Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, February 16 2024 @ 03:15 pm
Last modified on Friday, February 16 2024 @ 03:26 pm
Some dating app users are becoming creative in their frustration with matches they are served and have started using hacks to trip up the algorithms behind the matching.
According to a recent feature in The New York Times, these hacks are aimed at besting the algorithm so that users can try and access different results. The tricky part is, the dating apps are putting more and more features behind a paywall, so it’s getting more convoluted to try and get around the algorithm.
But some dating app hackers are finding success and posting their methods on TikTok and Reddit. For example, some users recommend deactivating and then reactivating your account to get a fresh set of matches, according to The New York Times. Some have also suggested rejecting a bunch of attractive profiles to throw off the matching process, or to switch your location to a different city, which is like pressing “refresh” on your matches.
Lakshmi Rengarajan, a former director at Match Group and the host of The Later Today podcast told The Times[*1] : “It’s like trying to give your dating life a colonic.”
Apps like Tinder, Grindr and Hinge attracted users with free swiping and messaging, but in recent years more and more paywalls are being applied, so that now users have a cap on swiping, on who they can reach out to, and even limits who their matches are until they pay for a subscription.
As inflation has risen, people have spent less on dating apps, and revenues for popular apps like Tinder have been in decline in the aftermath of the pandemic. Now, there are more dating app users than ever but fewer and fewer are willing to pay.
Instead, they are turning to hacks to create a better experience, bypassing the paywall issue. They are also becoming increasingly frustrated with what they see as a rigged system, designed to benefit those who are willing and able to pay.
The New York Times contacted Hinge, and a spokesperson for the app said each of its features, including what TikTok users have dubbed “rose jail” (free members are limited to the number of digital roses they can send), are meant to “get daters off the app and out on great dates.”
A spokesman for Tinder said that its algorithm had one goal: “to get members into meaningful conversations that ultimately lead to meeting up in real life.”
But according to The Times, this is missing the point – the daters are turning to hacks not to engage someone in conversation or to set up a date, but to have access to better matches, or at least not the same ones. And to avoid paying for basic services that they were used to getting as part of the free service.