If you’re “Fun2BWith,” you’ll be more desirable than if you’re “Welleducated”—on an online dating site, at least. That’s according to the findings of a new study focused on online dating screen names.
The study, authored by Dr. Monica Whitty, a professor of cyber-psychology at Nottingham Trent University, placed online screen names into seven different categories—names that described looks, personality, indicated wealth, were sexual, classy/intellectual, humorous or non-flirtatious.
Both male and female participants rated playful and flirtatious-sounding names—such as Takeachance, Imsweet, Givemeacuddle, and Fun2bwith—as most attractive and those they would be most likely to contact. The same applied for names that were physical descriptors such as Cutie, Fitandattractive, Greatbody and Blueeyes.
“These types of names suggest an outgoing and fun nature, or clarify the user’s positive physical appearance,” said Dr. Whitty.
Screen names indicating intellect and a less-flirtatious nature, such as Welleducated, Wellread, Smith48 and Justme ranked below physical appearance, although the study found that women were more likely to contact these types of names than men.
“Less flirtatious names may be more appealing to women because they are wary of men who might be using the site to find one-night stands rather than long-term relationships,” Whitty said.
And names indicating wealth, like Wealthyandwise and LovemyPorshe, were seen as unattractive by males and females. “We believe wealthy-sounding names fared poorly because showing off about one’s wealth from the outset might reflect a superficial personality or deceit,” Whitty concludes.
Dr. Whitty said she conducted the research because online dating is such a huge phenomenon at the moment, and daters will really benefit from understanding how something as simple as a well-chosen screen name could increase their chance of finding a partner.
Little research has been done on the new forms of dating that have become popular in the last five years. One of the few studies that have been conducted—a study on speed-dating—found that people picked exactly the same type of person they would go for at a speed-dating event as they would if they were meeting the person in more traditional ways, like through friends or at the office.
I was just talking about this! Great post, so happy to have read it.