SNAP Interactive, creators of Are You Interested, have launched a new dating app called The Grade, which bans “failing singles.”
The Grade, which uses an algorithm to assign letter grades to users ranging from “A+” to “F,” is to create a community of high-quality daters. By expelling low-quality users who receive an “F” grade, The Grade enables users to have a high-quality experience by viewing potential matches without sifting through hundreds of undesirable, inappropriate, and unresponsive people.
Grades are based on entirely objective criteria and are determined by a sophisticated algorithm that analyzes user behavior based on three categories – popularity, responsiveness, and message quality. Users must maintain one of the passing dating “grades,” ranging from “A+” to “D,” while users who are undesirable or behave poorly will receive a failing “F” grade, and will be expelled from using the app. Users are given instructions on how to improve their grades and receive a warning if they fall below a “C” grade.
The popularity grade is based on the quality of a user’s profile and incorporates how often a person is liked on the app. The response rate grade is based on how often a user responds to messages and gets a response back. The message quality grade is based on the content of a person’s messages and checks for spelling mistakes, use of slang, and inappropriate words. The three categories combine to make up a user’s overall grade, which is visible for other users to see.
If you are expelled from The Grade, you can appeal the decision.
“Please explain why we should reconsider your membership for The Grade. The Grade is a place for high quality people looking to meet other high quality people. If your appeal is successfully reviewed, please visit The Grade in 5-7 days and you will be let back in.”
I’d gather that expelled people are pushed to a person somewhere like the Phillipines who then reviews their appeal, and decides whether or not to let them back on the service.
I have to say, I was not impressed that the Appeal process was driven by a mailto: link. Kind of killed the excitement of being banned and trying to get back on.
The Grade is basically Tinder with a report card. I like the direction they went in, but I think there needs to be more transparency into their algorithm that analyzes user popularity, responsiveness, and message quality. Give it a shot and let us know what you think in the comments.
