Tinder Is Introducing In-App Videochats

Tinder, one of the most popular dating apps, has announced that it's getting ready to add a new in-app feature for video chats. From now on, after having selected the profiles one is interested to meet, it will be possible to virtually meet on a video chat 1-1. This new function has been confirmed by the parent company Match Group and will be released by the end of the year. 

It's a huge step for the app: maybe it's the biggest innovation since it first entered the market, given that the only video contents on the app have been limited to gifs. This new feature will allow to not get loose into the eternal loop of messages with no answer, but it will also help Tinder to face all the problems of harassments, abuse and un-requested “dick pics” that made it sometimes an uncomfortable place. Last year, in fact, online sexual harassment have doubled: as we're just coming out of the controversy around revenge porn on Telegram, Tinder's headquarters admit that some known sex offenders use the free version of the platform without any regulation. Tinder is hoping that offensive content will be much harder to share on video than via text messages. 

For now, there are no further details, but the fact that Tinder is going this direction says a lot about its recent growth. In the past few months, Tinder set a new record for its daily swipe-ups (in case you're still pretending to not know how it works, the word “swipe” refers to all the profiles selected or rejected by users): compared to the last week of February, in the month of April women users under the age of 30 increased their daily average swipes by +37%, whilst the average number of daily messages sent across all of its products, (including ok Cupid, Match.com and Hinge) was +27% higher, and for users under the age of 30, it was +35% higher. For all those who weren't lucky enough to spend their quarantines with their partners, sexting became the most important way to fulfil their needs. 

While the world gets ready to enter what in Italy has been called the "Phase 2", Match Group headquarters don't show any worries. "We are confident that demand for human connection will never dissipate and remain committed to fulfilling that need”, the company said in a statement. “This period of social isolation would have been much harder for single people – who no longer have other avenues to meet and connect such as bars and concerts – if not for our products.”