It’s been a busy year for Tinder, what with accusations of STD proliferation, a very public Twitter meltdown, and the introduction of elementary school-level flirting into the app with its “super like” feature, but the popular dating platform isn’t done yet. On Wednesday, Tinder released a number of product updates and improvements, among which are job and education information on profiles and an improved messaging experience. These features, Tinder said in its press release, “were the two most popular requests from users when asked for feedback.”
In a blog post announcement, the app that popularized swiping left notes that “more than 10 billion matches have been made” in the three short years of Tinder’s existence. “These matches have led to friends, dates, relationships, and everything in between,” Tinder says (and you don’t want to know what the “in between” is).
“At Tinder, we’re on a mission to bring the world closer together through new connections. Today’s updates demonstrate our commitment to enhancing the connectivity that our users are experiencing — from enriching profiles to improving our matching algorithm,” said Ryan Ogle, Tinder’s CTO.
With the addition of more details on Tinder, the app hopes to provide users with extra content and context that will allow them to “Make more informed choices when deciding whom to swipe right on, leading to even better matches.” Perhaps an attempt to move away from the “hook-up culture” Tinder is often accused of perpetuating, this change makes Tinder more like such apps as Hinge or Coffee Meets Bagel, which already provide this information and tend to be reputed as more serious dating sites.
Additionally, Tinder claims that an improved algorithm “will now intelligently serve up the most relevant information about potential matches.” Thanks to what they’re calling “Smart Profiles,” Tinder-ers can expect to see highlights of what any two people have in common “to establish a unique connection between them.”
These profiles will also help swipers make more compatible matches, Tinder says. “With the updated algorithm, machine learning technology assesses and interprets the signals sent by our millions of users. With our ears even closer to the ground, we provide users with the most relevant potential matches to result in more meaningful connections — just as we’ve seen with the introduction of the Super Like, which has increased the quality of matches and lengthened conversations,” said Ogle.
Finally, to keep your Tinder messages more organized, the app has “modified its messaging interface to separate new, uncontacted matches from those with whom users have ongoing conversations.” According to its press release, “This new-look navigation stream will simplify the messaging experience so that users can efficiently keep track of their conversations, past and present.”
So if you haven’t entered the wacky world of online dating, this may just be your chance. After all, from the looks of it, Tinder has never been better (though how great a compliment that is, I’m still not sure).
