Modern Dating: An Introduction to the Logic Behind Tinder

As the old school dating methods such as meeting people in person and offering to take them out die off, new modern dating methods are on the rise. The most commonly known modern dating method is Tinder, a dating app with a fresh dose of harsh honesty. Tinder is comparable to Hot or Not, another superficial dating app. In Tinder, the user sets a radius; any person that both fits the user's sexual orientation and is within the user's radius will show up to the user's screen. The user then swipes right if interested, left if not interested. If both parties, the user and the person within the radius that is also swiping, swipe right, the pair is matched and have the opportunity to chat.




The logic behind the app is straightforward and can be broken down into programming terms. If PersonA likes Person B && PersonB likes PersonA, there is a match. Else, nothing happens. For an app that reports around 50 million users per month with 12 million matches per day, it seems like the code required to create Tinder was not all that complicated when only considering the underlying function of the app (not the performance, graphic effects, or other extra code put into the app). Expressing logic in Java or any other programming language is very natural and free of clutter, and I think that shows here. The logic behind an entire style of dating and networking can be summed up in a few lines of code.


Sources:
Tinder User Count info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinder_(app)
Image:
https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/11/tinder-matching-algorithm/
Image:
http://www.hercampus.com/school/pace/6-tips-tinder-dating