While most leisure activities were throttled by the Covid lockdown, others thrived – just ask any of your friends who did Yoga With Adrienne. Another unlikely winner? Dating apps. Tinder and Bumble usage in New Zealand alone rose by over 20%, with Tinder registering 3 billion swipes globally on 28 March alone.
However, the pandemic only accelerated a trend that was already in full force: finding love via apps. “Met online” is now the most common way that people report finding their significant other, streets ahead of boring old classics like “met in church” or “met in the neighbourhood”. While there are a range of massively popular dating apps, including Bumble and Grindr, Tinder continues to be the most popular platform by a significant margin. That gives the company a pretty crazy level of influence over how young people date and, yes, who they match with.
Understandably, Tinder has furiously back-tracked from the disastrous PR of dividing its users into looks-based tiers
Make no mistake: nothing about the Tinder algorithm is random. When you open the app to get swiping, you might think that the profiles you are seeing are just a random bunch of people that fit your age/gender preferences and live relatively close. Think again. Tinder wants to match as many couples as possible and designs its algorithm to put certain profiles in front of you. Of course, you’re free to swipe right to your heart’s delight and ignore the people https://datingranking.net/escort-directory/tampa/ Tinder recommends, but the algorithm penalises you for swiping left too much. So how does Tinder decide whose profiles to show you? Continue reading “How Tinder’s algorithm is micromanaging your dating life”