How to Win at Tinder

By: Eugene Fernandes

Cover Photo: Eugene Fernandes

Tinder is one way to find the love of your life. Since 2012, the online dating app has provided a way to date people near you, but only if the feeling is mutual. If you “swipe right” on a profile, signifying that you like someone, and they do the same, then a pop-up in the app says “it’s a match”. It is then up to both sides to start a conversation. But if the swipe right is not mutual, you never hear from them. Thus, you swipe right on people you want to match with, and swipe left on people you do not want to match with. This app makes dating much easier, as you never have to reject or be rejected by someone in real life.

There are many different reasons for why you would use this app: perhaps it is to find the love of your life, or perhaps you want a friend with benefits. The point is that there is a certain type of person you are looking for on Tinder. Irrespective of the end that you have in mind for the other person, the question then becomes: how do you increase the probability that the person you like will swipe right on you?

Thus, I can pose the question: how do you succeed on Tinder? For one, you need to write a bio. A groundbreaking study with researchers from London, Rome, and Ottawa found that the number of matches you gain goes up by 55% when you have a bio. This effect does not just apply to attractive people: if you take three different males with different attraction levels and you compare how well they do before and after adding a bio, you find they all do better. One man’s matches went up by 46%, another by 58%, and a third by 62%. The effect is present for women as well but not as much, since they are likely to get many likes irrespective of bio.

The second thing which helps is adding more pictures onto Tinder. Not only does it increase the chances that someone will check out your bio, it also increases the number of matches you get. If you want someone to check your bio, have a photo! In another study, when women with one photo added two more, their total matches went up by 37%. For men with one photo who added two more, their number of matches went up by 364%. So along with writing a bio, you should have a photo as well.

But know something else: Tinder is not real life. Do not be tempted to believe that the number of matches or likes you get translates to how attractive you are. Tinder is a skewed platform: men are incentivized to swipe less selectively on Tinder. Women are incentivized to swipe more selectively on Tinder. People also do not necessarily swipe on people who they think are attractive, thus, there’s more to the game than good looks. Men swipe on women they find attractive only 72% of the time, whereas women swipe right on men they find attractive 91% of the time. Also, tinder is a polygamous society, whereas real life is monogamous. That is to say, your success or lack thereof on Tinder should not affect how you play the real game of life.

Eugene Fernandes is an opinion writer for the Sundial Press and an exchange student from UBC Okanagan. When he’s not scrolling through twitter or arguing with the person closest to him, Eugene can be found reading, snacking, sleeping, or trying to teach himself something new. His interests include baroque architecture, Jordan Peterson, and mango macarons. Dislikes include Postmodernism and bureaucracy.

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