Tinder Debuts New Matchmaking Feature
Contributed by: kellyseal on Monday, October 30 2023 @ 10:34 am
Last modified on Monday, October 30 2023 @ 11:03 am
Tinder has unveiled a new feature that lets friends and family choose your matches for you.
According to The Verge[*1] , Tinder Matchmaker lets users invite their loved ones and trusted friends to view and recommend potential matches, regardless of whether they are on Tinder themselves. How it works: users can start a Matchmaker session via a profile card or in the settings of the app, where they can create a link to share with up to 15 friends and family members. Matchmakers can either login if they are Tinder users themselves, or continue as a guest.
There is a time limit for sharing opinions! The invited matchmakers have only 24 hours to recommend profiles before the link expires. Then the Tinder user can look through the match list, where profiles will be marked as a “recommendation” for those who liked a particular match. (Those rejected profiles won’t be marked at all, and will remain in the running for the user to ultimately decide if they are interested.)
Tinder has also incorporated some boundaries: friends and family cannot message potential dates on behalf of the user who invited them – whether they pursue the recommended match or not is strictly up to the Tinder user.
Asking friends and family for input on a date isn’t new, but incorporating it into the dating app platform is an interesting move by Tinder. According to the company’s press release[*2] , over 75 percent of singles they surveyed said they discuss their dating lives with friends multiple times a month.
“For years, singles have asked their friends to help find their next match on Tinder, and now we're making that so easy with Tinder Matchmaker," said Melissa Hobley, Chief Marketing Officer at Tinder, in a statement. “Tinder Matchmaker…helps you see the possibilities you might be overlooking from the perspective of those closest to you."
Tinder partnered with rapper Coi Leray to help promote the feature with a new video highlighting how it works. LeRay said in the press release: “Handing your phone over to the friend group was the original vibe check. Obviously you want your friends to like whoever you’re crushing on, and Tinder Matchmaker is a fun way to get the bestie seal of approval even before the match.”
Tinder Matchmaker is available now in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Vietnam, and will be rolling out to Tinder users globally in the coming months.