Tinder thinks online dating is primed for change and will add video to profiles
- Tinder on Tuesday announced a slate of new features coming to Match Group's largest dating app, including the option to add videos into profiles.
- It's also releasing an Explore section on the app and a social feature called "Hot Takes."
- It shows how the online dating industry is primed for change following the coronavirus pandemic.
Tinder on Tuesday announced a slate of new features coming to Match Group's largest dating app, including the option to add videos into profiles. It shows how the online dating industry is primed for change following the coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, Tinder users can only add a certain number of still pictures to their profile. The video option will allow them to swap a video in for a photo, to add a live aspect.
Dating apps, like Bumble and Match's Hinge, were able to turn to video features as the Covid-19 pandemic kept millions of users at home and fueled growth. Instead of returning to solely in-person dates, users are choosing to continue to go on digital dates as pandemic restrictions lift. That's helped them become more comfortable with adding audio and video elements into what was originally a picture-only experience. And dating companies are taking note.
"It's a little bit less of a transactional environment now, where people want to get to know people better virtually before they agree to meet off online," Tinder CEO Jim Lanzone said of dating post-Covid on CNBC's "TechCheck." "That really sets up a situation where Tinder is this iconic brand, but could really become more of a platform and provide experiences and all kinds of other ways for people get to know each other."
Tinder said the ability to add videos is the first step in its video road map.
Match last week closed its $1.73 billion acquisition of Hyperconnect, a social discovery and video technology company, which will allow Match to push further into social and video. Match exec Gary Swidler said at Evercore's ISI Inaugural TMT Conference earlier this month that the acquisition was important to the future development of its product suite.
"We think that Tinder can do more with its big user base than just swipe and match and chat," Swidler said.
Tinder will also launch a new social feature called "Hot Takes" on Tuesday, which lets users chat with someone before they match and has the feel of speed dating. Later this summer, it will add an Explore section inside the app that will let users discover matches by interests, activity or content type.