'Felt daring': The way a computer-based dating service established in 1965 shaped our romantic encounters
Back in 1965, a notice with the phrase "Looking for Love? Let a Computer Help!" graced the façade of a Harvard dorm room, symbolizing the birthplace of the first computer-assisted dating service in the USA. Ahead of Tinder and OK Cupid, Operation Match made its debut.
Young, unfulfilled in the realm of conventional dating rituals, such as dreary mixers with women's colleges, and short on opportunities to engage with the opposite sex on their campus, Harvard students Jeff Tarr and Vaughan Morrill, following an evening of drinking, took it upon themselves to experiment if a computer could catalyze a date.
Irrespective of Tarr's ambitions, Operation Match inadvertently resulted in a hectic workload that kept him out of the dating game. And despite his eventual encounter with love through a classic approach – a blind date – Tarr's wife Patsy Tarr published a memoir about Operation Match for his 80th birthday, sparking an official publication.
“Dating was an entirely different experience,” stated Patsy Tarr, reminiscing on the 60s dating scene. Having utilized Operation Match herself, Patsy recollected the exhilaration of meeting someone through a computer as opposed to the conventional route.
A survey instead of swiping
During the initial stages of collaboration, Tarr and Morrill recognized their primary clientele would be enthusiastic singulars like themselves. The foundation of Operation Match was a thorough 75-point survey which probed hobbies, education, physical attributes, race, and – plot twist for 1965 – attitudes towards intimacy. Participants were encouraged to respond twice, once self-reflecting and once depicting their ideal partner.
Although Operation Match adhered to norms that now feel outdated, it also served as a catalyst for societal transformation. The emergence of the birth control pill on one hand, coupled with traditional marital expectations on the other, made the mid-60s a fascinating epoch for young women eager to socialize.
Gender norms shifted, and dating practices changed dramatically as a result. Marriage is no longer the ultimate goal, and a multitude of locations are now explored to find partners beyond the immediate social circle – a testament to the influence of Operation Match.
In actuality, although Operation Match played a pivotal role in dating history, it did not hold the title of the first online dating service. This title belongs to Joan Ball, a British woman who founded the St. James Computer Dating Service, which later became Com-Pat, and recorded its inaugural match in 1964, one year before Operation Match went online.
“There's an ongoing debate about whether dating apps merely reflected social transformations or drove them, and I believe the correct response is both occurred,” stated Dr. Luke Brunning, co-head of the Centre for Love, Sex, and Relationships at the University of Leeds, working alongside Dr. Natasha McKeever.
“There's been a growing emphasis on discovering someone who's a perfect fit for us, hoping to craft the finest lives and relationships for ourselves. A century ago, we would have been content with simply getting into a relationship and doing our best to maintain it,” McKeever shared with CNN.
Computer dating brought a veritable treasure trove of compatible partners.
An IBM device rather than a smartphone
Operation Match didn't depend on algorithms born out of years of data collection and was certainly not accessed through a smartphone. Instead, Tarr and Morrill pooled resources to secure computer processing time, the mid-60s version of an IBM machine, considered a symbol of enigmatic mystery for the typical American. At its core, Operation Match relied on the allure of curiosity regarding whether a computer could accurately discern compatibility between two people – could it foretell ‘the spark?’
For this electrifying game of digital love, a three-dollar payment seemed just, and within half a year, approximately 90,000 surveys were completed. Contacts and phone numbers of probable matches were dispatched, while the decision to actually dial those numbers was left to the individuals.
Though the technology may now be old hat for online daters, half a century of technology leaps have interposed to create the 'swipe-driven, gratification-oriented, multi-billion-dollar dating industry of today.' Operation Match paved the way for Dateline in the '70s and '80s, leading to the birth of Match.com in 1995. The '00s unfurled a barrage of niche ventures like Grindr, Ashley Madison, and PrimeSingles.net. In 2009, Match Group amassed ownership of Tinder and Hinge, two of the most profitable dating apps on the market.
Last year, statistics from the Pew Research Centre indicated that three in ten Americans have utilized dating apps, but it remains uncertain if love continues to be the principal objective.
Brunning mentioned, "There might be individuals attempting to challenge the dominance of big players by focusing on overlooked values. We might witness initiatives to be utterly transparent regarding algorithm operations."
Rising in popularity are dating apps such as Thursday, which emphasize actual get-togethers, as problems like ghosting, deception, and scams have become prevalent in the world of dating.
Perhaps the era of receiving somebody's phone number through snail mail is past us, yet the craving for authentic interaction persists.
In the realm of Operation Match, the survey served as a tool for understanding potential partners, asking about hobbies, education, physical attributes, race, and intimacy attitudes. This approach, while feeling outdated now, was a significant shift in dating style in the 1960s.
With Operation Match, Harvard students Jeff Tarr and Vaughan Morrill explored the arts of relationship-building and compatibility through computer processing, challenging traditional norms and setting the stage for the evolving style of modern dating.
