The algorithm does not love you, and the algorithm does not hate you, and the algorithm does not feel anything at all, and that is the part that breaks people. A machine that felt spite toward you would at least be paying attention to you, but the truth is crueler than that. The machine does not know your name, does not care about your hobbies, and does not have a favorite person, and it ranks you the way it ranks a piece of inventory.
This hilarious book is a case file on that indifference, written by someone who has spent years on the apps, kept receipts, and documented every behavior. The premise is simple, and you have probably suspected it for years. You have a score, and you have never seen it, and the score decides who gets to see you, who you get to see, and almost everything about your romantic life except the part where you actually meet someone.
The apps will never show you the score, because showing you the score would let you play the game honestly, and a blind player is a hopeful player, and a hopeful player is a paying player. With a comedic eye and a stack of hard evidence, this book walks you through the invisible score, the fresh account glow, the match that never was, the daily pick, the rose economy, the timing game, the profile autopsy, the conversation desert, the sudden silence, the feedback button, the infinite deck, the return of the unmatched, and the delete and reinstall cycle that every user knows too well. You will learn why the algorithm does what it does, why the silence after a great conversation is not personal, and why the machine is not your therapist no matter how many matches it gives you.
If you have ever been left on read 400 times, deleted an app and reinstalled it within 24 hours, or wondered why the machine that decides who you deserve seems to have it out for you, this laugh-out-loud book will make you feel understood and maybe a little less alone.
