Techie Niket Biswas tells you how it's done on Tinder: if you want more matches, get your profile up with a Keynote presentation
Niket Biswas
Niket Biswas
If dating seems like a lot of work these days, then Niket Biswas, 30, has something to tell you. For all of us who are part of the swipe-dating generation, finding a match to have a second drink with, let alone walk down the aisle with, seems like finding a needle in a virtual haystack. Biswas, who works with Facebook News in New York, has a Tinder profile that gets more direct messages and right swipes — 10 times more matches than the average user. If you are jealous, then here is his Tinder secret: a Keynote presentation.
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Biswas's Tinder profile is a set of presentation slides, at least the kinds that were popular in the early 2000s, pitching for love rather than business. In one of his slides, for instance, he gives you reasons why you should swipe right. There is a graph (pic on left) tracing his trajectory of growth in lovability, cuteness and hand-eye coordination from 1986 to the present. In another slide, where he cradles a puppy, he lists the perks of dating him: "Overcommits to Halloween. Enjoys steak and Herradura. Chews with mouth closed". He also got exes to write testimonials for him.
"Online dating is like Times Square — you are just one more homogenous blip blending into a crowd of thousands. I've been on and off online dating for the last seven years and eventually people's profiles blur," says Biswas. If every man gets three minutes or less on Tinder before a woman decides to swipe right or left, then Biswas knows he has to stand out. So, one night, back home from a date at 2 am, Biswas fired up Keynote and was done in a couple of hours. "There are plenty of good-looking people and it's really tough to stand out with photos alone. The paradox of choice is all around us and dating is no exception," he explains.
The attention his profile got led stand-up comedian, Sanjay Manaktala to quip on social media that only a techie could crack this. Being an engineer at heart — Biswas graduated from the University of Texas at Austin — he says he did what came naturally to him.
Previously, Biswas's profile on Tinder was more conventional, the same as most of us do it with headshots and photos of us doing "fun, cool things". Now, Biswas not only gets more matches but they are also from women who seem smarter and "edgier" than those he previously matched with. "It's easy to think it's just a numbers game in a city like New York or San Francisco but quality trumps quantity. At the end of the day, you're spending your life with one person. I guess I'll report when I'm not single anymore, but I went on my first date last night since putting up my new profile and I'll say I'm optimistic," he says in an email response on Friday.
Biswas's friends, he tells us, point out that he is probably scaring away people who think it's just weird to have a presentation style profile. But, Biswas counters that his unique profile has helped weed out those who just don't get the humour behind it. And, a man who puts some effort into his Tinder profile — says something about him, doesn't it?
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