Dating apps as a marketplace: women denounce being objectified
Dating apps work like a marketplace where churn and objectification come first. We look at the debate through behavioral economics and game theory.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Dating apps: the marketplace that objectifies its female users
The complaint keeps coming up in forums and on social media: dating apps have turned flirting into a shop window where the average male user behaves as if browsing a product catalog. The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman anticipated it: "human relationships are experienced from the standpoint of customer and object of consumption." And when a couple "stops being profitable, it is set aside and a new one is sought." The economic analogy is no accident.
A flea market of profiles: supply and demand
The core argument is that men —at least some of them— use Tinder and similar apps as if they were a supermarket of people: they swipe, choose, consume and discard. People talk about a "shishi flea market" and a "carousel of hookups to use and throw away." Women, for their part, complain of being treated like objects whose exchange value is measured in likes. The economic metaphor permeates the debate: some talk about "shishiflation" to describe the abundance of female supply, and others argue that the apps have "wrecked the market" by lowering the bar of what a man is willing to offer.
But it is not all one-way. Another line of thought points out that women also actively select, and that 80% of men compete for the 20% of most desired women. "The net losers are most of us guys, who, lacking good looks, have to offer more," sums up a recurring analysis. The asymmetry is obvious: female hypergamy (the tendency to choose upward) and male availability (being worth almost anything) create an imbalance that digital platforms amplify.
Free market or market failure?
The criticism is not limited to gender. It points out that the apps' business model encourages churn: they profit from having more active users, not from how many find a stable partner. It is a perverse incentive that turns singles into perpetual consumers. "The apps have wrecked the market," states one analysis estimating that women aged 45-50 also turn to men aged 25-30, mirroring the same "use and discard" logic. The question that arises is whether this dynamic is a free choice or an imposition of the algorithm.
Trinc Bauman, one may wonder whether objectification is an inevitable byproduct of the gamification of relationships. What is clear is that, far from being a minor debate, the economics of dating apps reflects profound shifts in how we value erotic capital and time. And as long as the incentives remain aligned with churn, the complaint of women —and of many men— will keep being that love has become just another transaction.
Related discussions in the forum
The complaint keeps coming up in forums and on social media: dating apps have turned flirting into a shop window where the average male user behaves as if browsing a product catalog. The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman anticipated it: "human relationships are experienced from the standpoint of customer and object of consumption." And when a couple "stops being profitable, it is set aside and a new one is sought." The economic analogy is no accident.
A flea market of profiles: supply and demand
The core argument is that men —at least some of them— use Tinder and similar apps as if they were a supermarket of people: they swipe, choose, consume and discard. People talk about a "shishi flea market" and a "carousel of hookups to use and throw away." Women, for their part, complain of being treated like objects whose exchange value is measured in likes. The economic metaphor permeates the debate: some talk about "shishiflation" to describe the abundance of female supply, and others argue that the apps have "wrecked the market" by lowering the bar of what a man is willing to offer.
But it is not all one-way. Another line of thought points out that women also actively select, and that 80% of men compete for the 20% of most desired women. "The net losers are most of us guys, who, lacking good looks, have to offer more," sums up a recurring analysis. The asymmetry is obvious: female hypergamy (the tendency to choose upward) and male availability (being worth almost anything) create an imbalance that digital platforms amplify.
Free market or market failure?
The criticism is not limited to gender. It points out that the apps' business model encourages churn: they profit from having more active users, not from how many find a stable partner. It is a perverse incentive that turns singles into perpetual consumers. "The apps have wrecked the market," states one analysis estimating that women aged 45-50 also turn to men aged 25-30, mirroring the same "use and discard" logic. The question that arises is whether this dynamic is a free choice or an imposition of the algorithm.
Trinc Bauman, one may wonder whether objectification is an inevitable byproduct of the gamification of relationships. What is clear is that, far from being a minor debate, the economics of dating apps reflects profound shifts in how we value erotic capital and time. And as long as the incentives remain aligned with churn, the complaint of women —and of many men— will keep being that love has become just another transaction.
Related discussions in the forum
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (100 replies).
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