Algorithms: Hot or Not?

Technologies: Algorithms

Van Dijck:

“The computational power of social media platforms lies in their capability to include algorithms for processing data. An algorithm, in computer science, is a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function, a step-by-step directive for processing or automatic reasoning that orders a machine to produce a certain output from given input” (pg.30)

Algorithms are a very important piece to online dating apps for calculating successful matches between two people, or even more. For Tinder itself as a dating app that is known for being based mainly off of images and quick first impressions based on looks uses a different type of algorithm then other main stream dating apps and websites who focus more on compatibility. Although Tinder’s algorithm is top secret and not available to the public, it claims that it tailors itself to users depending on their past use.

CEO Sean Rad did however confirm that they use an internal rating score known as an “Elo Score” which is normally used by chess players to rank skill level but instead is used by Tinder to rank your popularity on the app. Tinder Data analyst Chris Dumler calls it a “vast voting system”, meaning every time you swipe right on one person or left on another you are voting whether you find that person desirable or not. Dumler says “"Every swipe is in a way casting a vote: I find this person more desirable than this person, whatever motivated you to swipe right. It might be because of attractiveness, or it might be because they had a really good profile” (Carr, FastCompany.com). Tinder’s engineers use this information to study what profiles are considered most alluring in aggregate.

Work Cited

Alba, A. (2016). Tinder's secret algorithm matches users based on their 'desirability' score. New York Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2016.

Carr, A. (2016, January 11). I Found Out My Secret Internal Tinder Rating and Now I Wish I       Hadn't. FastCompany. Retrieved December 12, 2016.

Van Dijck, J. (2013). The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media. Oxford: Oxford University Press.