Thread

1. abeppu · 1790807528 · focus · HN ↗

   So on the one hand it's nice to see when a cool algorithm or framework is used IRL.

   On the other hand, actually applying a 'stable marriage algorithm' to people makes a bunch of assumptions which are worth interrogating:

   - Do people actually know what they want even in the short term?

   - Do people's preference change meaningfully over longer periods of time?

   - Does your preference _upon reading people's profiles_ have any strong relationship to your preference after spending any amount of time with them?

   The property that right after being matched, no one could have matched with someone whose profile they preferred more does not mean that this will create stable relationships.

   1. justonceokay · 1790810616 · focus · HN ↗

      Least they are using an algorithm that has the intended purpose of matching people. For profit dating apps are more interested in keeping you coming back then they are in creating successful relationships

      1. missedthecue · 1790812597 · focus · HN ↗

         This is an extremely common sentiment I see online - that there is some conspiracy to keep people single to reduce subscription churn. I have run two dating apps (my own apps, not working for a company), and what I found through trial and error was that no matter how many levers you pull and tweaks you make, a lot of it is simply user-behavior problems, not a tech or product design problem. There is no reliable way for a dating app to only serve users non-committal matches for example. The reason someone's matches aren't committal is because they don't want to commit.

         The thought experiment I usually pose is to ask what you think a free, open source, and community supported dating app would change. The answer is "not much".

         1. godwinson__4-8 · 1790818116 · focus · HN ↗

            You ran not one, but two, dating apps that were your own apps, and were not part of a company?

            Which apps were these? What were your user metrics?

            Seems somewhat suspect to extrapolate from your personal experience to what the large dating apps are allegedly doing if you are not approaching their scale. You've mentioned your personal experience as some kind of authority a few times now in this discussion, why not name the two apps directly? Apologies if I missed it but I don't see where you gave any indication that this appeal to authority is credible.

            1. missedthecue · 1790819478 · focus · HN ↗

               They weren't Tinder sized. They were only published in latam. The first (Mil Besos) flopped and my second attempt (MiAmor) got to a several hundred thousand downloads and I sold it for not very much because I was tired of the moderation. Neither exists anymore. This was more than 10 years ago. There used to be A LOT of dating apps around 2014-2018, I mean hundreds of them on the Apple and Play Store. There has been a lot of consolidation because almost the only thing that matters for dating apps is giving users optionality, which means having more user profiles the other ones.

               I'm not claiming I'm an expert, but just sharing personal insight. It doesn't take many users before statistical observations of behavior make themselves apparent. Start producing 5-10k matches per day on your platform and you will see what people want and don't want really quickly.

               1. godwinson__4-8 · 1790820130 · focus · HN ↗

                  I don't wish to belittle you but, if I were you I would certainly not be in this discussion saying things like "Source: I used to build and run dating apps" (you said this in another comment in this discussion) when making claims about the major dating app companies if these were the two apps in question.

                  Certainly not in the manner you conveyed your experience. The market dynamics and design problems of these apps are very well known. Given the scale of your experience, I would suggest your invocation of it as some kind of authority was superfluous at best.

                  Congratulations on your sale though. Have a nice day.

                  1. eru · 1790828993 · focus · HN ↗

                     I think that source is fine. Not necessarily because running a small dating app gives you the same experience as running a large one; but because it also means you thought long and hard about the space, too.

                     Definitely more than your average armchair backseat quarterback.

                  2. axus · 1790830428 · focus · HN ↗

                     I think the claims were about behaviors for 10s of thousands of users of the dating apps, which limits the range of actions a company could take.

                     Considering that population size, wouldn't millions of users have the same behaviors?

                  3. theylieeasieral · 1790831492 · focus · HN ↗

                     I'm happy to hear from someone who's built 2 dating apps on the topic of dating app algorithms, they probably know more than I do. I appreciate the contribution, and don't think the gatekeeping is necessary.
                  4. akk0 · 1790858233 · focus · HN ↗

                     And how big are your dating apps?

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