Tech
Tinder may soon offer conversation prompts and tools to narrow down matches
Match Group wants your swiping experience to be a little more meaningful.
Dating apps can be awful but Tinder is trying to change that. Parent company Match Group's CEO Mandy Ginsberg, who recently announced she was stepping down, shared her vision for the dating app and lightly touched upon the new features Tinder will get in the future.
Poignant prompts — Perhaps the most interesting update Tinder users might see in the future is more social engagement options. Soon Tinder users might see social prompts, similar to what is available on Bumble and Hinge, where you are asked about life goals, important social causes, risks you've taken, adventures, and more. It doesn't guarantee the best dates ever but it makes swiping a little more meaningful.
What's around the corner — Tinder is likely to introduce enhanced filtering options, according to TechCrunch. Although it's presently unclear what this filter expansion will look like, it could be similar to Bumble's new filter feature that lets you search beyond age, distance, and height (which seems to be a controversial phenomenon). On Bumble, you can refine your potential sweetheart crowd by selecting your choice of political alignment, physical activity routine, zodiac sign, whether they want kids or not, if they want something serious or casual, and more.
It's difficult to say if these hyper-specific filter options lead to exceptionally positive dating experiences, but they certainly give users a degree of say in who appears on their screen. Other features include photo verification for authenticating users. Once your photo is verified, you will have a blue checkmark on your avatar.
"We’ll be introducing features to give members more control over their experience," Ginsberg said during Match Group's Q4 2019 earnings call. "Tinder U is an example of this type of feature, where we enable users to limit their matches only to other college students. It was well-received, particularly with female users. We believe there’s an opportunity to introduce both free and paid features to enhance the experience."