I can't prove it, but dating apps are using dead people

Sometimes when using some alternative and less popular dating apps, I bump into some very old profiles still giving likes. Their photos are low quality, probably taken with a 2012 smartphone. Some of them even have textual references to old stuff, like being against the Brexit 10 years ago.

My guess is that there are thousands of inactive profiles, people just uninstalled the app without deleting the account or simply signing out. Many of those people never used it again, but their profiles and photos are still public and probably active and managed by some kind of AI or bot. Many of those apps are basically dead in some locations, smaller cities, so they need to reuse old accounts. It's not crazy to assume that some of those people in the photos are dead and guys are matching with dead people who won't never answer your messages, just being used as puppets giving likes.

Is anyone here behind a dating app to confirm that this is a normal practice?

I agree with you that there are thousands of inactive profiles that keep appearing from time to time for no reason, but the dating app algorithm works mainly on one thing visibility. So, let’s look at it this way, when there aren’t many active users in your chosen area or where you’re interested, the same profiles will keep appearing until you block or ignore them. Dating apps never delete inactive profiles because it benefits them by showing available users on the platform.

Probably abandoned accounts though some could be intentionally fake profiles.

I don't know about dead people, but surely fake profiles. A ton of them. Maybe even 50% or more.

33. said:

I agree with you that there are thousands of inactive profiles that keep appearing from time to time for no reason, but the dating app algorithm works mainly on one thing visibility. So, let’s look at it this way, when there aren’t many active users in your chosen area or where you’re interested, the same profiles will keep appearing until you block or ignore them. Dating apps never delete inactive profiles because it benefits them by showing available users on the platform.

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Well, yes, the repetition is more obvious when there is low user density. I feel that having inactive profiles helps in making the pool of profiles larger, but at the same time it can be detrimental to the user experience.

james.johna said:

Well, yes, the repetition is more obvious when there is low user density. I feel that having inactive profiles helps in making the pool of profiles larger, but at the same time it can be detrimental to the user experience.

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Indeed one way or another its company benefits to having more and more profiles either active or dead and for them is worth until unless it's real profiles