Introduction
Have you ever wondered why those dates you matched with on Tinder never turned into anything much after the first date? Graph theory can be used in analyzing dating. Many people agree that having large networks is very important when finding that right person. However, having dense networks is just as important. When analyzing dating site networks graphs, we find that many rules of graph and network theory applies. When we take a normal man, Bob, on the platform. If Bob sees many women, we can see that when you have just a weak link with all of them, since these are just disparate edges. This is shown in the graph below where Bob is the blue and the women are the surrounding red dots. These connections are much more likely to be broken, and Bob is much more likely to remain single, as these red dots can easily fracture with each other.
Analysis
Strong triadic closure occurs when you have a strong tie from one node to 2 other nodes in a graph, then the 2 other nodes must also be connected. It is clear that this graph lacks strong triadic closure. The more Strong triadic closure in a social graph, the better the connections and the more social bonding will occur. The opposite can be said; lower triadic closure is linked with worse quality connections and more loneliness. This is especially true of dating. When finding a date online, your date will not know all your other dates, and most likely will not introduce you to her other relationships since she most likely does not know you that well. This will cause a much harder time for you to find that special someone.
However, if these women are introduced to Bob through friends and mutual connections, you have a much higher success rate. Since these links are all connected, you have a much stronger connection among them and they are more likely to stay together, since they all know each other. This second graph is much more stable and less likely to fracture compared to the first part. This is shown in the plot below.
Conclusion
Thus it is evident that the way to go is to find a date through your friends and their social connections since mutual friends usually are much more connected and shows greater clique-iness than dating apps. The lesson from this is to introduce your date to family and friends to cement the relationship and cause less fracturing of the relation.
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