The math behind the online dating markets is, unironically, a really interesting (and disturbing) subject. You’ve got a service that ostensibly exists to introduce single individuals, but ultimately generates revenue from perpetually single people trapped in a cycle of hook-ups and break-ups. So who initially gets shown to whom is perversely incentivized. You’re baited into continuous engagement by a mix of people you like but who won’t respond and people you don’t like who will.

There’s also the marketing angle - women and men are marketed to totally differently, setting up these stark variances in what each user expects to see and is encouraged to select. And then there’s the secondary market - professional models and social media starlets, con-artists and catfishers, and restaurants posing as dates to trick you into eating out alone - preying on gullible singles.