Member-only story
Why Do Women Have the Upper Hand on Tinder?
Explaining the two worlds of the dating app
Co-authored with Kristian Elset Bø
Over the last decade, Tinder has redefined the online dating industry. The app has proven especially popular among young people, with three-quarters of those ages 18 to 24 reporting using the app at one point. Bumble is a distant second, with 31% of people using it.
Tinder differentiated itself through a simple swiping format since copied by numerous competitors. This format stood in stark contrast to early dating sites like eHarmony, which required long, time-consuming questionnaires that matched users based on personality compatibility. However, despite the easy and convenient allure of Tinder, getting a date through the app is notoriously exhausting.
I partnered up with Kristian Bø, who created the site Swipestats.io (which allows users to visualize their own data and compare against others) to analyze data. For this purpose, users downloaded data directly from Tinder and submitted it to us to give insight into the dynamics of the app’s dating market. Most shockingly, it shows two distinct worlds where the typical male user has a radically different experience from the typical female user.
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