Match Launches New 72 Hours Feature

Image: Match

Dating app Match has launched a new feature called 72 Hours, aiming to get people off the app and into a real-life date by creating a time-limited online event. The app will gather participants in close proximity and help them connect.

The time-sensitive feature will be a weekly in-app experience. Users who participate will be able to select profiles on a map and start conversations (with a nudge to make weekend plans) before the 72 hours is up. The map will limit options to 15 potential matches, but users can adjust age and location filters to find profiles that are further away, according to Tech Crunch.

Participants will only have the 72 Hours to message potential matches, and after that, their messages will disappear. (Match will also provide a countdown to remind users the clock is ticking.)

App users can sign up between Monday and Thursday, and the event begins every Thursday at 4pm in their local time zone and ends Sunday at midnight, according to Tech Crunch.

The new feature comes on the heels of the company’s marketing campaign aimed at older singles looking for “mature” and long-term relationships, rather than hookups. Match is doubling down on this campaign with 72 Hours, helping singles get to the date faster instead of wasting so much time on messaging that goes nowhere.

How to use 72 Hours feature on the Match dating app.

Image: Match

According to the company’s press release, the move was inspired by the Singles in America study the company conducts each year, where researchers found that 64 percent of singles felt burned out with their dating lives.

"Singles are fatigued with dating apps; they are seeking real, meaningful connection," said Dushyant Saraph, General Manager of Match, in the press release. "As the iconic brand that changed the way we date, we want to take on daters' frustrations and improve the dating app process."

There have been similar “timed” features on dating apps including Tinder, which rolled out two seasons of “Swipe Night” where users can participate together in an interactive game during specific times, encouraging more communication. Bumble has also launched a speed dating feature that happens on its app every Thursday between 7 and 8pm, where you get to video chat with potential matches for up to three minutes before meeting the next one.

The 72 Hours feature will launch mid-June in New York before it rolls out to the rest of the country over the coming months, according to Match.