Dating App Tinder, Which Has Only Been Out For A Few Months, Has Resulted In At Least 50 Engagements
Hot app Tinder positions itself as more than just a dating app.
But it’s already led to some wedding engagements, Tinder co-founder and CEO Sean Rad tells Business Insider.
Since launching last October, Tinder has generated over 75 million matches at least 50 wedding engagements.
Rad says that engagement number is likely higher, but he’s personally heard of 50 unique instances.
“We started Tinder because we realized there are a lot of tools that help humanity build stronger bonds with the people we already know,” Rad says. “[...] But there’s been a lack of focus around helping us as individuals meet people we don’t know.”
So Rad and the team started looking at the problems that prevent us from meeting people we don’t know.
“If you’re someone who’s hunting for a relationship, there’s this constant sense of rejection when not everyone you want to meet is open to meeting you back,” Rad says. “As the hunted, you feel very overwhelmed and that there’s this massive sense of noise. That dynamic is an inhibitor.”
That’s why Rad and his team built Tinder with that in mind. As the hunter, you feel less rejected and as the hunted, there’s less noise because you’re able to interact with the people that you want to talk to.
But Tinder’s ultimate goal is to enable anyone to meet for any reason. Going forward, it plans to further integrate features that solve the problems we face when meeting new people. It will also help you evolve and nurture the relationship with the person you just met.
Tinder And The LGBT Community
Tinder is looking for a more solid way to determine intent, Rad says.
“The product works for the gay community,” Rad says. “But we need to do a better job of sort of calling it out.”
There’s an ongoing internal debate of what terminology the app should use. For now, users simply toggle “male” or “female” on and off.
But what if a guy was only interested in someone whom has transitioned from male to female? As of right now, there’s no way for someone to specify that.
“I think we could do a better job of making that clear in the UI,” Rad says.
Despite all of that, there’s a lot of activity on Tinder within New York City’s gay community, Rad says. But in Los Angeles, the gay community isn’t as active on Tinder.
New Yorkers Are Obsessed
New York City as whole seems to be the most passionate about Tinder.
That became clear when Tinder held a joint mixer with designer Rebecca Minkoff in Manhattan in May. Tinder emailed 2,000 of its New York-based users about 24 hours before the event and 1,000 attended. I was one of those attendees and the event was absolutely packed.
“It’s an obsession,” Rad says. “It’s beyond passion.”
Join the conversation about this story »
