What Are Search Filters? How Do They Work in Online Dating?

I used to think online dating would make getting a partner easier than ever. You just had to set your goal, set your preferences, set the filter, and voila! Your candidate will be delivered to your inbox.

Well, that’s not really the case.

Online dating filters are a powerful tool for focusing your romantic search. You can find individuals with specific traits in a vast pool of people. Unfortunately, getting matches doesn’t guarantee establishing genuine connections.

In this article, you will learn about the advantages and limitations of search filters in online dating and how to make them work for you. Explore these techniques to refine your online dating strategy and start fresh on your journey to finding love.

It’s good to know what types of search filters you can expect going into online dating. Every dating platform approaches search filters or preference settings differently. The traits daters want vary depending on their intentions, so the search criteria vary from educational background to cup size. 

1. Location

Most people don’t want to see potential matches from different states or countries. The point of getting matches is to meet in person, so you’ll want to set your filter for a convenient distance to travel.

The location filter in online dating apps ensures local singles can find one another.

The location filter on a dating app often tracks your location using your phone. A dating website may ask you to enter a ZIP code or city where you reside manually.

You can set a distance range between you and your potential matches, usually within 10, 25, or 100 miles. The app will then show profiles within your chosen radius.

2. Age Range

Most people prefer to date someone in their age bracket – or perhaps slightly older or younger. That’s why most dating apps have age filters to focus your search on the right demographic.

The age filter is pretty straightforward. When creating your dating profile, you’ll enter your age. The app stores this in its database. Then, you can set the age range you prefer for your potential matches. The algorithm will use your preferences to show only profiles that fit your settings.

3. Gender Identity

Gender identity is a fundamental search filter in online dating. Whether you’re straight, gay, queer, or questioning, the ability to specify your gender identity and the gender(s) you’re hoping to date is essential.

The vast majority of online dating services used to restrict gender options to male or female. But we’ve seen more and more mainstream apps – OkCupid and eharmony come to mind – opening the door to nonbinary gender options to help LGBTQ+ people identify as they choose.

Gender filters can help avoid awkwardness when you talk to your matches. For example, if you’re a lesbian connecting with another woman on a dating app, you can be confident that your match shares your sexual orientation. This is why the LGBTQ+ community favors online dating apps to find dates.

4. Relationship Status

Some people prefer that their future partners have a particular relationship status. For example, not everyone wants to date someone with children or someone who has been divorced.

Due to the sensitivity of this topic, it’s not exactly polite to ask about it on your first coffee date. However, when you use an online dating app, you know someone’s relationship status before you meet in person.

Online dating apps provide various relationship options, such as single, in a relationship, divorced, widowed, and separated. Some platforms also offer more specific statuses for open relationships and married people seeking affairs.

5. Interests and Hobbies

Shared interests and hobbies can strengthen a relationship. If both partners love to travel, planning weekends together becomes more appealing.

On the other hand, if one is a travel junkie while the other is a homebody, the fact that they’ll be spending Saturday nights apart might be a challenge for the relationship.

This is where the interests and hobbies filter comes in handy.

You can list your interests and hobbies on your dating profile by writing them in your bio and sharing some pictures. This way, people can see from the get-go what you do to have fun and if they resonate with your lifestyle.

6. Ethnicity

Whether you prefer to date someone of your ethnicity or don’t mind interracial dating, the ethnicity filter plays a vital role in setting you up for success.

Imagine you’re a Black man who is attracted to white women, but you have to swipe through suggested matches of all races to find your type. That would cost you valuable time. 

Match came under scrutiny in 2020 for having ethnicity filters, but leadership staunchly defended its usefulness as a tool for finding community.

“It’s important to give people the ability to find others [who] have similar values, cultural upbringings, and experiences,” said Match spokesperson Justine Sacco.

Major online dating platforms such as Match, eharmony, Christian Mingle, and Elite Singles have diverse user bases, and ethnicity filters can empower minorities to find one another more quickly.

7. Physical Attributes

Some filters will help you find the type of person you’re attracted to, whether you are into red-haired women or blue-eyed men.

Filters for physical attributes often appear on hookup apps where appearance is top of mind. Each of us likes certain physical characteristics. Online dating filters will help you find attractive people who fit your requirements.

You can set the physical attributes you want in your matches: hair color, eye color, height, or body type. In some cases, you can choose from a list of options or input specific criteria. 

Dating apps tend to hide certain advanced filter tools behind a paywall. These services need to make money, so offering determined users more search options can be an excellent way to increase paid membership signups.

Additional Lifestyle Criteria

To find your person, using only basic filters such as location, gender, and age won’t cut it. That’s why most online dating apps provide advanced filters to refine searches further.

Some advanced filters have options for income level, education, occupation, politics, religion, desire for children, smoking, and drinking habits.

Each app differs in terms of what it considers basic filters and advanced filters. If you have your eye on a particular dating app, install it and check out the available filters to see if they meet your needs.

Paid Customization

Our experts find that most advanced filters are hidden behind a paywall. Before you jump in, you should play around with the basic membership. You can upgrade to become a paid member if you like the features.

Other than lifestyle filter, paid members get perks such as:

Search filters provide a foundation for dating app algorithms to start identifying compatibility. Here’s a breakdown of how they work from a practical standpoint.

Algorithmic Recommendations

Algorithmic recommendations are the secret sauce for making matches in online dating. The super-intelligent computer will process your data to find people who are highly compatible with your profile.

But how does the algorithm get your data?

You’re the one who feeds your data to the system. Through your profile and filter settings, the swiping game you play, and the messages you send to others. A matchmaking algorithm learns from your behavior to give you what you like.

This system works well if you swipe on the app consistently. If you create a profile and then abandon your account, you’ll be stuck with randomly selected matches. 

Less Time-Consuming Browsing

Search filters reduce the time you have to spend browsing through profiles, starting the process of elimination right away.

Imagine you’re a late-30s woman looking to connect with a man between 35 and 40. Your online dating app doesn’t have an age filter, so you would need to swipe through countless profiles that don’t fit your age range. Talk about tedious!

Filters can help narrow down your search to people you’re interested in, allowing you to spend more time on the actual dating part of finding a relationship. 

Balancing Specificity and Inclusivity

You should offer specific date criteria if it is a dealbreaker or dealmaker for you — but we’d caution you not to get too niche. Keep some requirements broad so that your options stay open.

If you set your date criteria too narrow, you might encounter the problem of over-filtering.

Let’s say you’re looking for women who have a degree, love to travel, and have liberal values. Adding too many filter requirements can significantly limit your choices.

Instead, choose one or two filters that are absolute musts, and then check out the bios of any potential matches to see if they align with you. You might be surprised by who you find.

I think we can all agree that online dating isn’t perfect. Sometimes, search filters are helpful, but they may also unnecessarily encumber online daters.

No Chance of Serendipity

If you love romcoms, you might be drawn to the idea of serendipity in love. You know, a moment when you are picking up dry cleaning and run into someone who turns out to be the love of your life. 

That person looks nothing like you’ve imagined, but you just know it’s true happily-ever-after love.

Unfortunately, you won’t find that kind of “it happens when you’re not looking” story with online dating. There isn’t going to be a meet-cute where you bump into each other at the coffee shop. You’re actively, purposefully looking for a match. 

Thanks to powerful filters, everyone you meet on the apps will somewhat fit your dating preferences. There will be little to no element of surprise in your dating journey. This can help you find people you’re likely to be interested in, but can severely limit your options in the long run. 

Biases Against Minorities 

One of the challenges of online dating is following user preferences without upholding discrimination against minorities. This can manifest in many ways, such as racial preferences or stereotypes that affect how people swipe and match online.

The use of racial preferences in online dating is a topic of debate. Some apps avoid ethnicity filters, but the algorithm may still favor certain attractive traits – blond hair and blue eyes, for example – if the user is inclined to swipe right on those types of profiles.

On the one hand, this makes your search more personalized, but it also has the potential to encourage discrimination against certain ethnic groups.

Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers

Have you ever watched a YouTube video, only to be recommended a similar video afterward?

That’s how algorithms work in most apps. They look at content you’ve enjoyed previously, then feed you similar content so that you’ll stay active on the app longer. The same thing applies to online dating.

Using filters, your online profile data, and your pattern behavior on the app, the algorithm creates customized ecosystems according to your liking. This means you’ll see the profiles of people similar to your stated preferences and previous likes.

While filter bubbles may feel comfortable and familiar, you might lose out on a chance to meet someone special just because that person doesn’t fit your predetermined notions of an ideal partner.

If you’re having trouble meeting the right person online, we sympathize. Online dating can be rough at times, so you’d better make sure you’re making the right moves and have the best strategy for success. Here are some tips for the search.

1. Complete Your Dating Profile 

First impressions make a huge difference in social, professional, and romantic settings. Imagine that you go to a job interview wearing wrinkled clothes. Your hair is messy, and your background is cluttered. 

That won’t endear you to any potential employers. They’ll think you don’t care about the job opportunity, so they’ll cut the interview short and look at the next candidate on the list.

First impressions make a huge difference.

The same thing will happen in your online dating experience. If your profile consists of one blurry picture, a one-sentence bio, and incomplete details, people will quickly swipe left on you.

A dating profile with thoughtful descriptions and interesting details will make you stand out. You can showcase your personality in the bio section and photo gallery if you put a little effort and time into it.

2. Change Up Your Filters Often

Filters can be a double-edged sword. They help narrow your search to specific traits and limit your chances of meeting people from various backgrounds. If you don’t use them wisely, you might get stuck in what feels like a time loop of bad dates. Unless you add new information to your filter preferences, you’ll see minimal, if any, variation.  

One effective strategy to avoid this is to change your filters often. A slight tweak in your criteria can reveal promising profiles previously filtered out of the swipe list.

You don’t need to go crazy updating every day or anything. Small steps can make an impact. If you’re looking for a man aged 30-33, changing your age filter to 30-35 can give you enough new profiles to peruse.

Finding someone special through online dating takes time. Enjoy the journey and play around with different filters. This ongoing adjustment will help you discover which combinations yield the best matches.

3. Keep an Open Mind

Online dating filters make it easy to become overly specific about the traits you’re looking for in a partner. That’s not always a good thing. While knowing your preferences is essential, an open mind can significantly enhance your search for love.

Don’t forget that online dating is only one of many ways to meet new people. Keep your options open by hanging out with people in real life. You can pick up a new hobby, join a different gym, volunteer, or join a book club.

Life is about the journey. Enjoy the experience because every day is an opportunity. Make it count!

As we age, it becomes more difficult to meet new people. Our social lives can slow down due to career investments and other life obligations. However, with new dating apps launching constantly, there are plenty of opportunities to find love.

Online dating filters can help you connect with individuals who fit your preferences. However, you must understand the effect of employing this tool and use it wisely. Filters will follow your lead in identifying what you want, but it’s up to you to assess what you need in a potential partner.

Change your filters occasionally and see if your swipe experience starts to shift. Good luck!