The Influence of Popularity on Dating Apps
A study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington has found that online dating platforms have a popularity bias in their recommendation algorithms, favoring more popular and attractive users over less popular ones. The study analyzed data from over 240,000 users of a major online dating platform in Asia and found that a user's chance of being recommended increased as their average attractiveness score went up. The researchers suggest that platforms should be more transparent about their algorithms and that further research is needed to balance user satisfaction, revenue goals, and ethical algorithm design.