Pretty funny seeing what is after all, a ‘romantic’ venture (dating apps) broken down in a completely utilitarian analysis. Also helps to have a brook-no-shit writing style.

Years ago, was asked to do dev work on a clone of a dating app. Ended up looking at all the things these kinds of apps did to get people to pay. Two features I remember were giving new users option to buy top profile placement for a limited time, so they showed up as a first choice for everyone for the next hour.

Another was sending paid ‘virtual’ gifts, which turned out were badly ripped off clipart of flowers and jewelry. This was when Tinder was first starting so none of the fancy retention methods described here or AI filters.

I passed on working on the app, but made sure my wife knew exactly why I had installed all those dating apps on my phone. It really was for research.