From risque to wholesome: Tinder now lets users go on group dates

Straits Times

18-06-2025

Tinder has been introducing new features as it tries to stem a bleeding in its paying user base. PHOTO: REUTERS
From risque to wholesome: Tinder now lets users go on group dates
Tired of swiping solo on Tinder?
Well, you can now bring a BFF along for the ride, turning a risque twosome into a more wholesome foursome.
Tinder – the world's largest dating app – has rolled out a new 'Double Date' feature that allows its users to create joint profiles with friends to match with other pairs.
To get started with Double Date, users can choose up to three friends to form pairs with. They can then browse and 'like' other pairs.
When two pairs 'like' each other, a group chat automatically opens, making it easy for all four people to connect and coordinate plans.
Double Date also lets users privately message someone from a matched pair if they prefer shifting to a one-on-one chat. Users can join pairs while keeping their personal dating profile separate and active.
Women have been more into the group dynamic, tests in Europe and Latin America show, Tinder said.
They are three times more likely to show interest in paired profiles compared to individual ones.
Group chats have also sparked more conversation, with users sending around 35 per cent more messages than in typical one-on-one chats.
Tinder plans on rolling out Double Dates globally in July.
Tinder head of product marketing Cleo Long told the Los Angeles Times the feature is meant to help relieve dating stress for younger users, especially the generation born between 1997 and 2012 – Gen Z.
'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,' the Tinder representative said.
Tinder said nine in 10 of those who tried Double Date were under 29.
Double Date is also bringing new users to Tinder. About 15 per cent of those who accepted Double Date invitations were either completely new to Tinder or returning after a period of inactivity.
Rekindling that loving feeling
Tinder, owned by Match Group, has been introducing new features as it tries to stem a bleeding in its paying user base.
It saw a 7 per cent decline in subscriptions in the first quarter of 2025, in line with a broader pattern that saw the app's subscription numbers shrink from more than 11 million in late 2022 to roughly 9.1 million today.
That is in step with the overall picture in the online dating app industry.
Dating apps were downloaded 237 million times globally in 2023, down from 287 million in 2020.
According to research firm Sensor Tower, the number of people who use them at least once a month has dwindled from 154 million in 2021 to 137 million in the second quarter of 2024.
Mr Spencer Rascoff, who was appointed Match chief executive in February to tackle the slowdown in user engagement, stepped in to lead Tinder directly.
Mr Rascoff said dating apps like Tinder are falling out of favour with younger users because many saw them as a 'numbers game'.
He believes features like Double Date can help shift perceptions, calling it less 'hook-uppy' and more about having 'a good time as friends'.
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