Technology has helped us accomplish many great things, keeping us from ever getting lost, and keeping us connected to friends. Technology has even made some real advances in the dating scene. One app that has helped the tech dating movement is Tinder, who is trying to make things even easier with a new section of their app called Moments.
Tinder is a dating app that has picked up a lot of speed since it’s debut. The app works by showing you a bunch of users they feel are great matches, and you make the final decision with a swipe. If two people swipe for yes, they are connected by giving them the ability to message each other. So far almost 2 billion people have been matched using Tinder, and that number is just going up.
“Is that a mirror in your pocket? Cause-Selfie!” May not be the pick up line many people use while in a bar, but it’s the first look at someone that usually draws us in. While sitting at a bar, you look across and you see your soulmate-or whatever you see- and you decide you want to strike up a conversation. What happens next relies on your talking skills or maybe just your looks-this has been the way of things for years. Then technology came into the picture, and striking up a conversation was made both easier and harder as it became more dependent on how you look.
A dating profile consists of your likes and dislikes, hobbies and employment, smokes or drinks, almost anything under the sun to help tell a person more about you while they sift through the profiles. If you seemed to be a good match to someone, algorithms in the system would introduce you-kind of like a lazy wingman/woman. However, when it comes to self selecting-let’s be honest-the first thing we looked for was someone we were physically attracted to, or at least as physically attracted we could be to a face picture of someone. That’s the aspect that Tinder is putting their efforts into bettering-if not just making it easier.
Tinder has introduced us to a new tool in their dating app called Moments. Using the front facing camera as the default camera while using this tool, Tinder asks for you to rely on your selfie skills to meet someone new. The way it works is you take a selfie-easy enough. Then you can add text or doodles as an overlay to the image, then post. The new selfie is now visible to your previous matches for 24 hours. While selfies are great, some people prefer to add a bit of personality to their images. So using the doodle or word overlay options are a great way to improve a…not so great selfie. There are other options that you can do, like take selfies in fun locations, add friends, or even that nice new setup you have in your bedroom-that last one is for the edgier more confident crowd. No matter how you look at it, Moments is taking out some of the stress of pick-up lines.
Instead of trying to strike up a conversation with someone based on interest, you can just throw your selfie out into the wild and wait for a response. This means no more fear of being unoriginal (can’t be more original than your face), no more fear of being clever with words (who needs words when you are posting an image?). Just literally be yourself and find someone who is attracted to you. This idea could be looked at as insensitive, but since when has the online dating world been concerned about someones feelings? We like what we like and we shoot down anyone we don’t safely behind a screen. Which with moments, people will need to actually open to see.
The selfies you post in Moments will be available to your previous matches, and for 24 hours, however they need to open that section to see them. Your selfie will not be shown to them without them opening it, so it’s hit or miss if they see it. You will also have the ability to turn this feature off.
Users will have the option to opt out of Moments and they will not be bothered with the section. Although the Tinder team wants you to know that they plan on expanding on this section in the future. Tinder CEO Sean Rad says, “It’s about sharing these moments, and just because you match, doesn’t mean you need to date that person; you could match with a friend whom you want to share a moment with.” Rad continues to say that friendships are also being formed using the dating app. With dating connections and friendships being made Tinder has become a very profitable app.
In April reports came out that showed Tinder’s value at $500 million with 850 million swipes and 10 million matches per day. Which only means that others want a piece. It has been reported that Facebook is working on their own version of the app. Smartphone dating is definitely a new trend, are you riding the wave, or sticking to the old fashioned way? Let us know down below. If you haven’t downloaded the app just yet, feel free to use the Play link below.