Tinder’s Latest Update Will Make It Your New Snapchat
Whether you’re married, single or it’s complicated, we’re willing to bet that the phrase “swipe right” has made it into your vernacular like the “poke” of yore. Tinder has dominated the online dating field over the last two years, reaching 850 million swipes and 10 million matches a day. But even though matches might be walking down the aisle, Tinder has changed way more than just how we date. It’s had a huge impact on apps, too; you can even swipe right for shoes, job applications and dogsitters. Now the app is using the whole “imitation is the best form of flattery” to their advantage, introducing new features in its latest update that might echo other apps and social networks you’ve been swiping in.
Today, Tinder introduced a new, Snapchatty way to share your life with your matches. Capture “Moments” (get it) just like you would self-destructing selfies, except these are meant to be shared with those you’ve been united with by the power of a right swipe. All your matches can see and swipe your moments left (nope) and right (like) and you can flip through theirs, too. Anytime a match likes your photo, you’ll get notified and be able to start the conversation right from that Moment.
The new feature is verrrry similar, yet slightly prettier than Snapchat: You hold down the button to take a picture, have the option to filter it, write on it or draw on it in a rainbow of shades and then it’s ready to share. You don’t get to set the time limit on these, Tinder Moments can only be seen for 24 hours by your matches. So just because your profile pictures might be your best shots from the last five years (admit it!), Moments have to be fresh. Just like real life ones. But that’s part of the point. Instead of agonizing over which side is your better one, Tinder wants you to nab and share Moments when they feel natural and will actually represent who you are outside of the app.
This could get tricky — perhaps you’re going on a first date with a new match and still want to update your Moments… but don’t want them to think you’re a player (I’m not a player, I just swipe a lot<–™). You’ll be able to block users and even report and block their Moments.
This video from their official blog (and not my Tinder fan fic Tumblr) shows #TinderMoments as a group activity, foreshadowing the company’s plans to make your coupled friends a bigger part of your overall experience, more than mutual links on your profile — even you Miss “in a relationship on Facebook.” CEO Sean Rad tells TechCrunch they already witness people using the app for platonic matching to get local recommendations when traveling.
We’re a little skeptical about that (seriously, if I swiped upon a married friend I wouldn’t assume that they were using Tinder in place of Yelp) but there’s also a new option to make your profile go dark in a new Discover mode. There, Rad explains, people can’t see or match with you but you can still chat with existing matches. It still seems like a more appropriate function for those who were already using Tinder for romantic reasons, but we could see that growing. Maybe the Tinder we use in a year will be organized more like chatrooms, where you can pop into different places for different experiences. From A/S/L? to Poke to Swipe Right and back to A/S/L, I guess that’s full circle? Download Tinder or update your app today on iOS and Android.
Are you a Tinder user? What is your experience with the app? Compare notes below!
(Middle pix: TechCrunch)