4 ms·

Ask HN: Why don't dating sites allow you to code your own matching function?

15 points by amichail 4y ago

You could even have a dating site where all members would be required to do this via an API for that purpose.

jfengel 4y ago
(a) How many people do you think are actually capable of using such a feature? (b) How many of them would do it a second time, after realizing how badly their matching algorithm failed the first time? (c) How much of your personal data are you going to give a web site once you realize that the kind of people who like to write algorithms are being given significant direct access to its database?
blinded 4y ago
It's a business, they want you to spend time on the app and buy the extra tokens or what not that allow you more swipes or super swipes (this was a thing when I last used these apps 3+ years ago). Giving you a hook into the sort function would cut into their bottom dollar. If they were to try and monetize this function you speak of I suspect the market would be small or it would create other markets (ie apps that help you write matching functions for the average person). Which probably isn't anywhere near the top of their feature roadmap.
- quantified 4y ago
  They could price it out somehow as a tech premium. But it also might open up super dangerous stalking/ monitoring.
- ransom1538 4y ago
  It would be awesome if it wasn't a business. Start running queries!. [select instagram from match.user where gender=0 and college=1 and (age > 30 and age < 40) order by total_sports_played asc]
- Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
  Dating sites are a tough product to monetize because your most successful users stop using it. If you let users pay monthly, you're incentivized to show bad matches. If you charge a simple one-time fee, you'll generally have a low pool of users as they're unwilling to shell out the $50+ it would take to be profitable.
  - Jugurtha 4y ago
    >Dating sites are a tough product to monetize because your most successful users stop using it. This is true when ending the activity/"uninstalling the app" is included in the definition of success. For other definitions of success, the more success a person has, the more they use the app (within the limits of one's logistics, time, and energy levels).
    - Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
      > definitions of success That's a good point. To some, success is finding a long term, potentially permanent relationship. For others, simply getting laid that weekend is success and they'll be back on the app next week.
      - Jugurtha 4y ago
        And yet, for others, it could be a feeling of having the duty to satisfy the demand of many people the same day, or word of mouth, or sometimes people asking to "borrow" you for a quick relief or to "take you for a spin". Again, within the constraints of time, logistics, and energy levels. It can get draining. Also, for some, it's not necessarily mutually exclusive to having a long, potentially permanent, relationship. It all depends.
mr_toad 4y ago
You might not be your ideal matches idea of an ideal match.
- amichail 4y ago
  You could always tweak your code to improve your matching function.
jareds 4y ago
Not everyone's best match is a programmer, if my wife were required to write her own matching function, she would never have used the site that matched us.
- leephillips 4y ago
  .
  - radiojasper 4y ago
    How do you assume that from what they said?
    - leephillips 4y ago
      He edited the comment after I replied to it, changing its meaning (not a good practice, because it renders conversation incoherent). So never mind.
  - jareds 4y ago
    I thought my comment was pretty clear, but I edited it for more clarity. At this point you can assume whatever you want.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mikewarot 4y ago
Stalking would be the first issue I'd worry about.
ruskyhacker 4y ago
I feel like if your site requires people to "code their own" xyz - the people using it would already likely be "matches" for each other because they're all devs haha. Maybe I'm not understanding the question here though...
nonasktell 4y ago
They can't manipulate you if you have access to an API and things are transparent
logicalmonster 4y ago
Don't most dating sites already offer the ability to filter out by various characteristics such as height, race, age, languages spoken, and many others?
- rjh29 4y ago
  Filtering out by race was removed from most dating sites (Grindr, Tinder, Bumble at least)
faangiq 4y ago
Why don’t dating sites ask leetcode hards?
bongoman37 4y ago
rjh29 4y ago
This is peak HN

15 points by amichail 4y ago

You could even have a dating site where all members would be required to do this via an API for that purpose.

(a) How many people do you think are actually capable of using such a feature? (b) How many of them would do it a second time, after realizing how badly their matching algorithm failed the first time? (c) How much of your personal data are you going to give a web site once you realize that the kind of people who like to write algorithms are being given significant direct access to its database?

blinded 4y ago

It's a business, they want you to spend time on the app and buy the extra tokens or what not that allow you more swipes or super swipes (this was a thing when I last used these apps 3+ years ago). Giving you a hook into the sort function would cut into their bottom dollar. If they were to try and monetize this function you speak of I suspect the market would be small or it would create other markets (ie apps that help you write matching functions for the average person). Which probably isn't anywhere near the top of their feature roadmap.

quantified 4y ago
They could price it out somehow as a tech premium. But it also might open up super dangerous stalking/ monitoring.
ransom1538 4y ago
It would be awesome if it wasn't a business. Start running queries!. [select instagram from match.user where gender=0 and college=1 and (age > 30 and age < 40) order by total_sports_played asc]
Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
Dating sites are a tough product to monetize because your most successful users stop using it. If you let users pay monthly, you're incentivized to show bad matches. If you charge a simple one-time fee, you'll generally have a low pool of users as they're unwilling to shell out the $50+ it would take to be profitable.
- Jugurtha 4y ago
  >Dating sites are a tough product to monetize because your most successful users stop using it. This is true when ending the activity/"uninstalling the app" is included in the definition of success. For other definitions of success, the more success a person has, the more they use the app (within the limits of one's logistics, time, and energy levels).
  - Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
    > definitions of success That's a good point. To some, success is finding a long term, potentially permanent relationship. For others, simply getting laid that weekend is success and they'll be back on the app next week.
    - Jugurtha 4y ago
      And yet, for others, it could be a feeling of having the duty to satisfy the demand of many people the same day, or word of mouth, or sometimes people asking to "borrow" you for a quick relief or to "take you for a spin". Again, within the constraints of time, logistics, and energy levels. It can get draining. Also, for some, it's not necessarily mutually exclusive to having a long, potentially permanent, relationship. It all depends.

mr_toad 4y ago

You might not be your ideal matches idea of an ideal match.

amichail 4y ago
You could always tweak your code to improve your matching function.

jareds 4y ago

Not everyone's best match is a programmer, if my wife were required to write her own matching function, she would never have used the site that matched us.

leephillips 4y ago
.
- radiojasper 4y ago
  How do you assume that from what they said?
  - leephillips 4y ago
    He edited the comment after I replied to it, changing its meaning (not a good practice, because it renders conversation incoherent). So never mind.
- jareds 4y ago
  I thought my comment was pretty clear, but I edited it for more clarity. At this point you can assume whatever you want.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

mikewarot 4y ago

Stalking would be the first issue I'd worry about.

ruskyhacker 4y ago

I feel like if your site requires people to "code their own" xyz - the people using it would already likely be "matches" for each other because they're all devs haha. Maybe I'm not understanding the question here though...

nonasktell 4y ago

They can't manipulate you if you have access to an API and things are transparent

logicalmonster 4y ago

Don't most dating sites already offer the ability to filter out by various characteristics such as height, race, age, languages spoken, and many others?

rjh29 4y ago
Filtering out by race was removed from most dating sites (Grindr, Tinder, Bumble at least)

faangiq 4y ago

Why don’t dating sites ask leetcode hards?

bongoman37 4y ago

rjh29 4y ago

This is peak HN