Have you ever seen a gold diamond icon on a profile picture while browsing Tinder? Did you see the diamond icon at the top of your Tinder browsing screen? If so, you’ve probably wondered what you’re looking at. The answer is that these icons are part of it. Tinder’s “Top Picks” program. In this post, I will explain how Top Clicks works.
The Top Hits feature became available in the summer of 2018, and for a while it was completely limited to Tinder Gold subscribers. The feature was first run as a trial to see how it failed among users and was rolled out to Tinder users in the UK, Germany, Brazil, France, Canada, Turkey, Mexico, Sweden, Russia and the Netherlands, and then the US and worldwide.
Tinder’s Top Picks
So what is Tinder Top Picks and what can it do for you? This is another premium service offered by the app. The way it works is quite simple. Every day, the spinning supercomputers at Tinder Global HQ review all potential matches in your area and use it to select an algorithm from among 1 to 10 people that the algorithm thinks fits your profile particularly well. If you tap the diamond icon at the top of your browsing screen, the Tinder app displays the day’s matches in a grid of 2×2 smaller profile cards. You can then look at the profiles (in full size) and do the usual left-right-up swap decision dance. If you see a diamond on someone’s profile while browsing normally, it simply indicates that that person is one of your Picks for the day.
In the past, only Tinder Gold subscribers could see diamonds; it was part of the elite-only experience and the common public did not have access to the Top Picks feature. But now, the powers that be at Tinder have decided to give the little folks a scrap.
Starting in May of 2019, regular Tinder users got the diamond icon at the top of their screen and can look at their Top Picks just like nobles. We can look at profiles as much as we want. That said, we only get one swipe per day – you can pick one of your Top Picks and swipe over them, but after that, it just looks… still of course, Tinder will be happy to sell you access to Tinder Gold so you can swipe all your Top Picks every day.
How Does the Algorithm Work?
So how does the algorithm work? Do powerful supercomputers run facial analysis programs on our profile photos and perform deep analysis to reconstruct our genetic code, then match us with the people who will become our super-cute children? No, that would be pretty cool though. The algorithm doesn’t have much to go on, especially your bio.
Essentially, Top Picks scans your bio and searches for specific keywords. These keywords are then used to assign you a tag such as “Creative”. The matchmaking program then finds other users in your region and age range with the same tag(s).
According to the Tinder rumor mill, the algorithm also analyzes your past scrolling patterns and uses that information to find out what type of people you are most interested in. For example, if your age range is set to 30-45 but left to people over 40 if you swipe all the time, the algorithm will eliminate people over 40 from your Most Preferred people. It is not known exactly which things the algorithm analyzes.
The challenge with Top Picks seems to be that our bios don’t provide much information and most of them are unreliable. If I write in my bio how I hate mountain biking, the algorithm will only see “mountain bike” and put me in the “Cyclist” tag. I’ve been looking through my Top Picks for a few days now and I don’t see any particular pattern that suggests these people would be a good match for me. The main benefit of Top Picks seems to be those who want to shorten your swipe a bit or swipe right a few people each day and leave the rest in the match queue.
Using Tinder Top Hits
Anyone can check out their Top Picks and even swipe one Pick a day, but only Tinder Gold subscribers can swipe anyone. Here’s how to use the Top Hits feature:
- Open Tinder and select the diamond at the top of the Discovery screen.
- Browse through the selections and swipe left or right as you see fit.
- Expect Top Picks to refresh daily (you can also purchase additional picks if you’re a Gold subscriber).
If you see the diamond icon on a Tinder profile, that person is among your Top Picks. This much.
One last thing you should know about Tinder Picks is that they are time limited. They refresh every 24 hours, so if you find one you like, swipe right on it. Depending on how large your repository is, they’ll probably reappear in normal rotation, but if you live in a place with a lot of users, this may take a while. This time limit encourages users to be proactive and engage with Tinder. The more we use the app, the happier Tinder gets.
Other Tinder Icons Announced
Just like Snapchat and other social media or dating sites, one of the easiest ways to convey simple information is to use symbols. Be it emojis or icons, the app developers took the idea and worked with it across several platforms.
It’s no different than Tinder. There are several icons with different meanings, so let’s review others you may have seen as you scroll.
- Purple Lightning – You get one of these for free every month and it increases your presence in your area.
- Green Heart – This means you like a profile.
- Yellow Heart – Another user using Tinder Gold liked your profile.
- Blue Star Icon – This means you are “Super” like someone. It serves to attract their attention.
- Red ‘X’ – You didn’t like this profile, so you chose to dislike it and it resulted in a red ‘X’.
Have you had good or bad experiences using Tinder Picks? Share them with us in the comments below!
