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Comment by zappo2938 | Hacker News Reader

Tinder is the worst throttling matches to develop emotional dependency. They are not in the match making business, their goal is getting people to use the app and it can't be good for the emotional health of the people involved.

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Tinder only throttles the want-to-match swipe.

For people not familiar with the app, what is the "want-to-match swipe" ?

One swipe direction is "yes I like this person" one direction is "no I don't like this person". In either case it shows you a new person after you swipe.

They also control your ELO rating, which has farther upstream implications in finding a match.

Interesting, is this documented further somewhere? Do you have any links regarding this? Thanks.

I can't speak for the writer's argument but tinder has admitted to designing an ELO system[0] that affects your placement in the "card deck", who you see, and who sees your profile

The implication however is the same with the [Parent]'s claim of throttling - it creates an artificial scarcity, at best, and full-on emotional dependency at worst.

[0] https://www.fastcompany.com/3054871/whats-your-tinder-score-...

Oh wow, thanks for the link. Interesting that they employ ELO which is essentially for matching "skill level", in a dating app.

I don't understand, if I'm honest. Chess also has an ELO system, and no one would claim that it creates emotional dependency, even if it controls who you match with. I understand that dating is more emotionally intense, but why is ELO particularly a problem in that context?

What does "emotional dependency" mean here?

What's wrong with throttling matches? that seems like an anti-spam feature.

It also creates artificial scarcity.

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