Has Tinder Become the Newest Mobile Game?
In the past, people hoped to find their significant other through casual conversations at the grocery store or through a slow, yet romantic “friendship” with a coworker at work. As technology became more advanced and a part of everyone’s daily routine, it also transformed the dating world. Instead of face-to-face conversations, “sliding into the DM’s” (direct messaging on social media) is now the norm. Currently, one of the hottest apps out there is Tinder, which is a location-based dating mobile app that allows users to swipe right on people they like, and swipe left on people they don’t like. If two people swipe right on each other, then there is a match, which opens a line of communication. This app makes dating in the real world less scary, but also more casual. Messaging someone online doesn’t have much of an impact compared to talking to someone in real life. Because the decision of one person impacts the decision of the other person, this dating app easily becomes a game for everyone using it.
In class, we learned that game theory is the model of individual behavior in settings where outcomes depend on the behaviors of others. Because Tinder has a ratio to 60% male to 40% female, males feel more competition towards getting a match. Men become twice as active. Right from the start, we already see a ratio skew that throws off the entire dating world. In heterosexual matches, women end up with superficial messages from men that most likely send them to everyone else in hopes of matching with anyone. This slight ratio imbalance causes a dramatic shift in power and it becomes hard to eventually find a balance between the two parties. It becomes inevitable that the women will stop using the app for its actual purpose, and use it for fun. Swiping on others becomes merely a game to indulge people. Men, on the other hand, will still desperately try to match and reach out to women, causing useless and ingenuine interactions.
In terms of game theory, we generally want to find a Nash equilibrium, which is a pair of strategies in which each player’s strategy is a best response to the other player’s strategy. Analyzing Tinder, it is almost impossible to have a Nash equilibrium. The ratio skew essentially defeats the purpose of the dating app, which is why it literally becomes a game. In order to fix this, companies have tried to develop other dating apps that would hopefully fix this problem.
One of the ways to increase more genuine interactions on dating apps and help balance the ratio skew is to have an app where only women make the first move in heterosexual matches. Bumble is an app that tries to facilitate communication between interested matches. This restricts the activity of men, but increase the chances of a genuine interaction since women will most likely reach out to a match she is interested in. This helps both parties, since women will be able to reach out to someone who she is actually interested in, and men will have a real chance at a romantic partner. Additionally, women are not judged for how they initiate conversation, since Bumble forces them to start a conversation. In a way, this is an example of a Nash equilibrium.
Another way to increase more genuine interactions is to add money into the mix. Aisle is a dating app that allows users to connect with someone by buying “invites.” Invites are only used up when they are accepted, and returned back to your account when declined. This makes both parties really ponder about who they are interacting with and whether that is worth the money spent. This not only equilibrates the power dynamic between men and women, but also fosters more authentic interactions between the match. This is also another example of Nash equilibrium.
Though both Aisle and Bumble are dating apps that decreases the problems created by Tinder, it is difficult to outcompete Tinder. Trying to increase the amount of people to use those specific dating platforms is very difficult since everyone is still using Tinder. Unless everyone else also converts to the other dating platform, no one will try to switch if no one is on the other platforms. Thus, even though other dating apps are close to Nash equilibrium, they are useless because no one actually uses them.
https://qz.com/996851/why-we-need-a-dating-app-that-understands-nashs-equilibrium/
https://www.1843magazine.com/culture/the-daily/how-game-theory-improves-dating-apps