Tinder bets on group dating feature to win back Gen Z

Los Angeles Times

8 hours ago

Tired of navigating the online dating landscape alone? Now you can swipe right along with friends.
Tinder launched a double-dating feature Tuesday, allowing users to create joint profiles with friends to match with other pairs.
Double Date, as the feature is called, is the refined version of the failed 2016 product Tinder Social, which was discontinued in 2017 over privacy concerns and user confusion about its purpose.
To activate Double Date, users select up to three friends to create a pair with. Then they can browse and like other paired users. When both pairs like each other, a group chat opens between all four people to coordinate plans.
The feature also allows users to message individuals within a matched pair privately if they want to transition to a one-on-one conversation. Users can maintain multiple pairings with different friends while keeping their individual dating profile separate.
The feature was popular with young users when it was tested in Europe and Latin America. Cleo Long, Tinder's head of product marketing, said the feature is meant to help relieve dating stress for younger users.
'This is a social-first experience that's really meant to help relieve some of the pressure that we know a lot of Gen Z experiences with dating by making it more social, more fun, and bringing your friends in to help reinforce that comfort piece,' Long said.
Tinder said nearly 90% of people who tried Double Date were under 29, aligning with the company's push to retain Gen Z.
The group dynamic appears to resonate with women, who were three times more likely to show interest in paired profiles compared to individual ones during testing. Users in group chats also sent significantly more messages – about 35% more than typical one-on-one conversations.
The company said the feature helped bring users to the platform. About 15% of people who accepted Double Date invitations were either completely new to Tinder or returning after a period of inactivity.
The positive testing results prompted Tinder to accelerate its U.S. launch ahead of schedule.
Tinder is owned by Match Group Inc., the company behind Hinge and OkCupid. It is facing mounting pressure on its business. In the first quarter of 2025, Match Group reported a 5% decline in paying subscribers across all its apps, while Tinder saw a 7% decrease in subscriptions. In response to these shifts, Match made the decision to lay off approximately 325 employees or 13% of its workforce.
These recent losses are part of a broader pattern. Tinder's paying user base has slipped from more than 11 million subscribers in late 2022 to roughly 9.1 million today. The consistent decline has caught the attention of activist investors, including Elliott Investment Management.
The mounting pressure led to significant leadership changes within the company. In May, Tinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno announced she would step down in July after less than two years in the role. Spencer Rascoff, who was appointed Match CEO in February to tackle the slowdown in user engagement, stepped in to lead Tinder directly.
Rascoff has outlined an ambitious technology-focused turnaround plan. In an internal memo viewed by the Wall Street Journal, he called on staff to speed up product changes and use artificial intelligence, emphasizing that employees should prioritize user-experience over short-term revenue.
The company has rolled out AI features that help users create better profiles and prompt them to reconsider potentially inappropriate messages before sending them.
Tinder has also launched 'The Game Game,' which uses OpenAIs speech-to-speech technology to let users practice flirting with AI-generated personas in over-the-top scenarios designed to reduce dating anxiety through humor.
During the company's first quarter earnings call, Rascoff noted that Match's apps have fallen out of favor with younger daters because many saw using them as a 'numbers game.' He believes Double Date can help shift perceptions, calling it less 'hook-uppy' and more about having 'a good time as friends.'
Tinder's struggles reflect broader trends in the dating app industry. Dating apps have been losing their appeal amongst singles in recent years, especially Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012. Only 26% of online dating services users in the U.S. are 18 to 29 years old, while 30 to 49-year-olds comprise 61% of that same user base.
Gen Z increasingly prefers meeting potential partners through mutual friends and real-world gatherings.
Los Angeles has become a testing ground for dating alternatives that skip swiping entirely. Startups like El Segundo-based First Round's on Me encourage immediate in-person meetups, while Venice's Lox Club hosts weekly community events for singles to mingle.
Whether Double Date can reverse Tinder's fortunes remains to be seen, but Rascoff is betting that the future of dating lies not in perfecting the swipe, but in reimagining how people connect.
'At the end of the day, dating should feel less like work and more like play,' he said.