desymbol: OkCupid Starts Sorting Its Users Into Climate Change Believers And Deniers, Sparks Heated Discussions

Dating site OkCupid has just introduced a new feature that’s supposed to let its users form even closer connections. After a 240% increase in environment-related keywords on people’s profiles (like, “global warming,” “Greta Thunberg” and “recycle”), the company introduced filters so everyone can get rid of climate change deniers when browsing potential partners.

According to Gizmodo, an overwhelming majority of OkCupid users really care about the climate. 97% of them believe that climate change is real, and 82% are concerned about it. Also, 90% of OkCupid users said they would correct their actions if they discovered they were harming the environment.

In general, OkCupid’s algorithms try to match people with similar interests and beliefs. So the way a user answers questions about climate change could determine who they match with. Even if they don’t turn on the denier filter.

Image credits: okcupid

“Since your match percentage with someone shows how compatible you two are, if you are a climate change activist and they think climate change is fake news, your match percentage is going to decrease,” Michael Kaye, OKCupid’s Global Communication Manager, told Gizmodo. Since most people on the platform aren’t climate deniers, that means vocally caring about the climate crisis is helping people get laid.

This move reflects a shift in society’s take on the issue that has been happening for quite some time now. The Global Risks Report, published by the World Economic Forum, stated that, for the first time in its 15-year history, the top five risks facing the world are all linked to the climate crisis. These included extreme weather, climate action failure, natural disasters, biodiversity loss, and human-made environmental disasters.

But when it comes these topics, not everyone sees eye-to-eye.