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Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

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Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#261

Post by LeanderK »

arkh wrote: post #207
LeonM wrote: post #203

I've tried a number of dating websites in the past year, and all of them are like this. First and foremost: No matter how hard they try to hide it, the male/female balance on all straight dating sites is completely off. I'd say it's about 80% male. So most of them fill with fake accounts to get the balance backs. The matching algorithms don't really exist, they are extremely primitive and usually optimised for engage…

> I'd say it's about 80% male. It's more like most women will go for 20% of the men. If you're part of the 80% you'll feel alone. As an experiment just make a fake profile with some model's picture to discover how many women are around.

there was an interesting data-analysis blog-post about this, I think i found it on HN but right now I can't find it. It presents some evidence that your statement is very true.

edit: here it is https://web.archive.org/web/20170330131859/https://theblog.o...

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#262

Post by Blackstone4 »

zapnuk wrote: post #219
mcv wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the most effective way to stand out is for women to contact men. With men spamming all women with meaningless messages, there's little point for women to respond to men contacting them. But if a man received a message from a woman, it's more likely they're real and not a fake profile, and that they're actually interested. But dating sites that create fake profiles and use all these dark patterns to try to con…

That's the idea behind bumble. AFAIK men and women rate each other similarly to Tinder (yes/no). However, when a match occurs, women have to send the first message. This doesn't solve the gender inbalance though. This problem is much more difficult to solve, and requires further homogenization (?) of the male and female gender role. This should be one of the more important challenges of our time. Lonelyness and sexua…

Bumble's rule is that Men are not even allowed to initiate contact. This is gender-based. Given everything else happening in the world around gender discrimination, I find it interesting that a discussion around Bumble's practises has not come up. Maybe it's because as humans we are not always internally consistent with how we apply our logic to the world.

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#263

Post by Blackstone4 »

mixmax wrote: post #208
LeonM wrote: post #203

I've tried a number of dating websites in the past year, and all of them are like this. First and foremost: No matter how hard they try to hide it, the male/female balance on all straight dating sites is completely off. I'd say it's about 80% male. So most of them fill with fake accounts to get the balance backs. The matching algorithms don't really exist, they are extremely primitive and usually optimised for engage…

* I don't think this can be 'disrupted' either * Tinder disrupted the online dating scene by introducing the feature that you can only write someone after you've liked their profile, AND they've liked yours. That makes a huge difference, and solves the spam problem.

From what I understand, it didn't entirely solve the problem since the behavior of men has evolved. Some of my friends are swiping right on everything to get matches and seeing what sticks.

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#264

Post by ecmascript »

LeonM wrote: post #203

I've tried a number of dating websites in the past year, and all of them are like this. First and foremost: No matter how hard they try to hide it, the male/female balance on all straight dating sites is completely off. I'd say it's about 80% male. So most of them fill with fake accounts to get the balance backs. The matching algorithms don't really exist, they are extremely primitive and usually optimised for engage…

> Due to the imbalance and fake accounts, as a male you rarely get response on messages.

That may have an effect, but it is also that women tend to go for the "top" guys while men in general have an more even spread on what they like. This is a more likely scenario.

If you are male and not an alpha male that is very good looking and / or successful, it is unlikely that you will have a good experience on dating apps.

This has been found again and again:

OkCupid (which later deleted the post because the truth is controversial, and they are progressive): http://archive.is/pLAWq

Tinder Study: https://i.redd.it/huqtbknjvoc31.png

(There are many more, just search for it)

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#265

Post by Lewton »

claudiawerner wrote: post #161
CuriouslyC wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people on dating apps aren't really bad. The problem is the male-female asymmetry. On most dating sites men outnumber women five to tenfold. Additionally, most guys will spam likes and messages to hundreds of women. The hyper selectivity of women on these sites is mostly the result of trying to keep their heads above water. You should be aware that the "experiments" people have posted online aren't necessarily un…

Although I don't condone the "experiments" (of which the bias shouldn't be a concern so long as they're accurately presenting the data - you can't get much more accurate than screenshots, which out of the principle of charity it makes some sense to give credence to at first glance) I wouldn't blame men for feeling bitter and loveless after online dating experience. You'll find countless men (and women, but for differ…

> of which the bias shouldn't be a concern so long as they're accurately presenting the data - you can't get much more accurate than screenshots, which out of the principle of charity it makes some sense to give credence to at first glance

You can change profiles after the fact. One of the examples I saw, it was clear the person had changed their profile to say something much worse than what it was when the conversations happened

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#266

Post by Lewton »

torben-friis wrote: post #160
Lewton wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re 2. They changed it so swiping left on someone who liked you no longer decreases the like counter Also before that if you were out traveling the likes you got while on the road will not show up in your stack when you leave the area where you got them Also if you swipe left on someone and you’re in their stack and they swipe right on you, they’ll show up in the count The rest is still super scummy, but the “rules” o…

I've used tinder in the past, and I remember there were recommendations online to completely delete your account and start from scratch from time to time if you suddenly found yourself unsuccessful, to get around potential shadow bans or just having fallen in a pit of the algorithm. Do you happen to know if that was a valid strategy, and if it still is? I always wondered if it was/is actually possible to completely r…

Totally a valid strategy if you delete your profile and wait a week before recreating, even if you reuse the same profile

I imagine you risk being shadowbanned if you do it too often, but it’s pretty natural to do it once every couple of months

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#267

Post by ackbar03 »

dabbledash wrote: post #226
LeonM wrote: post #203

I've tried a number of dating websites in the past year, and all of them are like this. First and foremost: No matter how hard they try to hide it, the male/female balance on all straight dating sites is completely off. I'd say it's about 80% male. So most of them fill with fake accounts to get the balance backs. The matching algorithms don't really exist, they are extremely primitive and usually optimised for engage…

I think the users on eHarmony are mostly women.

What about the ones on those pop-ups that keep telling me about horny women in my area?

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#268

Post by JulianMorrison »

LeonM wrote: post #203

I've tried a number of dating websites in the past year, and all of them are like this. First and foremost: No matter how hard they try to hide it, the male/female balance on all straight dating sites is completely off. I'd say it's about 80% male. So most of them fill with fake accounts to get the balance backs. The matching algorithms don't really exist, they are extremely primitive and usually optimised for engage…

The essential problem with dating websites is this:

- Women and men join.

- Women are immediately dogpiled by creeps, catfished, dick-picked, called names and given death threats for saying no.

- Women turn right the fuck around and leave.

- 80% ratio if you're lucky (and 100% plus bots, employees, and ghost accounts if you aren't).

Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says

#270

Post by tdb7893 »

Blackstone4 wrote: post #262
zapnuk wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the idea behind bumble. AFAIK men and women rate each other similarly to Tinder (yes/no). However, when a match occurs, women have to send the first message. This doesn't solve the gender inbalance though. This problem is much more difficult to solve, and requires further homogenization (?) of the male and female gender role. This should be one of the more important challenges of our time. Lonelyness and sexua…

Bumble's rule is that Men are not even allowed to initiate contact. This is gender-based. Given everything else happening in the world around gender discrimination, I find it interesting that a discussion around Bumble's practises has not come up. Maybe it's because as humans we are not always internally consistent with how we apply our logic to the world.

I don't understand the inconsistency, are you saying that Bumble discriminates against men somehow? The issue for the people I've talked to is the underlying asymmetry in dating that leads to Bumble, not Bumble itself.

Edit: essentially I don't understand how men are getting hurt by Bumble, I know a lot of people that prefer it to something like Tinder so maybe that skews my perspective.

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