Maybe you prefer finding dates the old-fashioned way, at ye olde meat market.

也許你更喜歡用傳統的方式，在老式的肉類市場上尋找紅棗。

Maybe, like Phillip and I, you found your partner before the boom in online dating.

也許，你像菲利普和我一樣，在網絡交友蓬勃發展之前就找到了自己的伴侶。

Or maybe you're just single and not particularly down to angle.

或者，你只是單身，並不特別注重角度。

Even if you think it doesn't apply to you, the rise of dating apps has had an enormous impact on our society and economy.

即使你認為這並不適用於你，約會應用程式的興起也對我們的社會和經濟產生了巨大的影響。

Almost a third of U.S. adults have used a dating app, and today, it's the most common way that Americans find romantic partners.

近三分之一的美國成年人使用過約會應用程序，如今，它已成為美國人尋找浪漫伴侶的最常見方式。

Recently, these platforms have started charging more money for various services.

最近，這些平臺開始對各種服務收取更高的費用。

And for the first time, meeting new people has become a line item on many household budgets alongside groceries and gas.

在許多家庭的預算中，結識新朋友首次成為與食品雜貨和汽油並列的項目。

But can you really pay your way to a perfect match?

但是，你真的能通過付費找到完美的伴侶嗎？

And how can you protect yourself from the upsellers and scammers who want to profit off your dreams of love?

如何保護自己免受倒賣者和金光黨的侵害？

Over a third of people who use dating apps say they have spent money on them, either for subscriptions or in-app purchases.

在使用約會應用程式的人中，有超過三分之一的人說他們在這些應用程式上花過錢，要麼是訂閱，要麼是應用程式內購買。

The average amount that a paying customer spends is around $19 a month.

付費用戶的平均月消費額約為 19 美元。

But you can certainly pay more if you're desperate.

但如果你急需用錢，當然可以多付一些。

I mean, motivated enough.

我是說，有足夠的動力。

Tinder has a $499 a month subscription, while elite dating app The League has a VIP membership that costs almost $1,000 a week.

Tinder 的包月費用為 499 美元，而精英約會應用 The League 的 VIP 會員費用為每週近 1000 美元。

Hard to believe someone with that kind of cash needs help finding a date.

很難相信有這麼多錢的人還需要人幫忙找對象。

Of course, most platforms still have a premium tier, but there are a lot of limitations.

當然，大多數平臺仍有高級層級，但有很多限制。

You might be restricted on how many profiles you can see or like per day.

您可能會被限制每天可以查看或點讚的資料數量。

Or you might not be able to filter results based on certain criteria, like age or height, or hide your own characteristics from others.

或者，您可能無法根據特定條件（如年齡或身高）過濾結果，或向他人隱藏自己的特徵。

Spenders also get to boost their own profiles so they're seen by more people, or can give virtual gifts like roses to get the attention of someone who might otherwise not notice them.

消費用戶還可以提升自己的個人資料，讓更多人看到自己，或者贈送玫瑰花等虛擬禮物，吸引那些可能不會注意到自己的人的注意。

The platforms claim that paying customers will get more and better dates, and Pew Research did find that people who found a partner on a dating app were more likely to have spent money on it.

這些平臺聲稱，付費用戶將獲得更多、更好的約會機會，皮尤研究確實發現，在交友軟件上找到伴侶的人更有可能在上面花了錢。

But there are also many people out there who've been spending hundreds of dollars a month for years without anything to show for it.

但也有很多人多年來每月花費數百美元卻一無所獲。

So how can you know whether the cost would be worth it to you?

那麼，您如何知道這筆費用對您來說是否值得呢？

To answer that question, we first need to understand how these platforms work.

要回答這個問題，我們首先需要了解這些平臺是如何運作的。

In the ancient era of eHarmony, users were asked to fill out a lengthy questionnaire, and the algorithm, to the extent that there was one, simply introduced people who had common interests and lived nearby.

在 eHarmony 的遠古時代，用戶需要填寫一份冗長的問卷，而算法（如果有的話）只是簡單地介紹有共同興趣愛好且住在附近的人。

But the smartphone changed the rules of the game.

但智能手機改變了遊戲規則。

App developers became focused on minimizing friction, like a social media app.

應用程序開發人員開始專注於減少摩擦，就像社交媒體應用程序一樣。

The value of a dating platform lies in how many people are on it.

交友平臺的價值在於有多少人在使用它。

And if you want a lot of new signups, you don't want to hit them with a ton of questions up front.

如果你希望有大量的新用戶註冊，你就不希望一開始就向他們提出一大堆問題。

You want them on the service and swiping as soon as possible.

您希望他們儘快使用服務並刷卡。

That means that modern dating algorithms are based less on your biographical information and more on how you use the app, who you're liking and messaging, and how other people are responding to you.

這意味著，現代約會算法較少基於你的個人履歷資訊，而更多基於你如何使用應用程序、你喜歡誰、給誰發資訊以及其他人如何迴應你。

The most popular dating app, Tinder, launched with an ELO rating system originally designed to rank chess players.

最受歡迎的約會應用程序 Tinder 在推出時採用了 ELO 等級系統，該系統最初是為棋手排名而設計的。

Basically, everyone is assigned a desirability score, and it goes up when someone swipes right on you, and down if someone swipes left.

基本上，每個人都會被分配一個可取性分數，如果有人向右掃你，分數就會上升，如果有人向左掃你，分數就會下降。

But the swiper's score matters.

但狙擊手的得分很重要。

If you get liked by a more desirable person, your score will go up a lot.

如果你被一個更受歡迎的人喜歡，你的分數就會提高很多。

But if you get rejected by an undesirable person, your rating will take a big hit.

但是，如果你被不受歡迎的人拒絕，你的評級就會大打折扣。

As in chess, the point is to match players who are in the same league, so to speak.

就像國際象棋一樣，關鍵是要讓處於同一水平線上的棋手進行比賽。

After some criticism that their system was just a fancy pot-or-not game, Tinder said in 2019 that it did not rely on the ELO system anymore, but didn't say explicitly that it had been retired or what new system may have replaced it.

在一些人責備他們的系統只是一個花哨的 "鍋與不鍋 "遊戲之後，Tinder 在 2019 年表示，它不再依賴 ELO 系統，但沒有明確表示該系統已經退役，也沒有說明取代它的可能是什麼新系統。

Hinge, another popular dating app, uses an algorithm originally developed by Nobel-winning economists Lloyd Shapley and Alvin E.

另一款流行的約會應用 Hinge 使用的算法最初是由諾貝爾經濟學獎得主勞埃德-沙普利和阿爾文-E.

Roth, which was designed to be a solution to the stable matching problem.

羅斯，其目的是解決穩定匹配問題。

Given two groups of people with individual preferences, how do you pair them up so that no two people would prefer each other over their assigned partner?

給定兩組具有個人偏好的人，如何將他們配對，才能使沒有兩個人喜歡對方而不是自己指定的夥伴？

The solution is to allow one group, let's say in our very hetero example, the men, to make proposals to the women in order of preference.

解決的辦法是允許一個群體，比方說，在我們這個非常異性戀的例子中，允許男性按照偏好順序向女性求婚。

If a woman receives a better offer than her current partner, she can accept it.

如果女性收到比其當前伴侶更好的提議，她可以接受。

Once all the men have finished making their proposals, there will be no two people who would prefer each other over their current partner.

一旦所有男士都完成了自己的求婚，就不會再有兩個人願意選擇對方而不是自己的現任伴侶了。

While neither Tinder nor Hinge are specific about how these algorithms are put into real-world practice, it does raise questions about some of their paid features.

雖然 Tinder 和 Hinge 都沒有具體說明如何將這些算法付諸實踐，但這確實讓人對它們的一些付費功能產生了疑問。

Hiding information about yourself or being able to access profiles that are out of your league doesn't that subvert the algorithm?

隱藏自己的資訊，或者能夠訪問與自己無關的資料，這難道不是在顛覆算法嗎？

It's almost like you're paying for the rules to not apply to you.

這幾乎就像你花錢讓規則對你不適用一樣。

Well, maybe these platforms just really need the money.

也許這些平臺真的需要錢。

After a burst in popularity in the mid-2010s, dating apps' user base has been steadily shrinking.

在經歷了 2010 年代中期的流行之後，約會應用程序的用戶群一直在穩步萎縮。

Match Group and Bumble, which make up the majority of the industry's market share, have lost more than $40 billion in market value over the last few years as many of their customers have either settled down or given up.

Match Group 和 Bumble 佔據了該行業的大部分市場份額，但在過去幾年裡，由於許多客戶要麼定居下來，要麼放棄，它們的市值損失了 400 多億美元。

At the same time, rising interest rates have slowed the gush of cheap money that fueled much of the tech industry, and now investors are starting to demand profitability.

與此同時，利率的上升也減緩了推動科技行業發展的廉價資金的湧入，現在投資者開始要求企業盈利。

In response, dating apps are pushing their paid features hard, but some of the tactics are raising complaints from customers.

作為迴應，約會應用程序正在大力推廣其付費功能，但其中一些策略引起了用戶的抱怨。

For instance, some users claim that once you've run out of your allotted daily likes, the service will show you a very attractive person, whom you now have to pay extra to like.

例如，一些用戶聲稱，一旦你用完了分配給你的每日點贊數，該服務就會向你展示一個非常有吸引力的人，而你現在必須支付額外費用才能點贊。

Or you will be told that several people have liked your profile, but you'll need to pay to see who they are.

或者你會被告知有幾個人喜歡你的個人資料，但你需要付費才能看到他們是誰。

According to a lawsuit filed in early 2024, the platforms use addictive game-like design features, which lock users into a perpetual pay-to-play loop.

根據 2024 年初提起的訴訟，這些平臺使用了類似遊戲的令人上癮的設計功能，將用戶永久鎖定在付費遊戲的循環中。

Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, among others, called the lawsuit ridiculous and contends that they rely on satisfied customers to build their brand.

擁有 Tinder 和 Hinge 等公司的 Match Group 稱這起訴訟荒唐可笑，並辯稱他們依靠滿意的客戶來建立自己的品牌。

Indeed, Hinge is advertised as the dating app designed to be deleted.

事實上，Hinge 被宣傳為專為刪除而設計的約會應用程序。

If true, that would make it an outlier in the tech world.

如果屬實，這將使它成為科技界的一個異類。

From Netflix to DraftKings to YouTube, the main goal of virtually every online platform is to keep users engaged for as long as possible.

從 Netflix 到 DraftKings 再到 YouTube，幾乎所有在線平臺的主要目標都是儘可能長時間地吸引用戶。

Tinder even advises people to use the app regularly if they want to find good matches.

Tinder 甚至建議人們，如果想找到好的配對對象，就要經常使用這款應用。

Until we can peek inside their algorithmic black boxes, it's probably safe to assume that dating apps work like most other freemium services.

在我們能夠窺探其算法黑箱之前，我們可以放心地認為，約會應用程序的工作方式與其他大多數免費服務一樣。

Many will use it responsibly and temporarily, while a small number of highly addicted, whales generate the bulk of the company's revenue.

許多人會負責任地暫時使用它，而一小部分高度上癮的 "鯨魚 "則創造了公司的大部分收入。

To avoid becoming a whale yourself, here are a few simple guidelines.

為了避免自己成為鯨魚，這裡有幾條簡單的指導原則。

Quantity does not equal quality.

數量不等於品質。

According to psychological studies, having too many options can create decision paralysis and actually decrease the satisfaction of your eventual choice.

根據心理學研究，過多的選擇會造成決策癱瘓，實際上會降低最終選擇的滿意度。

If you've already swiped through a thousand profiles, another hundred is not likely to make a difference.

如果您已經瀏覽了上千份資料，再瀏覽一百份也不會有什麼影響。

Instead, many dating experts advise people to improve their own presentation.

相反，許多約會專家建議人們改善自己的表達方式。

Spend that money on a gym membership or get professional help on your profile and photos.

把錢花在健身房會員卡上，或者在個人資料和照片上尋求專業幫助。

Instead of searching for the perfect partner, work on becoming the perfect partner yourself.

與其尋找完美伴侶，不如自己努力成為完美伴侶。

And as always, watch out for scams.

一如既往，謹防詐騙。

Romance scams stole over a billion dollars from Americans in 2023 alone, and that only counts the victims that weren't too embarrassed to report.

僅在 2023 年，浪漫騙局就從美國人身上偷走了超過 10 億美元，這還只是算上了那些沒有不好意思報案的受害者。

These scammers target people who are lonely and looking for love, so dating apps are a natural hunting ground.

這些金光黨的目標是孤獨和尋找愛情的人，是以交友軟件自然成了他們的狩獵場。

In fact, in 2019, the FTC estimated that as many as 25-30% of Match.com members who registered each day were using Match.com to perpetrate scams.

事實上，據美國聯邦貿易委員會估計，在 2019 年，每天註冊的 Match.com 會員中有多達 25-30% 的人在利用 Match.com 進行詐騙。

If anyone you meet on these platforms ever asks for money or gift cards or encourages you to invest in crypto, they are almost certainly after your pocketbook and not your heart.

如果你在這些平臺上遇到的任何人向你要錢或禮品卡，或鼓勵你投資加密貨幣，那麼他們幾乎肯定是衝著你的錢袋而不是你的心來的。

Due in part to these pitfalls in prices, Gen Zers have been less likely than older generations to use dating apps, preferring to meet people on TikTok, Snapchat, or even IRL.

部分由於這些價格陷阱，Z 世代比上代人更少使用約會應用程序，他們更喜歡在 TikTok、Snapchat 甚至 IRL 上結識朋友。

Besides saving money, it is a way to reclaim a slice of the human experience from Silicon Valley.

除了省錢，這也是一種從硅谷找回人類體驗的方式。

After all, people used to be able to meet each other and fall in love without a profit-hungry middleman setting the terms of the courtship.

畢竟，以前人們可以相識相愛，而不需要利慾薰心的中間人來設定求愛條件。

As long as people are looking for partners, there will probably be others looking to capitalize on it.

只要有人在尋找合作伙伴，就可能會有其他人想利用這一點。

But it's nice to remember that no algorithm yet has been able to fully map the human heart, and some things, like love, are impossible to commodify.

但我們應該記住，目前還沒有一種算法能夠完全描繪出人類的內心世界，有些東西，比如愛，是無法商品化的。

For now.

現在

And that's our two cents.

這就是我們的看法。

Thanks to our patrons for keeping Two Cents financially healthy.

感謝我們的贊助人讓 Two Cents 保持財務健康。

Click the link in the description to become a Two Cents patron.

點擊說明中的鏈接，成為 Two Cents 的贊助人。