OKCupid: Users who show ACLU support get more dates

People who show their support for the ACLU on their online dating profile are more likely to get a date than those who don’t, according to online dating company OkCupid.

The company began offering a pro-ACLU badge about a month ago that displays on a user’s profile if they answer yes to a question about supporting the ACLU.

A month later, the company says data shows users who support the ACLU have 10 percent more conversations through the app with other users than those who don’t. 

Users who are pro-ACLU also get 15 percent more “likes,” representing interest, according to the company’s data.

“100 percent you are more likely to go on a date with the ACLU badge,” OkCupid CMO Melissa Hobley told The Hill.

.@okcupid users who support our work get 15% more likes than those who don’t. pic.twitter.com/fuxDxUPkTQ

— ACLU (@ACLU) July 7, 2018

Hobley said the company created the badge because data showed that mentions of the ACLU in user profiles had increased.

{mosads}“What helps inform our decisions on our partnerships, like the ACLU badge, is what we see our users talking about,” said Hobley.

Hobley said talking about politics has become more popular on user profiles in the current “climate.” A question about support for Trump is also popular on the site.

“The question is actually ‘Trump?’ It’s very simple,” said Hobley. “The options are ‘hell yes,’ ‘hell no,’ ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and you can skip it. And then you’re asked how important that question is to you. By answering that question you are essentially creating a filter.”

Hobley added that questions like the one about the ACLU and Trump also work for people on the other side of the aisle to find people who aren’t ACLU supporters or do support Trump.

“We welcome all political leanings and all types of people. You can use our ‘filters’ about Trump and other things to find people who might not be on the progressive side,” she said.

OkCupid donates $1 to the ACLU for every user who answers “yes” to the “do you support the ACLU?” question. The company promised to donate a maximum of $50,000 and said it has already maxed out that number.

“We turned this on in June when [the Supreme Court was ruling on the same-sex wedding cake case] and Pride was happening … many of our communities care about those things,” Hobley said.

OkCupid previously offered a similar profile badge showing the user’s support for Planned Parenthood.

“It was really successful, in the way we want it to be successful in that it got people together,” said Hobley.

Badges have been temporary in the past, but according to Hobley the ACLU badge has been “so well received” that the company is offering it for a longer amount of time and re-evaluating how long to offer similar badges going forward.