This past year, social applications and networks have enabled everyone to get closer and stay in touch. Our social ties have been put to the test and digital has been a perfect tool to compensate for our lack of interaction. However, meeting new people is even more difficult than maintaining relationships. In this article we will discuss the strengths and limitations that have allowed Tinder in its quest to meet love in its 16m2. What exactly does the Tinder dating scene look like at the time of the coronavirus?
Tinder, the comeback
Tinder is a meeting application present since 2012 in the digital ecosystem. The application has more than 340 million downloads worldwide.
Today, 6 million users are registered and active.
The number was down before the lockdown but is now growing again.
According to its latest quarterly report, its registration growth is 28% – and its revenues have increased by 31% compared to last year.
And the application doesn’t intend to stop there by continuing to innovate for the benefit of its users.
“Face to face”: the new containment functionality
A new feature has been developed in recent months. It may seem simple but it turns out to be a real problem for the application. Video calls will be implemented.
Why not before? Because with the coronavirus the habits have changed, video calls have become a formality whether it is in the classroom, with friends, family, professionally… We have realized the importance of a face to capture more intimate information. And most importantly, when it is impossible to meet physically, video calls become much more interesting.
To avoid overflows like on chatroulette, Match Group (owner Tinder) spoke about the addition of this feature which has been thought over at length, and the group ensures that security has been put first.
Rory Kozoll, Head of Trust and Safety Product Division at Tinder, said: “We are delighted to share with you the fact that our Face to Face functionality is being rolled out to our global community after receiving positive feedback from our members who accessed it early on. This is in addition to our growing list of features designed to keep members safe throughout their dating journey, such as photo verification, security center and our offensive message detection technology”.
How Tinder Ensures Security and Consent
Tinder and Match Group ensure that security and consent are in place.
For this, the new “Face to Face” application will only be activated if both persons wish to do so. If only one of them clicks on the camera button, the other will not be alerted.
A document has been written in which all the deployed functions are revealed. It shows that Face to Face can easily be disabled, that those involved have to accept a set of basic rules, but also that it is possible to send a report to Tinder when a situation has made a user uncomfortable. Tinder has already started testing this feature in a few countries, but this time the deployment is official, and international.
Online date limits
However, a paradox is to be raised.
The goal of the application: that users spend as much time as possible on the application. The platform encourages them to stay there as long as possible because the presence of users is monetized. How then to understand the recommendation “Stay on the app” which has been displayed since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
The goal of the users: to meet one or more partners. Although for a part of the users, the use of Tinder is only limited to online flirting, most of them want to meet in person, especially during a successful match!
It’s interesting to wonder how the application will maintain its activity. There are a few things to consider, such as the free exchange with people from all over the world. A digital marketing challenge is offered to Tinder to link its development to the satisfaction of the user experience.
