Valentine’s Day is here again - the time when we love love, hate love and weirdly worship Hallmark, supermarket flowers…and a baby cherub.
If you haven't locked down a mate by now you're probably undesirable and unloveable. Or is it something to do with the math behind online dating?
We at The Feed have done the scientific research - it turns out, there’s a lot of maths (and algorithms) that go into sussing out your soulmate.
HINGE
Hinge (the "relationship app") uses a version of a Nobel Prize-winning “Gale Shapley SMP algorithm”, which originally applied to heterosexual marriages, opening up online dating to a whole range of relationships: straight, gay, non-binary - anything.
Hinge's modified version is essentially a mathematical equation that matches users with profiles that are most similar: based off questions about kids, smoking, drug use… even their ideal date. The ones Hinge thinks you’re most likely to match with are the ones you see first.
Basically, Hinge reckons their algorithm can weed out the bad dates for you. And it’s pretty smug about it. According to the company, three out of four matches who go on a first date go on a second and 99% of first dates have been described as respectful.
TINDER (THE "YOU UP?" APP)
In comparison to Hinge’s gentle matches, Tinder (the "you up?" app) can seem slightly...brutal. The app uses a ELO rating system, which interestingly enough, is also the same way skill levels are calculated in chess.
The app’s algorithm calculates out how ‘hot’ you are - ‘hot’ meaning how many people swipe right on your profile. The more popular the profiles are that swipe right on you… the hotter you’ll be. Tinder assumes that people of similar scores will be in the same tier of “desirability” (and will probably want to date each other).
The best (or worst) part about all of this?! None of us will ever see our rankings.
...All of us, except for Fast Company’s Austin Carr. He was shown his score at the Tinder headquarters when there writing a piece on CEO Sean Rad. His score was 946, which was categorised as the “upper end of average”. (Congrats, Austin)
You can work the system though. Super likes push your profile right to the top of a potential-match’s options and gives them a push notification that you're there. Free tier users get one a day but you get more if you upgrade to the paid tiers. Mo' money, mo' matches?
‘Gaming the algorithm’ conspiracy theories are also an interesting Reddit wormhole to go down if you’re into that sort of thing. (And are prepared to be a bit grossed out by it). 
BUMBLE
Bumble (the feminist app) sets itself apart from competitors with a “ladies first” mentality - women have to initiate conversation.
For same-sex matches, it’s the person who swiped right first that has to make the first move.
It works off a similar algorithm as Tinder’s ELO score, so similar in fact that Tinder filed a lawsuit against Bumble in early 2018 for patent infringement relating to the system.
Yes, mum and dad are fighting right now guys but you should know that above all, they want you to be happy (... and using their apps to find a significant other.)
Anywho, there has been suspicions that Bumble places the most popular (and most attractive) options at the top of your stack when you log in. Yet, there is no official confirmation of this from Bumble.
For users, Bumble’s win over Tinder is that it doesn’t punish you (or your algorithm) for taking some time away from the app. On the flip side, Bumble doesn’t try to learn your preferences (and match you with people who share them) à la Hinge - meaning it might not always be a perfect match.
And for the strong independent singles among us… there’s always Bumble BFF.
Happy swiping!
