A rose by any other name...

Most are familiar with this famous line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,

     "What's in a name? that which we call a rose
     by any other name would smell as sweet;"

but what if you were to reverse it; take a group of people all with the same name and see how they are alike/differ? I decided to do just that and use Tinder for my experiment.

Step 1: Select a dozen names.

I'd like to say I selected these at random, but really it is all the first/middle names of my brothers, because it's very easy to remember those 12 names off the top of my head. ;)

Step 2: Swipe based on name ONLY.

The most interesting man in the world but name doesn't fit? LEFT

No picture or blurb but has the name? RIGHT

Those who read "The Tinder Deck" already have insight into what my (strong) opinions are when swiping through the deck. Can you imagine, then, what it is like for me to swipe right on someone with dreads AND a fedora; or worse, random picture and "looking for hookup" the only blurb information? Believe it or not though, this was not the hardest part of the experiment so far.

At a certain point I kind of found a way to hold my phone where all I actually see is the name. It makes it a bit easier for the initial swiping, but when I saw some of my matches I must admit to thinking "ew" a few times and at one point thought, I do NOT remem- ... Oh! Experiment. No data is being collected on looks and it will in no way skew my results.

Step 3: Have conversations with the matches.

Was this the hardest part? No. Some of the chats are difficult to be sure (syntax is so important to me, and there is so much epic fail out there) but I promise, we'll get to the hardest part.

Step 4: Collect and document data.

I have already started a spreadsheet documenting the names. I will swipe based on shortened names and/or alternate spellings (for example if the name William were on the list, I would swipe right on any William, Will, Bill, Billy, etc.). As usual, I will preserve anonymity and have assigned each name a number. I have some categories going already, but will need more matches and more conversations in order to populate the data.

Step 5: Analyze/blog the results.

You'll see it here in a few weeks! I have set a few additional parameters for this experiment (which will take place from 21 Oct - 03 Nov)

1. Use all likes for 7 consecutive days looking at name only. The rest of the time will be for chatting / collecting data.
2. Do not initiate contact with a match until they have said nothing for 3 days.
3. Do not meet anyone in person. This is based on names and chats only.
4. Be vague and make no promises to matches.*

*The hardest part about this experiment is the moral implication. These are real people out there and someone might actually be looking for the love of their life (but it's Tinder so most are just looking to get their dick wet). I had to think long and hard about how to not skew the experiment but also not toy with people's lives. Therefore I will be very careful to remain distant and reserved while still giving enough to keep the conversation going.