Communication

Picture a David Attenborough documentary. He's explaining the mating call of a South American tree frog, or the mating dance of a rare bird. Researchers have sunk hours of study into the mating rituals of Earth's various winged, scaled, and furry creatues.

And humans? We may not have the wings, scales, and fur, or the charming British narrator, but scientists are just as dedicated to discovering the secrets of our own mating habits. Thousands of subjects in hundreds of studies have made calculated dating movies – some right, some wrong – so that you can learn from their actions.

While every study has its limitations, we can use research to shed light on what does and doesn't work, hopefully upping our chances of success in the process. Tech Insider compiled 7 dating tips science says singles should follow if they're serious about finding love, including:

Tinder took the online dating world by storm a few years ago when it launched, changing the way people connected for dates. Instead of crafting elaborate profiles, Tinder’s appeal was its ease and visual component, its mobile interface – you like a photo, and you swipe.

But now, other apps who have tried to copy its example, creating swipe-like features of their own, have found that this is not the best way to stay competitive in the dating app space. So instead of making as many profiles available as quickly as possible, other apps are looking to curate their offerings and make it a more selective process, specifically for female users.

While Tinder is expanding its market share in the dating industry, Whitney Wolfe, one of Tinder’s ex co-Founders and now CEO of dating app Bumble, wants to take her app in a new direction outside of dating: business networking.

Bumble began as a dating app where women make the first move. Guys aren’t allowed to message or see a woman’s profile unless she allows it first, putting her in control of the interaction. Her app has gotten some buzz (excuse the pun), and has in the past year expanded its search and connection capabilities for friendships as well as romantic hook-ups with its feature BumbleBFF.

And according to recent articles in Gizmodo and The Verge, it seems the app wants to help you in another aspect of your life: your career.

Dating apps have made a lot of bad dating behavior even easier. Because of the anonymous, behind-the-screen nature of dating apps, there is little to no accountability for the way you treat people. Which means a lot of online daters are left wondering if using a dating app is worth it.

Dating apps are great tools, but both men and women make mistakes when it comes to meeting people and trying to connect. Many online daters put forward images of themselves that aren’t necessarily true to gain more matches, and many also tend to be flaky about follow-through and meeting in person. Instead of hiding so much behind your dating app, it’s better to take responsibility and treat your dates how you would like to be treated.

Following are some behaviors that guys do on dating apps that we wish you would stop doing:

In June, Facebook announced a small change to its algorithm. The platform will now be promoting your friends’ posts in your Facebook feed over news posts from relevant media, publishers and businesses. While this is great in theory because it can cut down the clutter you might not want, it puts a lot of businesses in a bind.

According to an article in International Business Times, more than 50 million businesses use Facebook Pages — from big brands like McDonald’s and Nike to small local businesses and tech startups. They will be forced to pay advertising dollars to reach people over the social media platform and increase visibility, instead of relying on Facebook’s grassroots appeal.

The biggest losers in the new algorithm changes however, are dating apps, because many don't even have the option to advertise. Back in early 2014, Facebook introduced restrictions on the dating industry that required all companies, no matter the size, to be pre-approved for advertising. It was an effort to crack down on dating services that were abusing their advertising privileges with suggestive images and messaging to potential users, because their content could be interpreted as too explicit or inappropriate.

As a result, all dating apps are paying the price. Even traditional and reputable dating apps that boast large followings like Match are prevented from advertising until they go through an application process to be whitelisted. Some dating services that applied over two years ago are still waiting to hear if they have been approved.

The rules for approval and advertising guidelines were decided by committee - a roundtable Facebook held with some of the largest dating advertisers in the industry, including Match and Zoosk.

The basic process is this: after being accepted to advertise, approved dating services have to adhere to certain standards, such as only targeting people 18 and older who list themselves as single and interested in meeting men or women. Sites that have a sexual emphasis are not permitted, nor are dating sites that use any suggestive or pixelated images.

Dating apps like HER, which markets to the lesbian community but is a platform for forming friendships as well as dating, was affected negatively by the new policies. In fact, 30% of their users are in relationships, but they use the app to find groups of friends with similar interests. HER is not allowed to advertise to these users over Facebook, only the single users.

More dating apps as a result have been turning to Twitter and YouTube for advertising their services. While Twitter doesn’t allow explicit advertising, their platform is less restrictive for dating services overall. And this might change the way dating services appeal and market to potential customers, as they leave Facebook to spend their ad dollars on other platforms.

Jason Hill was in for a surprise when he attended a meetup of OkCupid users in 2009. Sam Yagan, co-founder of OkCupid and current CEO of Match.com, dropped by the gathering and spoke to Hill. When Hill told him he joined the site in March 2004, Yagan was shocked.

“That was less than a month after we started,” Yagan exclaimed. “You must be our longest user!”

Fusion recently spoke with Hill about his status as OkCupid’s longest continual user, and the lessons he learned along the way. His story offers key insights into the world of online dating: