What is OkCupid and How Does It Work?
By Kay FleuryUpdated on March 16, 2022
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Are you tired of signing up for dating websites that make you offer up every last detail about your lifestyle and habits just to see other singles in your area? Still want the opportunity to make meaningful connections with people you meet online? This is what you get at OkCupid.com.
Instantly browse matches in your area after completing a sign up process that takes less than 5 minutes! Then add information as you go to increase your likelihood of finding more compatible matches.
So what exactly is OkCupid?
OkCupid is a dating website that offers instant connections to users in your area whose personality and habits match yours. Use the “Quick Match” function to immediately decide whether you “like” someone, and see if they like you back. Answer questions at your own pace to increase your likelihood of finding true love!
Unlike eHarmony.com and Match.com, there are no lengthy questionnaires to fill out before you start; browse your matches after only a short sign up process providing basic information, and instantly message any user. You can also keep track of who visits your profile, and who out of those users like you. Like someone back quickly to spark up a conversation!
How OkCupid works: 4 steps to finding love
1. Sign up for a free OkCupid account.
Creating an account on OkCupid is beyond simple – and it’s free! Just enter your gender, orientation, birthday, ZIP code and email, and then choose a username and password. You can then “Kickstart” your profile by entering a single “About Me” paragraph, choosing to answer 7 simple Yes or No questions to get you started with some compatible matches, and choosing 3 users that you think are your type – all steps you can skip at any time if you want to see your matches immediately.
2. Search for compatible matches in different ways.
Easily Browse Matches on OkCupid, and connect with users in your area based on your compatibility. Filter these matches, sorting by location, Match %, age, personality, lifestyle, or anything you choose. Feel like you can make an instant connection with someone? Try your luck with the Quick Match and instantly “like” other users to see if they like you back. Or if you prefer a slower pace, click on any user to freely browse their profile in more detail, and even see how they answered the hundreds of optional questions OkCupid asks its users.
3. Instantly communicate with your matches and any OkCupid user.
When you find a good match on OkCupid, click the yellow star on their profile to “like” them, or you can send them a Message. Instant message with anyone who is currently online, and hope anyone offline will answer you later if they’re feeling it too. Send messages back and forth with a potential match to set up a date! There’s no waiting with OkCupid – you can begin messaging the instant you create a profile.
4. Answer Questions at your own pace.
OkCupid only makes you answer 7 questions to get started, but 7 questions won’t give you a very accurate measurement of your compatibility with someone. That’s why OkCupid offers you the option to Answer Questions whenever you like! Choose from OkCupid’s bank of hundreds of questions to increase your measurement of compatibility with other users.
If you answer a question, you can then see the answer any other user has provided when you visit their profile. If you haven’t answered that question, answer it on the spot to reveal your match’s answer! Do this as often as you want at your own pace to increase your chance of finding true love.
The rest of our OkCupid course will discuss how much OkCupid costs to use, how safe it is, our review of OkCupid, how to sign up for an account, and how to use the different features of OkCupid. We’ll even throw in how to delete your account if you find it isn’t meeting your romantic needs. Check out our next tutorial on how much OkCupid can cost you.