What happens when dating starts without photos: the halo effect, OkCupid's photo-free day, and research on how getting to know someone changes attraction.
No-photo dating takes appearance out of the first impression and changes how people connect online. The best-known test of the idea came from OkCupid: on January 15, 2013, it hid every photo on the site for seven hours, and people replied to first messages 44 percent more often than on a normal Tuesday, conversations went deeper, and contact details were shared sooner. Leading with personality does not remove attraction. It changes who gets a fair hearing before looks have their say.
It can. When OkCupid hid every photo on the site for seven hours on January 15, 2013, people replied to first messages 44 percent more often than on a normal Tuesday, conversations went deeper, and contact details were shared sooner. Photos still matter once they appear, but the first impression is no longer decided by them.
Not necessarily. In a 2007 study by Gary Lewandowski, Arthur Aron and Julie Gee, people rated the same face as more physically attractive after learning that its owner had a desirable personality. Connection changes perception.
Removing photos actually reduces catfishing risk since fabricating a consistent personality across the quiz, twelve questions to start and 29 in all, is much harder than uploading a stolen photo.
Chemistry Dating is a personality-first dating platform where members connect through conversation, not photos. Free to join, available in 10 languages, with matching based on a 29-question personality quiz, 12 of them at sign-up, scored across 14 traits such as social energy, communication style, conflict style, humour, values and lifestyle.
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