Tinder, the world’s largest dating app with more than 26 million daily users, launched Tinder Social on Thursday–a new feature that enables groups of friends to connect with other groups and make plans to meet for the night for a group activity.
“Tinder Social is designed to make it as easy as possible to plan your night, get out into the real world and meet new people,” said Sean Rad, CEO and co-founder of Tinder. “The new feature takes the Tinder experience to a new level, offering our users more ways to expand their social circles and interact with potential matches. We believe it’s the ultimate tool for planning your next adventure.”
To access the new feature, Tinder users will first need to update to the latest version of the app. A notification will appear asking users to opt-in in order to unlock Tinder Social. Users can also activate the feature via the Settings menu. Users will then need to create a group by selecting a group of anywhere from one to three friends from a displayed list of their Facebook friends who have also decided to opt-in
Once the group is formed, members can assign a status for their group and select from a variety of suggested activities, such as “watch the game with us” or “happy hour, anyone?” Group members can also view other groups their Facebook friends have created and can swipe left (if not interested) or right (if interested) on groups and individuals who are also looking to go out. If a member swipes right on a particular group, the two groups can then meet up for a social outing together.
In order to spur groups to actually meet when they are matched, Tinder Social groups will expire the next day and any matches will disappear.
Those interested in trying out Tinder Social should be aware that their Facebook friends will know they are using the dating app, which could potentially pose a problem for those who wish to keep their dating status anonymous.
Since launching in 2012, Tinder has changed the dating game worldwide via its simple, sleek app design where users can easily link to their Facebook account and within seconds, the app’s algorithm feeds them endless photos of potential matches located in their area. Today the dating app has more than 50 million users in 196 countries and has matched more than 11 billion people.
Despite the app’s undeniable success, over the years Rad has been working on ways to push Tinder’s utility beyond dates but without affecting its core matchmaking feature. “We want to expand our membership and use case–create another way to use Tinder even if you’re in a relationship,” said Rad.
Hence, the dawn of Tinder Social.
“Tinder has changed how people meet one-on-one. But we also meet new people by going out with our friends—the best nights with our friends are the ones when you stumble upon another group and make new connections,” Rad said in an interview with Forbes Magazine. “With Tinder Social, I can say that I’m going out, what I’m looking to do and who I’m going out with. It lets you know what cool things people are doing and makes the evening much more interesting.”
Tinder Social is the company’s first product launch since buying networking app Humin in March 2016 with the intent of expanding beyond the dating realm.
As of July 21, Tinder Social is now available in the U.S., U.K., India, and select countries around the globe.
Sources: Forbes, The Next Web, Tinder Blog Post
