Algorithms: it's got what hopeless romantics crave

I think the use of these heuristics doesn't necessarily contribute to the success of these matches. Essentially, you get people who don't really believe they can be "matched," and instead use these sites as a way to meet new people. Then you have the people who desperately want to believe they work and work to make that "match" work out. Adding words like "algorithms" and "science" behind this process is nice as a virtual ice breaker (i.e. "Hey, you like Game of Thrones too? That's awesome.") but essentially, the people who end up in a relationship are the ones who can already see themselves being with whoever they're matched up with.

That isn't to say that any of this is bad. And these sites do a pretty great job at that ice breaker, but I think it's the anonymity that is really key here. Starting off with a small bit of information, and eventually learning more and more about a potential match. Let the social identity act as a means of verifying real people, I guess, but don't expose that. Let users do that for you. And in turn, it might make people find more interesting matches - people they like talking to before maybe even seeing them. Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

Does anyone actually believe that online dating algorithms reliably predict relationship success? I've always seen it as merely a weak signal of compatibility, and I imagined other dating site users saw it the same way.

It seems lots of people who don't use dating sites are under the impression that everything is "automated". It's not like you entrust your entire relationship to the algorithm, only dating the person with the highest match %. Rather you look at a ton of profiles, many with a high match %, but some with a low match %, and message the ones you like the look/sound of. From that point we're back to the old monkey-brain dating algorithms that have been around since the paleolithic. (But fair play to OKCupid, they have a decent idea of my tastes - the people with whom I share the highest match % seem consistently interesting).

Adding "identity" seems to be the exact opposite of what every dating site user wants. Women would probably like more safety features, but I don't think anyone wants a "log in with Facebook" button.