, the users will be able to video chat. The last

feature that will be unlocked on Silent Sparks will be a phone number and/or email for

the other user. This will be unlocked after three ten minute or longer video chat

conversations. I have many reasons for the methods I used to include in my online dating

site, Silent Sparks. I chose to include a small fee and background check in order to ensure

a safe, serious environment for all users. This will prevent predators or people who are

not serious about finding a potential match from using Silent Sparks. I also did not allow

any photo usage until level four to prevent physical aspects from affecting one’s opinion

of another user. Research has shown that the main component in online dating is the

physical aspect and I personally do not believe that should be. Therefore, I save that for

one of the last things to be unlocked. Also, my method for the exchange of brief

questions or responses was to attempt to prevent people from acting differently while

communicating online. Research has shown that users of online dating sites can pretend

to be someone they are not due to the anonymity of the Internet and the ability to hide

behind a screen. This can also be related to social construction as discussed in class

because users can create a profile of someone they are not even thought other users do


not see them that way. They can attempt to portray themselves as whoever and whatever

they would like. I limited the amount of interactions allowed on my website and

generated a pool of potential matches by algorithms in order to enhance selective

processing. Research has shown that with more options, there is less selective processing.

This produces distractions with irrelevant information from users focusing on developing

real relationships with other users. Finally, I developed different levels based off of the

media multiplexity theory. Each level unlocks more channels of communication.

According to the media multiplexity theory, people are supposed to add more channels of

communication as the relationship progresses. People are supposed to start with one

method of communication and add others. This creates stronger ties in relationships.

Those with stronger ties communicate through more channels. By building a relationship

off of the use of the media multiplexity theory, I believe any couples that have met on

Silent Sparks will have a better chance of making it in their relationship because their

relationship was built among such a strong communication foundation. Ultimately, I

believe Silent Sparks tackles and eliminates many of the issues presented today in online

dating websites; among eliminating physical attraction, enhancing the media multiplexity

theory, enhancing selective processing, increasing safety through a background check,

eliminating an endless pool of potential matches, and attempting to eliminate social

construction. I believe Silent Sparks will greatly positively impact interpersonal

relationships and strengthen those relationships formed among online dating websites in

today’s generation.


Works Cited

Best, K. & Delmege, S. (2012). The filtered encounter: online dating and the problem offiltering through excess information. Social Semiotics, 22, 237-258.

Donna, L. (2005). Background checks split matchmaking sites. USA Today.

Larose, R., & Liu, X. (2005). Are you a different person online?—The effects ofonline experience on personality. Conference Papers – InternationalCommunication Association, 1-33.

Toma, C L. (2010). Looks and lies: The role of physical attractiveness in online dating self-presentation and deception. Communication research, 37, 335-351.

Wu, P., & Chiou, W. (2009). More options lead to more searching and worse choicesin finding partners for romantic relationships online: An experimental study.Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 315, 315-318.

final paper

Documents

simple questions

starting questions

random questions

online dating site

basic profile

unlocked profile

ones profile

pool of people