Tinder Releases New Features for College Students
Contributed by: kellyseal on Tuesday, October 01 2024 @ 01:42 pm
Last modified on Tuesday, October 01 2024 @ 02:01 pm
Tinder has released new features and added perks in time for college students headed back to campus. The move signals the company’s continued priority to market to younger Gen Z singles.
One interesting perk is that Tinder will offer college students a 50% discount for any of its premium services of Plus, Gold, and Platinum, according to Tech Crunch. This comes after the dating app company has struggled to retain paying users, reporting a loss of 400,000 paying users in the last quarter.
Tinder also announced[*1] a series of updates to Tinder U, its in-app feature for college students to find others on their campuses to connect with. One new feature for Tinder U includes new badges to add to their profiles, such as graduation year, major, clubs they are a part of, and their fraternity/ sorority life.
The new badges replace visuals you see on profiles in the standard Tinder app, such as career title, bios and hometowns. The college-centric badges are intended to provide a more catered experience as well as to help students strike up conversations related to campus life while they are immersed in it, particularly freshman looking to meet people on campus.
Stephanie Danzi, Tinder’s senior vice president of global marketing , told Tech Crunch[*2] : “This is perfect for new users starting Tinder as they get ready for their first week of college.” She added: “It’s a great way to ease those first-day nerves, especially if they don’t know anyone at their new school or are getting used to a new city.”
Tinder is also helping users enroll in Tinder U more easily and navigate it more easily, including with a dedicated Tinder U app for iOS users, according to Tech Crunch. Before, new users had to sign up for Tinder before they could enroll in Tinder U which led to a double sign-up process. Now they can download the app and sign up for Tinder U directly.
One of Tinder U’s most popular perks is Swipe Off, a challenge for students in campuses across the country. The university with the highest percentage of swipe activity during the month of September can win a free concert, paid for by Tinder. In previous years, ASU (Arizona State University) students won free tickets to see a Saweetie concert, and other campuses got to attend concerts with Charlie XCX and Cardi B.
Tinder says that Tinder U’s growth is at 90 percent per year, even as young people are turning away from dating apps. This particular subset of dating app users are the most active when a new semester begins.
“This is the peak time for students to join Tinder. We see the highest influx of new 18-year-old users during freshman orientations,” Danzi told Tech Crunch.