What is an Elo Score?

An Elo score is a number used by some dating apps to sort users by estimated attractiveness or desirability. The score is not shown to users but changes based on the way people react to your profile. You get a higher score when users with a high score like or match with you. You drop when they swipe left or ignore you. The system comes from chess ratings but has been tweaked for apps like Tinder and Bumble. The word “Elo score” comes from Arpad Elo, who built the rating for chess players in the 1960s.

Where It Came From

Chess needed a basic way to rank players by skill. Elo created a formula that gives a score to every player, updated after every game. In dating apps, engineers saw that this system could work to sort profiles. Instead of wins and losses, dating apps use swipes and matches. Tinder started using an Elo score when the app launched. Internal documents and news stories in 2016 confirmed the system was in place.

How Dating Apps Use Elo

Tinder and similar apps built systems that track how other users respond to your profile. If someone with a high internal score likes you, your score goes up more than if a low-score user likes you. If you get a lot of right swipes from profiles that also get a lot of likes, your score rises faster. If you get likes from people who rarely match with others, your score also rises. If popular users swipe left on you, your score can drop.

Each swipe, match, and message counts for or against you. The score updates every time you get swiped or matched, not just the first time you join. Some apps use versions of Elo but call it something else now, or say they use “engagement-based” sorting.

Calculation

Apps do not release the exact formula, but insider leaks, research studies, and company blogs point to key factors:

·  Swipe-to-like ratio: How often users swipe right on your profile vs. skip.

·  Rater Reputation: Getting liked by a popular user boosts you more than by someone less liked.

·  Match and Message: If someone likes you and you match, your score gets another boost.

·  Selective Swiping: Swiping right on very few profiles can help. Swiping right on everyone can lower your score because it signals spam or bot-like activity.

·  Photo and Profile Quality: Better photos lead to more right swipes and higher scores. Empty bios or blurry pictures reduce your chances.

·  Activity: Being active and responsive matters. Taking long breaks can lower your score.

·  Rejections: If many reject your profile, your score drops.

Real World Results and Data

Some users have requested their data using privacy laws and have found their Elo scores. Fast Company published a story in 2016 where users reacted badly to knowing their scores. Many said they felt judged by a number. Bloggers and creators on YouTube post case studies about changing photos and seeing score and match changes. According to Capital FM, profiles with higher scores appear to be similar to high-score users and get three to five times as many matches as medium-score users.

Research published on ranking systems found that Elo-style formulas work in any case where two entries are compared, like two profiles in a swipe. The system updates quickly as more users join and more data come in.

Social Media and User Commentary

Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok have users guessing how the system works, arguing about what triggers score drops. The most common claims:

·  Mass swiping right cuts your visibility.

·  Short, basic bios and blurry pictures hurt your attractiveness score.

·  Long stretches of inactivity reduce your swipes and potential matches.

·  A sudden change in the quality of photos or profile info can trigger a big change in matches.

Many users believe Tinder still uses a score like Elo even as the company says the algorithm now focuses on behavior over time and quick engagement after matching.

Research and Expert Commentary

Studies into ranking algorithms show that pairwise comparison systems remain fast and reliable when comparing subjective things like attractiveness. Sources point out that after Tinder said it retired Elo in 2019, very similar systems replaced it, still ranking users by how their profile performs. Third-party testers who created fake profiles found that new users with polished photos and selective swiping are shown to higher-score profiles. Internal data showed that a small group of high-ranking profiles receives the majority of matches.

Common Misunderstandings

Some think that buying upgrades or paid features can boost your score or bypass the system. Data leaks have shown that the app might boost your visibility for a set period, but you are still limited by your profile’s rating among other users.

Others think inactivity permanently ruins a score. Most systems allow for recovery if a user is active again and gets positive reactions.

Related Terms

·  Shadowban: A penalty where your score or visibility is lowered after suspected rule-breaking (like spam or fake profiles).

·  Match Ranking: A broader system where the app sorts you against other users for potential display.

·  Algorithmic sorting: Any system that orders content or people by reaction data, not only based on the Elo formula.