Datamatch Seeks to Match Valentines

This Valentine’s Day, thousands of Harvard students will discover their soulmate—or at least the ten likely soulmate candidates determined by Harvard Computer Society’s match-making service, Datamatch.

Those looking for love or just a little amusement answer 30 questions about topics such as past relationships, current events, and which Harvard classroom most represents their sex life.

“I logged onto Datamatch just because the questions were hilarious,” Winston S. Hill ’12, said. “I’m going to e-mail them to everyone I know.”

HCS President Keito Uchiyama ’11, said that although the questions were not scored based on psychological science, the algorithm is effective in pairing compatible students. To match participants, members of the Harvard Computer Society score each question based on personality traits. The results are then run through a secret computer algorithm.

“We use a very complex and mysterious algorithm that no one really knows anything about,” HCS Vice President of Communications Hanzi Zhang ’12, said.

Datamatch 2009 marks the service’s 16th continuous year of operation. This year, HCS has launched new features that allow users to change their answers until the deadline, and also updated the Web site for a more modern look.

Students who answer the questionnaire by February 13th at 11:59 p.m. will receive their top ten closest matches in an e-mail on Valentine’s Day.

“We like that there is a sense of doubt about whether the people you’re matched with are really accurate...it could just be random,” Zhang said.

Most students view Datamatch as innocent fun, and do not expect to find the perfect mate through the service.

Jessica M. Righthand ’09 said she participated in Datamatch as a freshman and was contacted by one of her matches.

“I think it’s entertaining…but I wouldn’t take it seriously,” she said.

Righthand said she did not respond to the match that contacted her.

Former HCS President Joshua A. Kroll ’09, said he has heard of love stories that blossomed from Datamatch. In fact, Kroll himself was matched with his then-girlfriend when he took the survey.

“I would say the matches were a good validation that the program is running smoothly,” he said. “It’s always important to us that people are happy.”

Some students, however, think that Datamatch contributes to the general societal trend of declining face-to-face interaction.

“I think that for shy people, it’s okay [to use Datamatch]. But it might not be the right way morally—you’re not really showing people your real characteristics,” Nikola Ivica ’12 said. “Personally, I think it’s always better to meet in person.”