If you use hugely popular data app Tinder, you should know that it’s assigned you a secret “desirability” score that ranks you based on several different factors. Fast Company’s Austin Carr recently got a look at his own desirability score and was dismayed to learn that he’s merely on the “upper end of average.” He also regrets ever looking at the score in the first place and doesn’t recommend that anyone try to discover how desirable Tinder thinks they really are.
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To be clear, this ranking isn’t just a count of how many times people swipe left or right on your profile — it’s a complicated algorithm that takes a lot of factors into account. While Tinder wouldn’t disclose its secret recipe for calculating a person’s desirability, Carr imagines that it includes things such as “how many people who you swipe right on, swipe right too,” “how many don’t” and “do you include education and career information in your profile.”
Tinder also wouldn’t give him a breakdown of his score beyond the top-line number because “there was information listed there… that I wouldn’t want to see.”
While it would certainly not be fun being ranked the least desirable person on Tinder, of course, everyone should remember that there’s no objective standard for desirability and that the best way to approach dating is to find the right person for you, not just to accumulate a large number of people who find you desirable.
All the same, I can totally understand why these rankings could severely hurt your ego and confidence. All told, I’m glad I haven’t had to date since I met my wife just over five years ago.
Check out Carr’s full story about learning his secret Tinder score at this link.