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That's a good point: it's actually a perverse incentive. If they successfully create a relationship they have lost a customer.

by skohan 4y ago

scarmig 4y ago
This is a bit too conspiratorial: I've spoken to people who work at these companies, and there's not a team of analysts trying to figure out how to minimize the number of successful relationships that come from using the app. An app that has a reputation for "I met my last partner on X, and we're getting married next week!" will get far more users and recurring revenue through word of mouth. The bigger issue is that figuring out good matchings is a crapshoot and users' self-described desires and priorities aren't actually in-line with what will make them happy. Everyone wants someone hot (almost by definition), and so the hot people get a lot of interest: the ones actually interested in relationships quickly end up off the market, and those remaining are more than capable of soaking up all the available interest.
- moomoo11 4y ago
  Really? I worked on the biggest dating app in the world and there are so many dark patterns at play to keep people paying while in reality the way those features work is correct only from a vague reading of the perks. They not only have analysts but legal involved. End of the day they want money like any other business, their goal is to maximize users and revenue, and keep more and more people engaged. The goal of finding love is something crafted by marketing. It may have been the founders vision, but then they got millions in funding lol. Be real.
- rurp 4y ago
  > This is a bit too conspiratorial: I've spoken to people who work at these companies, and there's not a team of analysts trying to figure out how to minimize the number of successful relationships that come from using the app. I think the effect can be true without anyone having ill intent. The dating app companies are generally trying to make as much money as they can, which will indrectly lead to decisions that optimize for serial dating. As a parallel I don't think Facebook is full of evil people who want to increase the amount of hate and anger in the world, but it does have a lot of people who just want to make money and encouraging negative reactions happens to be an effective way of doing that, so that's what we get.
  - guerrilla 4y ago
    > which will indrectly lead to decisions that optimize for serial dating. I mean even OKCupid is being turned into Tinder, so it might not be so indirect after all.

That's a good point: it's actually a perverse incentive. If they successfully create a relationship they have lost a customer.

by skohan 4y ago

That's a good point: it's actually a perverse incentive. If they successfully create a relationship they have lost a customer.

scarmig 4y ago

This is a bit too conspiratorial: I've spoken to people who work at these companies, and there's not a team of analysts trying to figure out how to minimize the number of successful relationships that come from using the app. An app that has a reputation for "I met my last partner on X, and we're getting married next week!" will get far more users and recurring revenue through word of mouth. The bigger issue is that figuring out good matchings is a crapshoot and users' self-described desires and priorities aren't actually in-line with what will make them happy. Everyone wants someone hot (almost by definition), and so the hot people get a lot of interest: the ones actually interested in relationships quickly end up off the market, and those remaining are more than capable of soaking up all the available interest.

moomoo11 4y ago
Really? I worked on the biggest dating app in the world and there are so many dark patterns at play to keep people paying while in reality the way those features work is correct only from a vague reading of the perks. They not only have analysts but legal involved. End of the day they want money like any other business, their goal is to maximize users and revenue, and keep more and more people engaged. The goal of finding love is something crafted by marketing. It may have been the founders vision, but then they got millions in funding lol. Be real.
rurp 4y ago
> This is a bit too conspiratorial: I've spoken to people who work at these companies, and there's not a team of analysts trying to figure out how to minimize the number of successful relationships that come from using the app. I think the effect can be true without anyone having ill intent. The dating app companies are generally trying to make as much money as they can, which will indrectly lead to decisions that optimize for serial dating. As a parallel I don't think Facebook is full of evil people who want to increase the amount of hate and anger in the world, but it does have a lot of people who just want to make money and encouraging negative reactions happens to be an effective way of doing that, so that's what we get.
- guerrilla 4y ago
  > which will indrectly lead to decisions that optimize for serial dating. I mean even OKCupid is being turned into Tinder, so it might not be so indirect after all.