What kind of work goes into running a matching app? (Customer support, ad placement, and user management)

Since it's probably tough to read super serious paid articles every time (lol), this time I'd like to answer the question,“What exactly is going on behind the scenes of a matching app?”that many of you might have.

“Isn't AI doing it all automatically?”
“You guys must be bored, right?”

People often think things like that, but in reality, it's a series of gritty, manual tasks...
So, I'd like to introduce the real-life work content of the “behind the scenes of a matching app” as told by a former administrator.

1. User Management (also known as patrol duty)

This is the main part of the job. We are constantly patrolling so that everyone can use the app with peace of mind.

■ Profile photo screening This is the task of comparing “identity verification documents” with “selfies.” While AI detection has been introduced for this, it is often ultimately checked by“human eyes.” When you look at hundreds or thousands of photos a day, you start to see all sorts of things.

• “Debating whether to reject this because the room in the background is too messy”

• “Clearly a photo of a different handsome guy (you can tell immediately because the image quality is poor)”

• “People who, for some reason, upload group photos without cropping them”

• “People trying to upload nude photos (rejected without question!)”

And so on... We also monitor users who exhibit suspicious behavior.

The system detects users who send a large number of “likes” in a short period or repeatedly send the same message via copy-paste (highly likely to be scammers or spam), so we make the decision on whether to“BAN (forcefully withdraw)”them.

It's truly a job like being the “police within the app.”

2. Customer support (a place where your mental strength is forged)

This is the task of responding to SOS calls from users.

“Nice to meet you! I don't know how to use this.”

We welcome cute questions like that, but many of the inquiries that come to management are...

“Why can't I get a match!” (angry)

inquiries of that nature.

Some users get angry, saying, "I'm paying for this!" but as the operator, I think to myself, "You haven't written anything in your profile... and your photo is still just a passport-style headshot..." while sending them polite advice.

Other tasks include,

• "There's a weird person here!" (Reporting)

• "I was verbally abused in a message"

• "I was stood up"

and other such reports. Since I have to listen to both sides of the story, I feel like a judge. Honestly, this is the most mentally draining part of the job.

Sometimes users ignore their own behavior and keep insisting, "The other person is at fault!" but the operations team can check all conversation logs... so that kind of thing is found out immediately (lol).

Other inquiries include campaign support, payment processing... I thought of this and that, but there's no end to it, so I'll save that for another time.

3. Ad placement (spending money like water)

Many of you probably found out about the app through web or social media ads, right? Creating and managing those ads is also an important part of our job.

■ The battle of the creatives (images) We endlessly test "what kind of image gets clicked?" Actually, "slightly amateur-looking, relatable photos" often have a higher click-through rate than "photos of super cute models."

■ A presentation battle for catchphrases
Some ads prioritize text over images. "I want to express X within Y characters." "What words can we use that push the boundaries of the regulations?" "What kind of words will stick in people's minds forever?" Heated meetings are held in the conference room, debating this and that.

■ Budget management
We are constantly calculating the "Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)" for each new member. Since we manage advertising budgets ranging from millions to tens of millions of yen per month, a mistake in the numbers can be a huge disaster. It's high pressure, but the thrill when the number of members increases as planned is addictive.

■ Summary: The operations team is also made of "humans"

Now that I've written it all out, don't you think it's surprisingly a job with a human touch?

On the other side of the screen, there are "real people" checking profiles with bloodshot eyes to support wonderful encounters, resolving various inquiries, and staring down advertising budgets.

If you ever have any trouble with the app, please remember that there is a human on the other side of the inquiry form... the staff would be moved to tears (lol).

I'll keep writing these behind-the-scenes stories from time to time!