What Direction Do You Swipe on Tinder?

On Tinder you swipe right to Like someone and swipe left to pass. If the person you Liked Likes you back, it is a Match, and the two of you can chat. Tinder's help center calls the pass a Nope. To send a Super Like instead, tap the blue star icon while you are viewing someone's profile.

Right means yes. Left means no.

Tinder's help center describes the pass as a Nope, and the same directions apply on the Likes page, where you swipe left to dismiss a profile or swipe right to match. So once you have learned the two directions, they work the same wherever you meet them in the app.

A Match is mutual. You Liked her, and she Liked you back.

That is why swiping right on a woman promises you nothing. It only opens the possibility that she will also swipe right when she sees you.

A Super Like is a stronger way of saying yes. Instead of swiping right, you tap the blue star icon while viewing someone's profile.

It is a deliberate act, and it stands out from an ordinary Like. Use it rarely, on a woman you would really like to meet, and not as a habit.

Tinder subscribers can use Rewind, the yellow arrow icon on the main screen, to take back their last Like, Nope or Super Like.

It is useful for the swipe you made by accident, such as a flick of the thumb that sent a woman you liked into the left pile. It is not a way to reverse decisions you made on purpose.

Knowing the direction is the easy part. The harder part is deciding which way to go on each card, and that is where results come from.

a dating coach's advice is to be selective. When he talks about how the apps work, he says that swiping right on everyone makes the app read you as unselective. In his view, an app with no sense of your taste has little reason to show you the women you actually want. His point is that automatic or careless right swipes cost you, even if they feel efficient.

So read each card. Look at her pictures and what she wrote, and swipe right on the women you would honestly be glad to meet.

The same logic runs in reverse. When a woman looks at your photos, she is making a quick decision in much the same way.

My observation is that your first photo can decide whether she looks any further. A man can have an excellent write-up, but if the first photo turns her off, she swipes left before she reads a word of it. He also points out that you are judged on your worst photo, so a single bad one can pull down several good ones.

That makes photos the part of the swipe you control. Choose a first photo that shows your face clearly, and remove any photo you cannot explain.

A match is where your effort starts. Send the first message quickly, and make it about something specific on her page. A greeting gives her nothing to answer, while a line about a detail she mentioned does.

Do not let matches pile up unanswered. A short, active list of women you care about is easier to keep alive than a long one.

Give your swiping a fixed amount of time and attention. Sit down with a few minutes, read each card, and like only the ones you would be glad to meet. Then message your matches before you start another round.

If your matches are few, the cause is rarely the direction. It is usually the photos or the first message, and those are free to fix.

Knowing which direction means yes is easy. Plenty of men still swipe right on nearly everyone, because it feels like buying more chances. It works against them in two ways. Their list fills with women they have no interest in meeting, and the app learns nothing useful about what they like.

A smaller number of right swipes, each one chosen, leaves you with matches you will actually answer. That is a better use of the same few minutes.

Right to Like, left to pass, the blue star for a Super Like, and the yellow arrow to Rewind if you subscribe. Match only happens when you both swipe right, so choose your swipes carefully, and give her a reason to swipe right on you.