Skip to main content

Tinder is secretly ranking you based on how ‘desirable’ you are

tinder rank elo score
Say what you will about Tinder (I mean, I certainly have), but there is something a little bit satisfying about the “It’s a Match!” message. Come on, how could it not be? The guy or gal at the other side of the virtual bar just acknowledged some level of physical attraction, and if nothing else, that’s a compliment. But if you’re on Tinder for the sole purpose of boosting your self-esteem, you may not want to know your Elo score on the platform, a system the app uses to rank just how desirable you are to other users.

Don’t worry — you’ll never see the score (we should hope), but it does exist. Austin Carr of Fast Company managed to swallow his pride and exclusively discover his score, but as he writes, “I’ve regretted learning it ever since.” Tinder CEO Sean Rad has verified the existence of the scoring system, calling it a measure of “desirability.” It’s not just about your profile picture, and moreover, Rad says, “It’s not just how many people swipe right on you. It’s very complicated. It took us two and a half months just to build the algorithm because a lot of factors go into it.”

Recommended Videos

None of this, however, is all that effective in convincing anyone that it’s not really just a way of determining how hot Tinder users think you are.

Sure, Tinder isn’t the only platform that gives you a ranking or a rating — for all we know, your Uber rating could one day become a pickup line (or maybe it already is). But of course, there’s something distinctly personal about this particular rating. And at the end of the day, Tinder data analyst Chris Dumler says, it’s just a “vast voting system.”

“Every swipe is in a way casting a vote: I find this person more desirable than this person, whatever motivated you to swipe right. It might be because of attractiveness, or it might be because they had a really good profile,” Dumler told Fast Company. And while that could include anything from a great job to a great alma mater to a really cute dog, it all boils down to a single score.

But really, it’s ok — it’s all for internal use, and engineers say that they’re only applying it to give you greater chances of matching. And in this case, ignorance really is bliss.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
I record interviews for work. These are my favorite free recorder apps
The iPhone 14 Pro and Google Pixel 7 Pro's voice recording apps running together.

The Voice Recorder app on a phone (left) and the Voice Memos on another phone Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Before you head to the app store on your phone to buy a voice-recording app, take a moment to consider the apps that may already be installed on your phone. Why? In my experience, they're likely all you really need. I’ve recorded interviews and voice-overs for work for years, and I’ve found the two best examples come preinstalled on your phone already, so they’re entirely free to use.

Read more
The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 cases: 10 best ones so far
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

Samsung’s next-generation foldable is here with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. This iteration has some notable improvements, including a new hinge design that eliminates the gap from previous generations when the device was folded. You also get a 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the outside while having a 6.7-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display on the inside, with both screens having a 120Hz refresh rate. In other words, they're about as nice as you could ask for.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is made with premium materials, and the triple-lens camera system packs in a 50MP main shooter, 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide lens. There’s a 10MP selfie camera on the front cover, and a 4MP camera on the inner display. You also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip inside for the best performance and power efficiency.

Read more
Google Pixel Tablet just got its first big discount and it’s worth a look
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

Tablets are a dime-a-dozen these days, with offerings from all the great brands including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and more. So, if you really want to stand out in a sea of similar tech, you need to do things a little differently. That's what Google's Pixel Tablet offers. How? It comes with a unique speaker dock that can be used to both charge the device and offer room-filling sound -- almost like a smart speaker add-on. Better yet, when your Pixel Tablet is docked it benefits from the Hub Mode, turning the device into a smart display, with digital photo frame support, smart home controls, and hands-free Google functionality. Of course, it could set you back at full price, normally $499 unless you find it included in a roundup of the best Google Pixel deals. Well, guess what? Thanks to a Best Buy Google Pixel Tablet deal, you can get it today for $439 and save $60. Hurry, though, it's part of Best Buy's recent 48-hour sale so it won't stick around for long.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel Tablet
Okay, okay, so in our Google Pixel Tablet review, Joe Maring did give it less than stellar remarks, but he called out its reliable fingerprint sensor, comfortability during use and excellent speaker dock. Honestly, how many tablets come with a matching speaker dock that transforms the entire experience? This tablet also marks a "lot of firsts" for Google, as it's the first tablet from the company in nearly five years, the first Android tablet in eight years, and can be converted into a smart home display with the speaker dock. All of which are notable milestones.

Read more