Tinder

A woman from Canberra, Australia has been suspended by dating app Tinder for asking too many matches whether or not they registered to vote, so they could receive a ballot to vote on marriage equality.

She originally started asking friends and followers to register to vote over social media, and after many of them did, she took to Tinder to try and engage more people.

According to website Junkee, the woman, known as “Lizzy” reported that a lot of men thanked her for the reminder and were glad she reached out to them to advocate for a worthy cause. One man even shared her message along with the link to the voter registration site to all of his matches.

Meet up on Facebook

Facebook has never made a secret of its desire to dominate almost every aspect of daily life in the digital age.

The company has blatantly swiped features from Twitter, Snapchat, Foursquare, Periscope, and more. It’s also experimented with workplace collaboration tools, the ability to call Lyft and Uber rides in Messenger, and a food delivery feature.

Now the social networking giant has plans to capitalize on the massive online dating market and “borrow” from a Millennial-favourite brand: Tinder.

The new feature is for Messenger and was spotted by Motherboard’s Jacob Dubé, who noted that it was also available to some of his friends in Canada but none of his colleagues so far.

Remember when people wondered if Tinder would ever successfully monetize? Those days seem like a lifetime ago.

The company has released a string of money-making features since its 2012 launch, ranging from Super Like to the premium Tinder Plus membership. The latest to join the line-up is Tinder Gold - an optional, upgradeable tier that allows users to see who swiped right on their profile without swiping right back.

Tinder Gold was released in the United States in late August following testing in select markets around the world. The members-only service offers the app’s most popular exclusive features, including Passport, Rewind, Unlimited Likes, five Super Likes per day, one Boost per month, and more profile controls. It also includes the new Likes You feature, which reveals who’s into you before you swipe.

Animal rights activists are up and arms over the latest Tinder profile craze – posting selfies with large animals, specifically tigers, in an effort to impress potential dates.

PETA sent a formal request to Tinder asking the company to take a more active approach to condemning these photos and to ban tiger selfies altogether, citing that they are exploitative. Tinder responded in kind by posting a blog on its website, asking users to remove these selfies out of respect for other daters.

PETA noted in its letter that the practice is cruel because the tigers have to be caged, tied down or drugged in order to take the photo. Animals used as so-called “photo props” were typically taken from their mothers as babies and subject to abuse. When they grow older, they become too dangerous to handle and end up being locked in cages.

The dating app that started a cultural revolution, at least as far as online dating goes, is changing its focus from swiping - a fundamental part of its technology. Tinder, which made its reputation as a hot-or-not dating app thanks to its innovative swiping function, is now offering more functionality to profile viewing through tapping.

Instead of just swiping through different user profiles, Tinder is offering a deeper look and more functionality and ease to check out a person’s profile before you say yes or no. This includes toggling between a user’s photos and also between photos and written profiles.

Part of the rollout includes a new visual approach. Each profile photo extends to the edges of the phone, giving users a better, cleaner look at a potential match (as well as an even more visual experience). The look is also similar to other visual apps, like Snapchat.

The guys-posing-with-tigers-on-Tinder trope isn't just a played out profile pic, it's a global phenomenon that’s inspired Tumblr, blogs, think pieces, and a scolding letter from PETA. It may now be coming to an end.

To honor International Tiger Day on July 29, Tinder announced it’s taking a stand against photos taken with tigers and other wild animals.

“While most of us are on Tinder to find a soulmate or a date, appearing on the app isn't fun for everyone,” reads PETA’s original letter. “What might, at first swipe, look like a harmless picture actually means that someone was caged, dominated, and tied down or drugged before their photo was taken and uploaded online. If this happened to one of your users on a Tinder date, you'd block the profile of the person responsible immediately. Unfortunately, this is the reality for tigers, lions, and other big cats who are featured in an alarming number of Tinder profile photos.”