Dating sites have been changing people’s lives since the 1990s. More and more couples meet thanks to online services in the 21st century. This allows you to find your soulmate based on interests, hobbies and secure calls regardless of your location. According to various estimates, more than 50 million people in different parts of the world dream of finding their love on social networks. To bring all singles together in one place, IT specialists have created a unique application, Tinder. In addition, learn about the career of the iconic programmer, Steve Wozniak. Read more on la-future.
History of the app
The application was created in Los Angeles. Christopher Gulczynski, Dinesh Moorjani, Jonathan Badeen and Justin Mateen were its co-founders. The company belongs not to them but to the Match Group, which is controlled by IAC. In 2012, the Tinder app appeared. From the very beginning, the app was created as a quick dating service. The main audience of the service is young people from 18 to 25 years old. The American audience was growing rapidly and the company began to enter the international market. A year later, the app could be downloaded on the Android system. This allowed to expand the number of potential users. The most active countries were the UK and Brazil, where the number of users increased by 2% daily. A year later, the app was installed on smartphones of more than 10 million users. This number was constantly growing. During 2014, it reached 40 million users. In 2024, Tinder operates in more than 190 countries around the world.
The app has a paid tariff. The amount of payment depends on the user’s age. For people over 30, the monthly subscription price may be $10 higher. Because of this, a California court accused the app of discriminating against users over 30. The company explained this pricing policy by the fact that young users do not have as much money to pay for the app. The cost of the subscription is affected not only by age but also by gender and place of residence. Despite such strange restrictions, Tinder positions itself as a fighter against discrimination. The app offers more than 35 genders to choose from. Tinder also contributed to the appearance of interracial couples emojis.
In 2017, Asian men were outraged by a Tinder commercial. In the video, a girl flips through photos of candidates and rejects the profile of a guy with Asian appearance. Due to user dissatisfaction, the video was stopped from being used as an advertisement for the app. A company representative apologized for the content that offended a group of people and wished everyone to find love.
In 2023, Tinder launched an elite membership. This subscription costs $499 per month and is called Tinder Select. It includes unique privileges, such as the ability to be visible to a larger number of users, including the most popular profiles, the ability to send direct messages to other users without matching and other VIP-level features. To apply for Tinder Select, users must have at least 4 photos, 5 interests, a biography of at least 15 characters, show an intention to have a relationship and pass photo verification.
What is the secret of success?
From the very beginning, the application was well-thought-out by the developers. They understood that the demand for the service would be able to provide the number of registered girls. The more girls registered, the more guys would be interested in it. To attract users, the team went on a business trip to campuses in different parts of the United States. First, they came to women’s dormitories. They told about the cool new app and offered girls to download it. Then, they went to men’s dormitories and the guys could look at the girls from the neighboring building in the application. Thanks to this trip, the number of registered users exceeded 15 thousand people.
Another key to success was the format of the application. Dating takes place in the format of a game. Everything is very simple: swipe left, swipe right, match, nice bonuses for subscribers of the paid version, secret fans and many other pleasantries. The growth of the application’s popularity was also facilitated by the media, high-quality advertising, clear brand positioning and jungle telegraph. In a short period of time, Tinder became so successful that it overtook Netflix.
Users of the application highlight both the pros and cons of using it. Among the advantages of the application is the acceleration of the dating process and its simplification. Many people respond more easily to online dating than to an acquaintance in the subway, on the street or in a café. Very often, from a description or photo, you can understand what a person wants and for what purposes they are looking for a soulmate. However, according to user reviews, Tinder is not designed to find love. The app instils this mindset. You can hardly go far in a relationship due to it. On the platform, you have access to numerous people but you don’t have the desire to study them deeply. Everything is quite superficial.
Updates to the app
In 2016, Tinder announced a collaboration with the music service Spotify. After this collaboration, the user can create and choose a personal anthem for the account. In the spring of 2020, Tinder management began testing the Concierge function, which helps users improve their profile to attract partners. The price of the services of a personal consultant is $20.
To maintain the safety of users when dating strangers, in some countries, Tinder added a panic button to call the police. When a person sends a signal in the application, they will be asked to enter a special code. If they do not do this, they will receive a message or call from the dispatcher. If the user does not answer or asks for help, the police will arrive at the scene. In 2020, during the pandemic, video calls were added to the application. This function allows you to communicate in an online format. However, a conversation can only be started if the participants have liked each other. Video chat can be turned off at any time.
In 2019, unusual accounts of castles appeared in the application. Lonely Seeks Muse is a project of the Ukrainian charity foundation 12 Vartovykh, which raises funds for the reconstruction of castles in Ukraine.
How to create an account?
Tinder expert Devyn Simone gave advice on how to update your profile to increase your chances of finding a partner. Among her tips:
- add photos that tell about who you are, your interests and hobbies
- the first photo in your profile should be a well-lit photo
- think over your profile description, determine who exactly you are looking for and tell about your interests
- do not add photos with wine bottles, aprons and avoid photos in sunglasses, hats and other accessories that hide your eyes from potential interlocutors
- emphasize your humor and individuality.
Over the past 10 years, the application has managed to become something more than just a dating service. It is looking for employees and sells a wide variety of goods and services. Other companies are trying to replicate Tinder’s experience. However, no one has succeeded yet. The team’s unique work, their ability to anticipate and listen to users have yielded results. They have also helped thousands of lonely hearts find each other.
