On most dating apps, swiping right on a profile means sending a match request, while swiping left skips the profile. Once both users swipe right, they can start messaging each other. There’s a common belief that since most heterosexual dating apps have more men than women, the best strategy for men is to swipe right on every profile and see who matches. However, as a data scientist, I’d like to explain why this might not be the most effective approach.
The Business Model of Dating Apps
To succeed in any game, you need to understand the rules: dating app companies invest heavily in marketing, app development, and customer service primarily to generate profit, not necessarily to “help everyone find true love”.
Dating apps primarily make money from the side with more supply — in this case, men paying for premium memberships. Dating apps benefit from network effects, meaning the more users there are, the more valuable the service becomes. If the apps charged women, who are already fewer in number, they might lose them, and the service would become less viable.
Generally, paying for premium memberships on dating apps allows users to get more swipes, which may not increase match rates but does provide more potential matches. The app must ensure a good experience for paying users by giving them enough matches to chat with. This applies to women too, but since there are fewer women on these apps, they often don’t lack matches; they lack matches they are interested in.
How Dating Apps’ Algorithms Work
This isn’t a tutorial on designing algorithms, so I’ll keep things simple, but the concept remains the same.
If you were a data scientist, how would you design a recommendation algorithm based on the above requirements? The answer would be to show men profiles they are most likely to match with and to show women profiles they are most likely to be interested in. If this is the goal, what happens when a man swipes right on every women profile? The algorithm will interpret your behavior as if you are interested in everyone, so:
- The algorithm will start showing you women who receive fewer match requests to balance their match rate.
- The algorithm may deprioritize popular women profiles for you since they already receive many requests and don’t need to be matched with every user.
- The algorithm might show you obviously fake profiles because they are often ignored by other users, and only those who swipe right indiscriminately will match with them.
This mechanism helps dating apps distribute matches more evenly, maximizing user experience for everyone by preventing certain popular users from being overwhelmed while others are entirely ignored. Swiping right on everyone “confuses” the algorithm, making it difficult to recommend users who truly match your interests, which can worsen your overall experience.
Matching Strategies for Men
The strategy should be the same for everyone, regardless of gender: swipe right on profiles you’re genuinely interested in and left on those you’re not. This way, the algorithm can learn your preferences and recommend profiles you are more likely to be interested in. While society may have general preferences, everyone has unique likes and dislikes, and what appeals to one person may not appeal to another.
What if I only swipe right on profiles I like and end up with no matches?
- Broaden your horizons and appreciate a wider variety of profiles. Don’t just swipe right on profiles you like 90% in every aspect; consider profiles you like 70% and have unique qualities.
- Improve yourself to increase the likelihood that others will be interested in you.
- Consider investing in premium features to increase your swiping limit, allowing for more potential matches with the same match rate.
After all, many large dating apps are built by publicly traded companies that need to make money to continue providing quality services.
Happy dating!