Average woman in the US is 5'4", and if a guy pads their 5'9" to 6'0", she might not notice unless she is specifically paying attention. However, to the 5'10" woman, there’s a big perceptual difference between talking to someone who’s 2" taller than you and someone who is 1" shorter than you, and it’s not something you even pretend to not notice. (I was a bit shocked to learn that some 5'9" men had the audacity to put 6'0" on dating profiles. Like, 5'9" is average. It’s not even short, to begin with.)
I'm more interested in finding someone I'm compatible with than getting the most possible matches.
I agree it's stupid, but I suppose the name of the game from the male perspective is to (at least appear to) be above average.
Honesty is the best policy, but I can't help but be curious about what online dating would be like if everyone was in fact honest? Most people are average, by definition, yet selective pressure in dating is for everyone to seek out those that are better than average, even though they themselves may not meet that lofty goal.
I can be sympathetic to the reasoning where men feel like that’s the name of the game, but (as the saying goes) it’s a stupid game, and if you play it, you win stupid prizes.
Someone who lies about their height to puff themselves up, to a typical observer, will appear to be insecure. Like, that’s the kind of insecurity you’d see exaggerated in a sitcom to make people laugh! My observation is that people who build build good relationships don’t ask for this kind of external validation, they don’t try to appear impressive to complete strangers, instead, they meet somebody and leave the platform. If your goal on Tindr is to “win Tindr” (which seems to be some people’s goal), your behavior is going to keep landing you back on the platform, where you “win”, instead of landing you in a relationship.
But, wow, the audacity to claim a 3"+ difference? That's ballsy.