VICE - Aug 3 - When Facebook launched in 2004, Scott Valdez used it to find women who attended the University of Georgia. He sent them dozens of messages using one of five pickup lines, and then recorded the women's responses and response rate in a spreadsheet. He applied his algorithm to POF, and hired a guy on Craigslist to manage his POF profile for him. His personal experiment laid the groundwork for his matchmaking service, called ViDA Select. It's now the biggest virtual dating service of its kind. Dozens of remote consultants – from a stylist, to a photo analyst, to an app-swiper – work together to curate and manage users online dating profiles for them. They even have a ghostwriter, who flirts with their matches on their behalf. The end goal is to set up a date for their clients.
by Caroline Pahl & Evan McMorris-Santorro
See full article at Vice News
