Tinder: Eliminating Social Barriers

Tinder is a dating app that envisions to eliminate the social barriers involved in making new friends or building up existing ones. Tinder believes that fun and familiar experiences shared advance interactions in real world.

Tinder connects people through swiping. Swiping right means the user likes a person. Swiping left means the user wants to pass on the person. Once someone likes back the user, a match is created. Matches allow chatting with each other. Photos may also be snapped to allow sharing a Moment with all matches at one time.

Using the GPS technology, Tinder finds the user’s location. Then the information contained in the user’s Facebook account is used to create a Tinder profile. To retain the privacy of the user, Tinder does not post anything about Tinder on the user’s Facebook account. Tinder profiles contain only the first name, age, and the user’s photos. Tinder may also display the pages the user has liked on Facebook. Tinder will locate potential matches through parameters like location or age. That’s when the swiping happens.

“Moments” is Tinder’s way of helping its users know each other better. With Moments, a user can send a photo to all his matches for swiping, just like the profiles. The user can chat with whoever likes his Moment. Photos expire after 24 hours, so a “liker” should be quick with swiping to the right.

Tinder is preferred because it is quick and easy. It works like a virtual bar, where liking a party goer happens within minutes. Getting matches may be a little shallow, but that is what happens when one gets attracted with another in a bar. Also, Tinder uses the “mutual friends” function of Facebook. The more common friends a user has with his matches, the better Tinder can work positively for that person. Swiping also limits the embarrassment factor because the user gets to connect someone who has liked him.