Tinder has made a change that should get you more matches
- by Carmen Reese
- in Science
- — Oct 14, 2016
When in doubt, use a snap like this one. Tinder says that this new algorithm enables users to "maximize the potential of their first profile photo". "With 'smart photos, ' we're empowering users to put their best foot forward when forming new connections by implementing a sophisticated algorithm". (The developers behind the algorithm even bring it up in a blog post.) The idea of automatically selecting your "best" photos on a dating app isn't an inherently bad idea-thumbs up for anything that helps get us all laid-but the idea of tracking someone's "individual swiping pattern" is creepy as hell.
First there was Tinder Plus, then Tinder Boost and now the dating app wants you to "maximise your match potential" by launching Smart Photos.
"It's a machine-learning system that gets smarter with more input, with the algorithm getting better each time a user is swiped on", according to a press release. And of course, to incentivize you to swipe more often, Tinder insists Smart Photos only gets smarter with more use.
In more ways than one, Tinder is a big data company. "These biases are largely based upon perception, however". Also it changes the order of your photos to show the best ones first. "Even if a picture is surprising to a user, you can't argue with data!"
To turn this on, navigate to Edit Profile and toggle "Smart Photos" to on. "The themes that we are now seeing validate our existing data regarding what photos perform best", Carbino says. That's good for Tinder - it makes it users more pleased with the service, and good for users too. I had no idea that the site did A/B testing with photos but soon after, I got this email telling me I had made a huge mistake.
Tinder has competition now in the form of another dating app that helps those in look for a real relationship rather than a hook up, which is where a large portion of Tinder users sit.
