There is a natural gap between nerve impulses and long-term attraction. Experiments conducted by Charit Medical University in Berlin showed that when users made a 0.5-second decision on the smash or pass interface, the activation intensity of the amygdala was 3.2 times that of a regular appointment, but this neural excitement declined by 87% within 240 hours after a physical meeting. The key issue lies in the algorithm’s excessive reliance on the visual dimension: In 2024, the journal Interpersonal Science analyzed 5.3 million contract meeting data and confirmed that the correlation coefficient between the initial photo attractiveness score and three-month relationship satisfaction was only r=0.19 (far lower than the r=0.43 for the sense of humor match).
The matching conversion rate reveals the limitations of the screening mechanism. Data from the Japanese LINE platform shows that among users with a 6.7% success rate in online mutual selection, only 38% switch to in-person meetings, and the proportion of those who interact continuously for more than three weeks drops to 12%. The main bottleneck lies in the lack of dimensions: The 12 facial features on which the algorithm’s recommendation is based (such as the mandibular Angle of 117±8°) account for less than 15% of the importance in actual dates, while the dynamic elements ignored by the algorithm (such as the resonance intensity of the sound spectrum in the 500-800Hz range) have been confirmed to affect 52% of the establishment of intimacy.
Successful cases rely on in-depth interactive design innovation. The American Hater application (based on common aversion matching) has developed a “Decision tree hole” mechanism. When both users select “smash” for three consecutive rounds, the system pushes customized ice-breaking topics based on MBTI personalities (such as “The 5 Questions INFJ Most Wants to Ask”). This feature increases the proportion of users exchanging contact information to 71%. The analysis of Korean SSAM couples shows a greater possibility of deep transformation: After completing 15 rounds of theme games (such as movie character debates), the rate of achieving a real relationship between the two sides is 24%, which is three times that of the control group.
Ethical risks are concentrated on the compression of cognitive dimensions. Research tracking in “Network Psychology” shows that users who are accustomed to making quick decisions within 0.8 seconds experience “attention filtering bias” during physical dates – overly focusing on visual details such as the deviation of the nose tip (the actual acceptable range is 2.4mm), resulting in a 63% rate of missing important non-visual signals (such as emempathy language occurrence frequency > 2.5 times per minute). The new regulations of the European Union in 2024 mandate that matching platforms mark “This score ignores 90% of your true charm.”
Data proves that sustainable relationships need to break through the algorithmic framework. The University of Cambridge tracked 1,200 couples and found that for those initially matched through smash or pass, after introducing the “dynamic trait weighting algorithm” (such as increasing the weight of humor by 5% each month), the six-month retention rate rose from 21% to 39%. The real breakthrough comes from the physical design of the Dutch platform Relink – guiding users matched by the algorithm to the cooperative coffee shop, and creating a safe contact scene through environmental design (with a table spacing of 92cm to enhance privacy and background noise controlled at 55 decibels), ultimately achieving a secondary invitation rate of 73% after the first meeting.