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Sign up todayData, A Love Story
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Learn moreA lively, thought-provoking memoir about how one woman "gamed" online dating sites like JDate, OKCupid and eHarmony – and met her eventual husband.
After yet another online dating disaster, Amy Webb was about to cancel her JDate membership when an epiphany struck: It wasn’t that her standards were too high, as women are often told, but that she wasn’t evaluating the right data in suitors’ profiles. That night Webb, an award-winning journalist and digital-strategy expert, made a detailed, exhaustive list of what she did and didn’t want in a mate. The result: seventy-two requirements ranging from the expected (smart, funny) to the super-specific (likes selected musicals: Chess, Les Misérables. Not Cats. Must not like Cats!).
Next she turned to her own profile. In order to craft the most compelling online presentation, she needed to assess the competition—so she signed on to JDate again, this time as a man. Using the same gift for data strategy that made her company the top in its field, she found the key words that were digital man magnets, analyzed photos, and studied the timing of women’s messages, then adjusted her (female) profile to make the most of that intel.
Then began the deluge—dozens of men wanted to meet her, men who actually met her requirements. Among them: her future husband, now the father of her child.
Forty million people date online each year. Most don’t find true love. Thanks to Data, a Love Story, their odds just got a whole lot better.
Amy Webb is a professional disruptor (that's a good thing!). She leads a brilliant team that advises a worldwide client base of Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies, government agencies, media organizations and foundations.
Amy is CEO of Webbmedia Group, a digital strategy agency that studies disruptive technologies and consumer behavior. She and her team help Webbmedia Group's clients prepare for the future using research, ideation and a vast knowledge of emerging tech.
Amy holds many professional affiliations and collaborates with a number of institutions. She is a newly-appointed Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and has been a Lecturer at the Columbia University Sulzberger Program at the Graduate School of Journalism since it began in 2007. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Online News Association and on a number of advisory boards, including the SXSW Accelerator, Knight-Batten Awards, Temple University's Journalism Program, International Center for Journalists and International Press Institute. She is a Delegate on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and has served as one of the Knight News Challenge judges. Amy is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Interactive Media Peer Group) and helps judge the Emmy awards. She founded the for-profit digital media training website Knowledgewebb.net, and co-founded Spark Camp, an invite-only working group that brings together the brightest minds in media and technology once each quarter. In addition, Amy is an active startup investor and advisor.
Amy's work has been recognized with awards and nominations from the Columbia Journalism Review, Webby, Editor & Publisher, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, W3 and IAVA, among others. She originally attended the Jacobs School of Music to study classical clarinet. She later graduated with a B.A. in political science. She also has an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Additionally, Amy earned Nikyu Certification in the Japanese government-administered Language Proficiency Test and speaks fluently. In the past, Amy has served on the adjunct faculty at University of Maryland, Temple University, Tokyo University and University of the Arts.
Amy began her career as a reporter/ writer with Newsweek (Tokyo) and the Wall Street Journal (Hong Kong) where she covered emerging technology, media and cultural trends. She has contributed to the New York Times, NPR, Economist and many publications and broadcast shows. She appears regularly as a commentator, and is a keynote/featured speaker at conferences and industry gatherings around the world. She tweets at @webbmedia and @datalovestory.
Amy Webb is a professional disruptor (that's a good thing!). She leads a brilliant team that advises a worldwide client base of Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies, government agencies, media organizations and foundations.
Amy is CEO of Webbmedia Group, a digital strategy agency that studies disruptive technologies and consumer behavior. She and her team help Webbmedia Group's clients prepare for the future using research, ideation and a vast knowledge of emerging tech.
Amy holds many professional affiliations and collaborates with a number of institutions. She is a newly-appointed Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and has been a Lecturer at the Columbia University Sulzberger Program at the Graduate School of Journalism since it began in 2007. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Online News Association and on a number of advisory boards, including the SXSW Accelerator, Knight-Batten Awards, Temple University's Journalism Program, International Center for Journalists and International Press Institute. She is a Delegate on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and has served as one of the Knight News Challenge judges. Amy is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Interactive Media Peer Group) and helps judge the Emmy awards. She founded the for-profit digital media training website Knowledgewebb.net, and co-founded Spark Camp, an invite-only working group that brings together the brightest minds in media and technology once each quarter. In addition, Amy is an active startup investor and advisor.
Amy's work has been recognized with awards and nominations from the Columbia Journalism Review, Webby, Editor & Publisher, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, W3 and IAVA, among others. She originally attended the Jacobs School of Music to study classical clarinet. She later graduated with a B.A. in political science. She also has an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Additionally, Amy earned Nikyu Certification in the Japanese government-administered Language Proficiency Test and speaks fluently. In the past, Amy has served on the adjunct faculty at University of Maryland, Temple University, Tokyo University and University of the Arts.
Amy began her career as a reporter/ writer with Newsweek (Tokyo) and the Wall Street Journal (Hong Kong) where she covered emerging technology, media and cultural trends. She has contributed to the New York Times, NPR, Economist and many publications and broadcast shows. She appears regularly as a commentator, and is a keynote/featured speaker at conferences and industry gatherings around the world. She tweets at @webbmedia and @datalovestory.
Reviews
“Amy Webb found her true love after a search that's both charmingly romantic and relentlessly data-driven. Anyone who uses online dating sites must read her funny, fascinating book.”—Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project“Data: A Love Story has me reassessing my sad single years, or at least my approach to them. The book is about pragmatic approaches to partnership, the freedom that comes from asking for what you want, and the clarity that follows honest assessments of oneself and others. (And it's brave, funny, and smart to boot.) —Anna Holmes, founder of Jezebel.com and editor of Hell Hath No Fury: Women's Letters from the End of the Affair.
“A hilarious, fascinating, meticulous, brutally honest, totally engrossing and utterly delightful book. Webb's color-coded and cross-indexed tale of her quest for exactly what she unapologetically wanted will make you look at data differently - and use it much, much better. —Rachel Sklar, co-founder of TheLi.st and Change The Ratio.
“I LOVE THIS BOOK TO DEATH! Amy Webb has literally written the book on online dating. This is online dating for geeks - for women - for men - for anyone who would like to meet their soulmate or just a playmate, and despairs of ever doing so.”—Cindy Gallop, founder of ifwerantheworld.com
“Data, A Love Story is blunt, witty, charming, informative, smart, and true. It’s Mr. Spock meets Mary Tyler Moore, as logical Amy turns her life into an algorithm and finds the formula for love. Is this the future of romance? Buy this book and find out.” —Jeff Jarvis, author of Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live and What Would Google Do?
“funny, brutally honest, and inspirational even to the most hopeless dater.”—Publishers Weekly
“clever and inventive… will be inspiring and eye-opening for anyone who has ever tunred to one of the many popular online dating sites in search of love.”—Booklist
“Potent stuff”— Library Journal
“Ultimately, [Webb] got her man, ‘a story book wedding’ and the longed-for child. Pleasant, geeky fun.”—Kirkus
“It's an enjoyable read for anyone, but online daters should definitely check it out, as some of her findings are revelatory.”—XOJane.com Expand reviews