Beating the Tinder Game
April 20, 2014 4:23 PM   Subscribe

Blake Jamieson used his marketing background to game Tinder's system.
posted by reenum (63 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Every single noun and verb and adjective in this essay repulsed me.
posted by The Whelk at 4:27 PM on April 20, 2014 [66 favorites]


C'mon Whelk, he was just getting social.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:31 PM on April 20, 2014 [3 favorites]


Step 1: Right-swipe everyone.

Step 2: Irrelevant.

Step 3: Congratulations, you've gamed Tinder's system.
posted by Etrigan at 4:34 PM on April 20, 2014 [14 favorites]


To his credit, he blurred the ladies images whose messages he used as examples.
posted by dabitch at 4:35 PM on April 20, 2014


Gross.
posted by graphnerd at 4:36 PM on April 20, 2014


I have a #passion for #digitalmarketing. I love meeting new #people. I am #NOT a robot. Describe to me your #feelings. Be VERY #specific.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:42 PM on April 20, 2014 [35 favorites]


Yes, but did this get him laid?

Probably, but he likely suffered a high bounce rate.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:43 PM on April 20, 2014 [7 favorites]


It's been said, "If you ask every woman you meet to go to bed with you, you'll get slapped a lot. But you'll also get laid a lot."

This seems to be the 21st Century equivalent.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:44 PM on April 20, 2014 [5 favorites]


I think David Cross's garbage man joke tends to sum up internet dating pretty accurately.
posted by feloniousmonk at 4:51 PM on April 20, 2014 [3 favorites]


Young, Single, and Dating at Hyperspeed (NYT article from 2002)
Some ambitious -- or just manic -- men and women play the services as if they were video games or eBays-for-daters, where the goal is not so much acquiring the goods as simply playing to win.

Winning is defined in many ways. ''It could be just getting someone to write back to you, to meet or to fall in love with you, or it could be getting someone to go home with you on a particular night,'' [a 26-year-old lawyer they interviewed] said.

Where older Americans are likely to see perusing the personals as a solo -- or downright lonely -- experience, people in their 20's are likely to make it a social event, like going to the mall.

''We call it 'man shopping,' '' said a 28-year-old publicist from Queens, who recently placed her first ad. ''We order sushi and sit there ranking guys.''

...

One of the things people realize when they post their ads is that a lot of other people have posted ads, too. The problem quickly becomes finding a way to shine through.

''It's the same as eBay,'' said a 28-year-old online personals user from Manhattan. ''If I look for a Pottery Barn quilt, by the time I get to Page 11, they all blend together.''
posted by mochapickle at 4:53 PM on April 20, 2014 [7 favorites]


This guy is way too smart to be in marketing. He knows how to use photoshop.
posted by benzenedream at 4:56 PM on April 20, 2014 [8 favorites]


The Whelk: "Every single noun and verb and adjective in this essay repulsed me."

Even the articles and prepositions are making me a little queasy.
posted by octothorpe at 4:56 PM on April 20, 2014 [5 favorites]


He used his idiot "experiment" to sell his book and pimp himself as a social marketing guru. Looks like he won the Medium and MetaFilter games too!
posted by codacorolla at 4:57 PM on April 20, 2014 [21 favorites]


My guess is that it will "work" in that he'll meet someone just as vapid as he is. It's not a strategy I could imagine borrowing from, but if it works and no one is getting hurt, I don't see the harm.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:57 PM on April 20, 2014


I clicked on this thinking that another scientist had conducted experiments to prove some of the inner workings of the algorithm like that OK Cupid grad student guy. HAH. And I'm beginning to think the algorithm might be kinda dumb anyway, but no dumber than this guy. Anyone with half a brain should be able to figure out that indiscriminately swiping right will lower your own perceived value or the whole matching system would fall apart quickly, so Tinder isn't going to show your profile to the best people. At best maybe he sees the average girls, and at worst he's seeing the bottom of the barrel, because he has 720 matches but only an 8% hit rate on messages, and a hit rate that low probably lowers his "value" further.

Wait, nevermind, Tinder works perfectly then.
posted by slow graffiti at 4:59 PM on April 20, 2014


The hand cramps from all those swipes has damaged his relationship with his longtime "girlfriend" Felicity Fivefingers.
posted by humanfont at 5:15 PM on April 20, 2014 [5 favorites]


I thought "stretch the truth" and "cast an aggressively wide net" were both d-bag internet dating 101. Do we really need this refresher?
posted by en forme de poire at 5:15 PM on April 20, 2014 [6 favorites]


From a few conversations with friends, it seems as though getting matches and messaging people on Tinder isn't incredibly difficult; actually turning that into IRL dates is where things get hard. So it doesn't seem like he "beat the Tinder game" so much as get halfway to second base..? (Am I mixing metaphors now?)
posted by naju at 5:20 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Gaming Tinder? I want to set fire to that article.
posted by arcticseal at 5:22 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Sounds like he abused the system by faking a verified profile status? He should be banned from Tinder, it looks like he fooled people into thinking he was vetted by the Tinder folks directly, and people trusted he was a good person to date based on that.
posted by mathowie at 5:34 PM on April 20, 2014 [5 favorites]


"I recently embarked on a Tinderventure, during which I learned a lot about dating psychology, gender roles, and native content marketing"

Did I miss something, or did the sum total of his "learning about gender roles" equate to "only 8% of girls will message first!?".
Girls, mind. Girls.

Hey, I didn't even know brains could throw up but mine just did! I guess we've all learned something.
posted by billiebee at 5:35 PM on April 20, 2014 [8 favorites]


And one final request... if you like what you read here, I would be honored if you would sign-up for early delivery of my upcoming book ‘Social. Hustle. Surf.’

Jesus. This is all a clever joke right.
posted by naju at 5:39 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wow. Ummmm, wow. So he won the game no one else was playing for no prize at all.

Yay him?

I think?
posted by Samizdata at 5:44 PM on April 20, 2014 [9 favorites]


...and now on the blue.
posted by sfts2 at 5:47 PM on April 20, 2014


It's really unfortunate that we all had to read this guy's pitch to some digital marketing company, but here we are.
posted by bradbane at 5:51 PM on April 20, 2014 [6 favorites]


Pepsi Blue? Pepsi Ewww.
posted by incessant at 6:15 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


billiebee: "Did I miss something, or did the sum total of his 'learning about gender roles' equate to 'only 8% of girls will message first!?'. Girls, mind. Girls. Hey, I didn't even know brains could throw up but mine just did! I guess we've all learned something."

Well, let's be fair. He also called them "females."
posted by koeselitz at 6:23 PM on April 20, 2014 [14 favorites]


This is the most Medium article I've read since the last time I read an article on Medium.
posted by codacorolla at 6:36 PM on April 20, 2014 [5 favorites]


So I can see that this would work for him. He's generically, non-threateningly medium-attractive, he clearly has some education and skills, and probably has a job or is very good at pretending he has a job. He's also casting a hugely wide net.

Some women will surely go for that.



Some of them.


I mean, he speaks in management-ese and buries the needle all the way in the red on my personal doucheometer and makes me want to flee screaming and live in the woods where I don't ever have to interact with another person ever again because I would rather marry a goddamn bear, but if you're into that sort of guy I am glad he is there for you.

I can do my own Photoshops.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:55 PM on April 20, 2014 [11 favorites]


The idea that only 8% of women message first is misleading. 8% of women message HIM first. The other 92% might have better shit to do.
posted by NoraReed at 7:22 PM on April 20, 2014 [19 favorites]


Christ, what an asshole.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:38 PM on April 20, 2014 [6 favorites]


This article just wasn't that great, as y'all have mentioned.

So how do you really game Tinder?

Considering that Tinder basically feels like a front end for a complicated Facebook graph search query like...

"[opposite gender] between age [lower bound] and [upper bound] near me who are single and like [list of interests]"

If I really had to approach this as a question and totally kill Tinder and my chances at dating, I'd answer the following:

- what are the most popular interests of the opposite gender and how many of those can i add to my profile?
- taking better photos (obv)
- what works better: shorter copy or longer copy? A/B testing.
- are there conversions on including instagram/twitter info in your bio? if yes, how to leverage that?

Maybe this is a question better posed to the fine folks at HN. :P
posted by raihan_ at 7:42 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


I guess I hate the interface cliches and quirks of social media more than I care about whether this guy is a jerk because I'm pretty amused by the idea of photoshopping a thumb logo and the words "500 people like this" onto my Facebook photos.

At least in this case it seems it was pretty obvious to anyone who took a second look that he had added the logos to his photos, so this seems more like a joke than a deception.

posted by straight at 8:49 PM on April 20 [233 favorites +] [!]
posted by straight at 7:49 PM on April 20, 2014 [11 favorites]


Less than 8% of females will message first.

And mark my words, Rom, that's only the Bajorans. Hyu-mon fe-males will never message first!
posted by Spatch at 8:10 PM on April 20, 2014 [10 favorites]


> posted by straight at 8:49 PM on April 20 [233 favorites +] [!]

Wow, so popular! Where can I buy your book?
posted by Monochrome at 8:39 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


8% of females will message, which is either a sign of how bad the dating market is for women or a searing indictment of the nation's Douche-o-meter manufacturers.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:41 PM on April 20, 2014 [3 favorites]


8% of FEMALES
posted by ead at 9:11 PM on April 20, 2014 [19 favorites]


Every single noun and verb and adjective in this essay repulsed me.

I was also repulsed by the formatting

Like what you’ve read in this thread so far?
Share your love for it with some favorites!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:12 PM on April 20, 2014 [2 favorites]


8% of FEMALES

Yet another thing I didn't know I didn't need that now I know I don't need.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:37 PM on April 20, 2014 [2 favorites]


It really drives me up the wall how people in internet marketing use the word "content" like it's some undifferentiated soylent green out of a can, like culture and art doesn't really need to have a personal touch, or meaning, or even distinguishing features. It's just, like, tasteless, spongy information bologna surging out of tubes and hitting you in the face, forever.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 10:26 PM on April 20, 2014 [16 favorites]


This dude showed up on my Tinder yesterday. I swiped left specifically for his shitty use of Photoshop.
posted by casarkos at 10:26 PM on April 20, 2014 [13 favorites]


Casarkos, you are doing God's work.
posted by en forme de poire at 11:48 PM on April 20, 2014 [7 favorites]


straight, I can see that as a parody of social media ridiculousness if I kind of squint, but the fact that he called it "implied authority" -- just, ew, fuck, nope. (Sorry, I just re-read the article and now I kind of feel like Zak McCracken after he's been exposed to that 60Hz hum for too long.)
posted by en forme de poire at 11:58 PM on April 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Well, he got me to click on his affiliate link to that book about stickiness. I might even buy it, but maybe through Powell's just to thwart him.

Thing is, growing up I was a latchkey kid and my older brother was very manipulative with everyone and he picked on me a bit. I learned to lay low and I learned to be extremely allergic to subtle manipulation. I kind of worry that this has been holding me back. I have good ideas. I speak about them passionately. It seems like the more passionate and emotionally invested I am about an idea, the the more people’s eyes glaze over. I’ve noticed this happen to others, too.

I have some kick ass lead-from-the-back-of-the-room leadership skills. I’ve facilitated public speaking seminars. I’ve accomplished a lot of good in this world for disadvantaged people through sheer, unrelenting tenacity. It’s killing me when I keep seeing prima facie bad ideas sail through leadership and I describe, push and wait and wait for socially just solutions that often eventually win out a long time later after someone above my pay grade independently discovers the idea.

I worked for a Native American agency and I was very comfortable with that culture and the idea that sometimes the quietest person in the room is the wisest. Right after that job, I worked for a non-profit with young leadership that was all “let’s go viral!”/“invite anybody who’s anybody!” It was awful. They fired the most centered and experienced person in the agency, escorted her out of the building for missing a fundraising deadline during the height of the recession and held a meeting where they told us that we were all like family and their business coach was going to talk us through this and “you know he loves all of you." He was a facilitator in the sense that a snake oil salesman facilitates sales. I saw the writing on the wall and started shopping my resume. I got another job lined up and put in my two-week notice and I was also escorted out of the building that same day.

My brother, tho. My brother’s a good guy now and we get along really well. But, lo and behold, he landed in marketing.

I guess what I’m struggling with is, I don’t know if I should play the game or not. I’m a good writer. I have photoshop skills.

On the other hand, this guy is full of crap. On the other, other hand, so are most people. On the other, other, other hand, is it really so hard to say the word "women"?
posted by Skwirl at 12:05 AM on April 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


Blake Jamieson Who cares used his marketing background who cares to game Tinder's system who cares.
posted by univac at 12:24 AM on April 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


straight, I can see that as a parody of social media ridiculousness if I kind of squint, but the fact that he called it "implied authority" --

Oh sure. He wasn't intending to mock the system but just to game it. My amusement was more about the technique and the idea of using it to be silly in other contexts.
posted by straight at 1:44 AM on April 21, 2014


Medium should also ban this guy just for good measure.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:24 AM on April 21, 2014


Wait maybe he works for Medium and Tinder who will bask in good PR after they ban him.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:25 AM on April 21, 2014


HES EVERWHERE
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:25 AM on April 21, 2014


I managed to game tinder too by photoshopping a mirror into my profile pics so the chicks see their own image 100% hit rate. Fav this comment to receive more info in the mail.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:30 AM on April 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Blake Jamieson
Glass always half-full kinda guy. Dream hard.


Oh please, how is that supposed to impress me?
posted by bigendian at 4:24 AM on April 21, 2014


This is the most Medium article I've read since the last time I read an article on Medium.

it's extra-medium.
posted by device55 at 6:31 AM on April 21, 2014


I recently embarked on a Tinderventure, during which I learned a lot about dating psychology, gender roles, and native content marketing

I don't think it would even have been possible to write a sentence this obnoxious 20 years ago. It's like the internet is expanding the cultural/linguistic boundaries of possible obnoxiousness.
posted by crayz at 7:11 AM on April 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


How I Used Google Glass #Branding To Pick Up Females Of The Me-Sexual Persuasion
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:20 AM on April 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Location-Based Social Discovery App Users Hate This Guy!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:25 AM on April 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


It really drives me up the wall how people in internet marketing use the word "content" like it's some undifferentiated soylent green out of a can

Speaking as someone who works in a non-marketing role at a marketing company: that's exactly what "content" is to these people, though. Culture is just a delivery mechanism for marketing, a substrate to which their leeches can attach themselves to hitch a ride into your brain.

Much of the time, they don't even know what "content" their leeches will be hitching a ride on (because they're just buying 500,000 impressions on Google or Facebook or whatever), so they couldn't consider it any more deeply even if they wanted to (which they don't).
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:52 AM on April 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


My very first thought was, "Is he going for revulsion? Cause I've got that in spades now."

This is why marketing guys are thought of as single-cell entitites. Bleagh!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:23 AM on April 21, 2014


He's marketing himself and says as much. In Late Capitalism we're all just labor value commodities anyway. Are we mad at him for exposing (via reductio ad absurdum) the core of social media self-sale?
posted by Dreidl at 9:18 AM on April 21, 2014


He's marketing himself and says as much. In Late Capitalism we're all just labor value commodities anyway. Are we mad at him for exposing (via reductio ad absurdum) the core of social media self-sale?

laughing at a silly person unaware of his own silliness = being mad at him I guess
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:20 AM on April 21, 2014


Look, in #LateCapitalismTM mass shaming is about all we've got to defend against the last few drops of humanity being wrung out of the process of finding a romantic partner.
posted by en forme de poire at 9:54 AM on April 21, 2014


Wo.ul.d u like 2get 100s more r o m a n t i c part.ners? Click now
posted by The Whelk at 9:58 AM on April 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


I think my click button is broke. Can I just give you my credit card?
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:00 PM on April 21, 2014


Of course Tinder will zap his account in a week or so.

But he did a nice viral job for them and they'll be paying that bonus clause in his marketing contract.
posted by surplus at 6:28 PM on April 21, 2014


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