Tinder: Sleazy dating app or innovative meet up tool?

Have you heard about Tinder? It is the hot new app that all the young and fancy-free are using. In my group of friends all of those who are not married or coupled up get a kick out of Tinder. So what is it?

It is a location-based app which shows all the fellow singles in your area. Basically you can logon and see who is nearby. Here’s the trick, you can see their profile picture and anonymously tick or flick them.

If you tick them and they happen to like you back then Tinder makes the introduction and lets you chat within the app. There is no biography, no life story, favourite movie, hobbies, or star sign, it is all about the photo.

So it is a very superficial form of speed dating. If someone doesn’t like the way you look then you have no chance.

Globally Tinder has said they have created over 500 million ‘matches’. Now don’t get this mistaken with long-term relationships, Tinder is all about the ‘hookup’. So on face value Tinder can look a little unromantic, creepy and superficial.

However, the creators of Tinder are trying to shake their image of being the ‘hookup’ app for the under 30s and fast adding some new features to encourage wider use.  The first is Matchmaker that allows you to connect two friends with an introductory note and hopes that it can be used for non-romantic purposes, for example seeing who is nearby and interested in Tennis etc.

The photo will still remain prominent, it will be interesting to see if and how the app can evolve.

Hearing from those who have used Tinder (almost solely my single male friends) they report it is a little bit of fun, but don’t take it very seriously. For many of my single female friends they have been a little curious and tried it but found it to be disappointing and sleazy full of males looking for a ‘hook-up’ rather than a relationship.

In theory Tinder sounds good and is a way for time poor people to quickly scan their local area to see possible matches, but is disappointing in delivery. But for some perhaps it suits their needs right now…

I am keen to hear what you think about this App. Would you be interested in the evolution of this app and using it to find friends (of the non sexual kind) in your local area?