For anyone that has used Tinder, you’ve probably eventually wondered how the app really works. How do these people come across my screen? Why am I getting people I don’t even find attractive? How is it that I only have four matches? What do I look like when I come across other people’s feeds?
Well, all of your questions can finally be answered. Fast Company explained the ideologies and the algorithm behind the app after talking to Tinder CEO Sean Rad. People are, in fact, rated on a precise system that ranks the most and least desirable people. There are other factors included such as workplace or education, and how many people you swipe right on actually reciprocate the action.
This information is not made available to the public, but Tinder describes this rating system as something called an “Elo Score”—the same name as the system used to rate chess players. The company uses this to help its users find better matches.
Rad told Fast Company that “the rating is technically not a measure of attractiveness, but a measure of ‘desirability.'” “It’s not just how many people swipe right on you. It’s very complicated. It took us two and a half months just to build the algorithm because a lot of factors go into it,” he says.
While this is supposed to help foster more compatible matches amongst its users, it’s kind of stressful to think that we’re all being ranked within the app based on what other people think of us. But what can you really expect from an app that encourages you to choose whether to swipe someone left or right?
Chris Dumler, a Tinder data analyst, also told Fast Company that the system is a “vast voting system.”
“Every swipe is in a way casting a vote: I find this person more desirable than this person, whatever motivated you to swipe right,” he said. “It might be because of attractiveness, or it might be because they had a really good profile.” The engineers then use this information to study what profiles seem to be doing the best with the most number of people.
If your score is more highly rated than others, then you are going to be put at the top of people’s feeds. If your score happens to rank lower than others, then you are more susceptible to not matching with anyone. In the end, the system is just confirming any preconceived ideas and thoughts you may have had behind the inner workings of the app.