Dating site OKCupid's Sam Yagan reveals some of the data crunching results they've done on what works and what doesn't work on dating sites. It's actually pretty impressive just how much data the site has to work with, so there are some interesting (and some amusing) findings. Of course, some of it is blindingly obvious: women showing cleavage get a greater response. But did you know that said cleavage is apparently much more effective for women who are 32 than women who are 18? Apparently, at 18, "revealing" shots get 24% more interest, but at 32 such photos get 79% more interest. Not quite sure what to make of that. On the flip side, apparently guys showing their abs actually works... though, as Yagan rightly points out, there's a self-selection issue here, where it's pretty much only guys who have good abs who choose to reveal them in their profile photos.

Yagan also points out some differences about whether or not your profile picture should involve you staring into the camera. Turns out it depends on your gender:

"So on the photos we've learned a bunch of things. We've learned that you should be doing something interesting. We've learned that if you are a man, you shouldn't look straight into the camera because that's intimidating to women. If you are a woman, you should be looking into the camera because men don't want to imagine you looking at some other guy. They want you looking straight at them. So we've learned that if you take a photo in your bathroom or a photo taken with your cell phone, those have a more authentic, more intimate appeal and those actually do very, very well."

I find this kind of stuff fascinating because suddenly all sorts of bizarre data is now available that opens up a window into the human brain that just wasn't there before. The obvious stuff is no surprise, clearly, but some of the specifics and other oddities really are fascinating, and give you a data-based look into human psychology.