Hey folks,
Not sure how many of you are on bumble. But I recently developed a theory about the dating app. I'm an average looking guy but do get matches once in a while. 100% of my matches (literally) have fallen in the following two categories:
1) They liked me, I get notified and I match. Or I don't get notified but check my likes and I match.
2) I swipe right and match right after the swipe. So this woman liked me, but I didn't know she did. Presumably, she was in my queue of likes but I didn't get notified and didn't check.
0% of the time have I swiped right on a girl and then got notified sometime in the future that we matched. I get enough likes and swipe enough times where this is eyebrow-raising. My friend told me he has had a similar experience and he's pretty successful on bumble.
So my question is if all my matches are after the girl swipes first, then when I swipe first, does that girl not see anything? And if so what's the point? Is it a marketing tool to let me think I have more prospects?
Now, the second part of this is where my conspiracy theory comes in. The majority of women on bumble that I see are gorgeous. Not even close compared to other dating apps. They're almost unrealistic gorgeous. It keeps me on the app. But the girls that like me, the majority of them are normal girls, some better looking than others. I always thought it was because I'm a normal looking guy. But if the gorgeous girls aren't seeing me if the above theory is correct, isn't it possible that only the normal looking girls are seeing me? And if so, are the gorgeous girls there just as a marketing tool?
Now, there are problems with this theory. No dating app would systematically put out fake profiles, I would think. And if these profiles aren't fake and they are users, then they are seeing SOMEBODY's profiles. I think I read that the bumble goes by likes. So maybe guys whose profiles they see get a lot of likes. So technically these girls are on bumble they're just off limits to me, at least until I start getting more likes.
Either way, this seems like a shady operation.
Anyway, have at it. I know I'm leaving myself vulnerable talking about this stuff on BBI. But I figure there have to be some bumble users here.
2. Don't be unattractive
Let's call the really attractive girl to average ratio on bumble that I see 3 out of 4, or 75%. Now let's say I have been liked by 8 women (super conservative estimate). Let's say 2 or fewer of them were on par with 75% of the girls that I saw. The probability of that happening randomly is 0.4%. Now, yes this is not done randomly but still, 0.4% for the average person is pretty telling.
Hahaha. I did wonder if the demographics on BBI align with this thread. Seems like 5% maybe are below 40.
However, let's just assume for a moment that they're genuine. Don't you think those women are getting tons of potential matches? And by extension, they're either not seeing your profile because you're lost in a sea of suitors, or they are seeing it but can afford to be picky because almost every profile they swipe right on results in a match. Generally speaking, the women who men match with on dating sites/apps are basically the same that would be interested in person - if you think they'd probably consider themselves out of your league if you met them in a bar, why would you expect the likelihood of a match on the app to be different?
But I'll stick with my initial thought, that they're fake profiles. Those super attractive women are generally the first ones you see, followed by the "regular" profiles, right? They likely know that there are two things that are going to keep you swiping: attractive women that you are hoping will match with you, and curiosity to see who has already swiped right on you. Both will get you to swipe a handful more times than if they just serve you the regular profiles that their algorithm would have chosen for you absent any manipulation of their own system.
The more user activity they can show, the more their app is worth. And with a very specific user experience like Bumble, that's incredibly important - the proof of concept that a women-talk-first dating app still generates high engagement levels from men is at the core of their valuation. What I'd be curious about is whether women experience the same thing - do they get served model-quality men first, followed by regular guys?