Have you ever found a spare $500 in your pocket and thought to yourself, “man, I wish I could use this to make online dating vaguely more interesting?” Yeah, me neither.

Lucky for us, Tinder is now offering the solution to a problem we didn’t even know we had in the form of Tinder Select.

You’re probably asking yourself, what is it, exactly? Will it help me get more dates? Is it worth the money? Let’s figure it out together and see if it lives up to all the hype.

What is it, exactly?

Tinder Select is being marketed as an application-only premium service. Its features include:

The ability to connect with high value profiles
While Tinder keeps its algorithms a closely held secret, it’s probably safe to assume that they’re granting additional visibility to popular profiles in your area.

Early access to new features
We don’t have any specifics about this and that’s unlikely to change. Don’t you love it when companies treat beta testing like a privilege when they’re actually asking you to do them a solid?
Priority Likes that keep you unblurred and on their grid
Priority Likes are the most valuable premium feature on any dating app, as it provides a substantial boost to your visibility.
Here’s how it works: Conventionally attractive women and gay men can get up to 1k+ likes a day, so if they don't log in for a few days you could be several thousand profiles behind in their queue. With Like Priority, you are always at the top of their list (along with everyone else who has purchased this feature).

The ability to DM profiles you haven’t matched with
This one is tricky, because it only applies if the person has granted permission to be messaged by profiles they haven’t matched with.

Unfortunately, because we know that most conventionally attractive women and gay men are overwhelmed by the volume of likes/matches they receive, they’re unlikely to consent to be messaged by randos. In my opinion, the only practical usage of this feature would be to identify sugar babies… but there are apps designed for seeking sugaring arrangements that are far less expensive than $499 a month.

A badge that identifies you as a Select member
The only advantage of this would be to show that you have $499 a month to spend on a dating app. However, this is a double edged sword, because it also implies that you need to spend $499 a month on dating apps…

Exclusivity
Tinder claims that Tinder Select is “limited to less than 1% of users to ensure you receive the most exclusive experience possible”. It is more likely that Tinder Select makes up less than 1% of users due to its exorbitant price tag. In all fairness, marketing this as exclusivity is quite clever of them- until you attempt to identify how actionable this “exclusivity” is.

Will It Help Me Get More Dates?

The short answer is: Doubtful

The full answer: Most of the features don’t have a direct impact on your match rate. The one that does is also available in less expensive packages. Let’s break it down, feature by feature.

The only feature I would consider an actionable asset for obtaining dates is Prioritized Likes, which is already available in the Tinder Platinum tier for $39.99 per month (a whopping $460 cheaper than Tinder Select).

The connection to “higher value” profiles and early access are both vague and therefore not actionable.

The badge and exclusivity seem largely for bragging rights, which is fine, but isn’t going to lead to dozens of singles begging for your number.

The DM feature gets most of the media attention, but it seems like all smoke and mirrors. Ask yourself, “why would I allow unmatched strangers to DM me if I have thousands of likes in my backlog?”

The only logical reasons someone would allow this is:

a) novel curiosity that will quickly fade once they start getting bombarded

b) gold digging/sugar babying- there are less expensive and more direct options available for seeking these types of arrangements

c) genuine interest- in which case, they likely would have matched with you anyway if you’d used Like Priority to jump the line.

Most of these features sound impressive, but they don’t hold up to scrutiny in terms of getting results.

Is it Worth the Money?

Mainstream dating apps are designed to prioritize profit above all else. The longer you are on the app, the more money they will make.

This is especially true for straight men. You bad boys are the most delectable prime meat for the apps, because you are the only population who regularly pays for premium features. This means that you need to be especially careful when determining if these features are worth it to you.

Always, always, always ask yourself two simple questions: how is this actionable? How will this feature actionably lead to my desired outcome? If you can’t figure out how it will lead to more dates, it probably won’t.

Even Priority Likes won’t land you more dates if your profile isn’t competitive. Priority Likes significantly increases the likelihood that profiles you swipe right on will see you. It doesn’t make them like you. Visibility is crucial, but not until you have a high quality profile.

Final Thoughts

Tinder Select could be a fun experiment if you have the cash to spend, but it's no miracle worker… and for $499 a month, I’d expect a damn miracle.

Honestly, it feels like that trick at the grocery store where they have that one cereal that’s like 5x more expensive than everything else, and you decide to buy it hoping that it’ll taste 5x better… but it ends up tasting like the same sugary grains you eat every week.

I don’t know, man. It feels pretty underwhelming and overpriced to me. I’d prefer better filters, proper customer service, or an actual appeals process over a fancy badge- but that’s just me.

If you’re interested in actionable advice on how to improve your dating profile, feel free to make an appointment and I’ll get you sorted.

Cheers,
Chloe