Thirty-one theses on dating capitalism
05 / 31
PART ONE — THE PORTFOLIO
I
Revenue up, payers down
II
Success ends subscriptions
III
Manufactured scarcity
IV
One owner, many brands
Hidden ranking, patented swipe
VI
Volume produces refusal
VII
The app is the destination
VIII
Demographic pricing
IX
Fabricated interest
X
Safety became an upgrade
XI
Intentionality drives growth
XII
Queer platforms consolidated
XIII
Contraction intensifies extraction
XIV
Free users are inventory
XV
Global risk, concentrated revenue
XVI
Health data as telemetry
XVII
Data as national security
XVIII
Membership reveals identity
XIX
Identification without breach
XX
Profiles sold as commodities
XXI
The platform remembers more
XXII
Community versus its workers
XXIII
Extraction is optional
XXIV
Refusal is not innocence
XXV
The grid is optional
XXVI
Filtering is not sorting
XXVII
The applications work
XXVIII
Lifeline and trap
XXIX
Loneliness is the market
XXX
Companionship without reciprocity
XXXI
Named, not stopped
THESIS V
PART ONE — THE PORTFOLIO
Users were ranked, were not shown the ranking, and the gesture itself is patented.
Desirability became an internal score. The swipe became intellectual property.
In January 2016 Tinder confirmed to Fast Company that it maintained an internal desirability score; Sean Rad described two and a half months of work on the algorithm, and Jonathan Badeen compared the mechanic to Warcraft ladders, where beating a high-rated opponent yields more points. In March 2019 the company stated that Elo was old news and that its technology no longer relied on it, describing a newer system weighted on engagement signals. Separately, United States Patent 9,733,811 B2 assigns the double-opt-in swipe to Match Group, which litigated it against Bumble in 2018. The scoring was retired, the disclosure was never introduced, and the motion a person makes with their thumb while looking for someone to love is an asset defended in court.
EVIDENCE SNAPSHOT
2016
INTERNAL RANKING
Internal desirability scoring confirmed by Tinder
Retired
LATER STATUS
Elo system later described as no longer used
US 9,733,811
PATENT
Double-opt-in swipe registered as company intellectual property
2018
LITIGATION
Patent rights asserted during litigation against Bumble
KEY FINDING
In January 2016 Tinder confirmed to Fast Company that it maintained an internal desirability score; Sean Rad described two and a half months of work on the algorithm, and Jonathan Badeen compared the mechanic to Warcraft ladders, where beating a high-rated opponent yields more points.
IMPLICATION
User evaluation and the gesture used to evaluate others became proprietary infrastructure.
Source apparatus
SOURCE 01
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JOURNALISM / PATENT RECORD
Carr, A. (2016, January 11). I found out my secret internal Tinder rating and now I wish I hadn't. Fast Company.
SOURCE 02
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JOURNALISM / PATENT RECORD
Rad, S., Carrico, T., Hoskins, R., Stone, K., & Badeen, J. (2017). Matching process system and method (U.S. Patent No. 9,733,811 B2). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.