Can’t say we’re familiar with dating sites, but this is an interesting mash-up of neighborhoods and keywords on dating sites. Manhattan-based artist and programmer R. Luke DuBois quantitatively analyzed the most commonly used words in dating profiles based on geography (ZIP code). According to an article on WNYC, “New York City’s most frequently used online dating word, for example, is ‘Now’—confirming just about every Type A stereotype of our town’s inhabitants. (In Chicago, incidentally, it’s ‘Always’. And in L.A., ‘Acting.’) For big cities, DuBois was able to break the data down further, narrowing down the most frequently used online dating words to individual zip codes. (He analyzed more than 410,000 profiles for New York City alone.)”

DuBois says “the whole DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights area is pretty funny, too. You get works like ‘dick’ and ‘graphic’ and ‘artisanal,’ as well as ‘postmodernism’ and ‘cheese.'” The Dumbo area map includes common words like: graphic, cool, glamour, dick, artisanal, subway, cheese, hilarious. Not sure what that says about the dating profiles of people in the area, but one glance on Craigslist for Dumbo listings leads one to believe there are many “men looking for men”.

R. Luke DuBois’ exhibit, A More Perfect Union, will be at Bitforms Gallery in Chelsea through Feb. 19. Map courtesy of R. Luke DuBois and Bitforms Gallery

(WNYC.org via onlinedatingpost)