- Kyle Chua
Tinder Debuts Blind Date Feature Just in Time for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is around the corner and if you’re still looking for that special someone to spend it with, then where else should you look but Tinder. The popular dating app today debuted the new Blind Date feature in the U.S., a new experience designed to put your personality above your looks.
Instead of swiping left and right to find your match, the new feature requires you to first chat with other users before you can see what they look like. This way, your first impression of them is based on conversation rather than photos. When both of you decide to match, that’s the only time when your photos are revealed to each other.
Powering Blind Date is Tinder’s Fast Chat, an existing feature that connects users with similar likes and interests. So to use Blind Date, you’ll first have to answer a short series of icebreaker questions and from there, the app will find users with commonalities. You’ll then enter a timed chat, where no other information about the other user is given except for their answers to the multiple-choice questions. When the timer runs out, both users can view each others’ profiles and decide whether to match and continue the conversation.
The icebreaker questions come in the form of multiple-choice quiz prompts. Examples of which include, “It’s OK to wear a shirt ____ times without washing it” and “I put ketchup on____.”
Tinder claims that the new feature reflects the dating habits of the Gen Z generation and is meant to be a call back to dating during pre-smartphone times. The company added that the feature proved to be a hit in early testing, with users making 40% of more matches than those using other Fast Chat features where photos and profiles were visible.
Blind Date is already available to Tinder users in some English-speaking markets, with a global rollout planned for the coming weeks. You can access the new feature via the Explore tab.
Tinder has debuted Blind Date, a new feature that requires you to first chat with other users before you can view their profiles.
The dating app claims that in early testing, users of the feature made 40% more matches than those using others where photos and profiles were visible.
Blind Date is available now to Tinder users in some English-speaking markets and can be accessed via the Explore tab.