4 ms·

The dating app model has rarely worked, but it's a fascinating thing that happened, and there should be more research into why these companies were so successfu

The dating app model has rarely worked, but it's a fascinating thing that happened, and there should be more research into why these companies were so successful in peddling it. Simply, it's not workable if it has contributed to real success (happy ever after) occasionally, while simultaneously causing greater damage in other areas, like making cheating on existing relationships easier or discouraging meeting people in the old ways. For instance, last I heard is that there's a ratio of 10 to 1, men to women, on them. Necessarily, this isn't published (to sell "superlikes" etc). Completely absurd setup. But it speaks volumes about modern culture. That there's been no education on the best ways to successfully meet a good life partner, honestly factoring in things like your rank, regarding attractiveness and socioeconomic status and so on. The best model is most likely: maximising your meeting of friends of friends. But who's out there touting that? Parents are asleep at the wheel.

sureglymop 3y ago
Something to take into consideration with the 10 to 1 ratio (in heterosexual dating) is that if true it results in a "not great" experience for men but probably in an even worse experience for women. While men may barely get any attention, women get too much and have to bomb through a lot to basically find the needle in the haystack. Another thing I find interesting about dating apps is that almost all dating apps are owned and operated by Match Group Inc. (even on an international level). I have long had a running joke with my friends that if we ever want to get semi-rich we just have to create a mediocre dating app and have it bought up by Match Group. Dating apps themselves have a weird premise because if they work for people, they leave the app so a working app results in a loss of customers. They just overall seem like a very weird phenomenon and I also wonder why people sign up there considering all of this.
- jalapenos 3y ago
  Because desperation. After all, did you get "how to get a good husband/wife" subject in high school? They teach only that which is useless.
- thfuran 3y ago
  >Dating apps themselves have a weird premise because if they work for people, they leave the app so a working app results in a loss of customers. That's not nearly so weird as you make it out to be. Plenty of businesses that sell durable goods could be described much the same way.
  - jowea 3y ago
    And then we get planned obsolescence and new pseudo-features that are just excuses to turn it into a subscription service.
  - maximus-decimus 3y ago
    Almost all businesses try to move from "pay once" to a subscription model. Printer manufacturers give you the printer and make money on the ink. Video game consoles sell consoles at a loss and make it back on games. Razors make the money from blades. I use YNAB (a budgeting app) and it moved from an EXE you buy once to a web app with a subscription. Microsoft office. Water heaters. Now car manufacturers are trying to charge you subscriptions for optional features that are already installed, like heating seats or self-driving.
- nocontextpls 3y ago
  [dead]
Tycho 3y ago
How is it possible that there is a ten to one ratio? What’s the explanation for that?
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  How is it possible? Well more men use dating apps than women. That's how demographics work. It also isn't that steep in reality, but more than half of dating app users are heterosexual men on most platforms (a site exclusively for lesbians obviously would not have those kind of numbers).
  - Tycho 3y ago
    Well “more than half” is a completely different proposition to “9 out of 10”.
    - Jensson 3y ago
      If men needs 10 times as much time spent on a dating app to find a partner then you would see 10 men for every woman on it, even if the same number of women and men are looking for a partner. And looking at how much harder it is for men to find a match 10 times as much time to find a partner for men seems reasonable.
standardUser 3y ago
> The dating app model has rarely worked I know dozens of people in marriages or long-term relationships that started on dating apps. We all do, assuming we're not much over 50 and have a largish social circle. The dating app model world all the time, just not every time.

sureglymop 3y ago

Something to take into consideration with the 10 to 1 ratio (in heterosexual dating) is that if true it results in a "not great" experience for men but probably in an even worse experience for women. While men may barely get any attention, women get too much and have to bomb through a lot to basically find the needle in the haystack. Another thing I find interesting about dating apps is that almost all dating apps are owned and operated by Match Group Inc. (even on an international level). I have long had a running joke with my friends that if we ever want to get semi-rich we just have to create a mediocre dating app and have it bought up by Match Group. Dating apps themselves have a weird premise because if they work for people, they leave the app so a working app results in a loss of customers. They just overall seem like a very weird phenomenon and I also wonder why people sign up there considering all of this.

jalapenos 3y ago
Because desperation. After all, did you get "how to get a good husband/wife" subject in high school? They teach only that which is useless.
thfuran 3y ago
>Dating apps themselves have a weird premise because if they work for people, they leave the app so a working app results in a loss of customers. That's not nearly so weird as you make it out to be. Plenty of businesses that sell durable goods could be described much the same way.
- jowea 3y ago
  And then we get planned obsolescence and new pseudo-features that are just excuses to turn it into a subscription service.
- maximus-decimus 3y ago
  Almost all businesses try to move from "pay once" to a subscription model. Printer manufacturers give you the printer and make money on the ink. Video game consoles sell consoles at a loss and make it back on games. Razors make the money from blades. I use YNAB (a budgeting app) and it moved from an EXE you buy once to a web app with a subscription. Microsoft office. Water heaters. Now car manufacturers are trying to charge you subscriptions for optional features that are already installed, like heating seats or self-driving.
nocontextpls 3y ago
[dead]

Tycho 3y ago

How is it possible that there is a ten to one ratio? What’s the explanation for that?

sidewndr46 3y ago
How is it possible? Well more men use dating apps than women. That's how demographics work. It also isn't that steep in reality, but more than half of dating app users are heterosexual men on most platforms (a site exclusively for lesbians obviously would not have those kind of numbers).
- Tycho 3y ago
  Well “more than half” is a completely different proposition to “9 out of 10”.
  - Jensson 3y ago
    If men needs 10 times as much time spent on a dating app to find a partner then you would see 10 men for every woman on it, even if the same number of women and men are looking for a partner. And looking at how much harder it is for men to find a match 10 times as much time to find a partner for men seems reasonable.

standardUser 3y ago

> The dating app model has rarely worked I know dozens of people in marriages or long-term relationships that started on dating apps. We all do, assuming we're not much over 50 and have a largish social circle. The dating app model world all the time, just not every time.