Average dudes actually have a tough time getting love on dating apps
It’s tough out there for the average guy trying to find love. I know, the tears of sympathy are probably already welling in your eyes.
New data from the dating app Hinge has shown that only a small segment of dudes are getting the lion’s share of the likes. So, if it feels like rough stuff out there for you, a middle-of-the-road chap, that might explain it.
The research was conducted by Aviv Goldgeier, a Junior Growth Engineer at Hinge. His deep dive was inspired by a Medium post comparing Tinder likes to currency, and he decided to look into the matching economy on Hinge.
AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections
Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups
He found that among likes sent by a woman (on this app, you “like” specific pieces of a person’s profile, like a photo), half of them go to only about 15 percent of the male population. In contrast, when it’s a man whose initiating, half of their likes are spread among about 25 percent of female users.
The inequality likely stems from who’s initiating. Among Hinge users, men are three times more likely to send the first like. When it’s a woman starting things off, their likes are distributed among a much smaller group of men. That’s likely explained by the idea that someone has to be REALLY attractive in order to motivate them to make the first move.
But don’t worry, according to Goldgeier, things will change eventually. Apparently among the younger generations, users under 20, men and women are far more equal in their willingness to dish out likes. So there is hope that things for the typical guy might be getting easier soon as soon as we olds get out of the way.
The good news is dating apps are pretty much the only place it’s tough to be an average dude right now. So you can take comfort in that while you're waiting to find your soulmate.
Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.
