Swipe Right on Safety: Tinder’s ‘Share My Date’ Keeps Friends in the Loop

Tinder has rolled out an exciting new feature, “Share My Date,” which allows users to easily share crucial details of their upcoming dates with friends and family via a simple link. Unveiled on Monday, this innovative tool is designed to enhance safety and communication. Users can now forward a link containing their match’s name, the planned meeting spot, and the time and date of the encounter. They also have the option to add a personal touch with a note at the bottom of the link. Impressively, these links can be prepared up to 30 days in advance and edited anytime, ensuring that the most current details are always at hand.

What makes “Share My Date” particularly accessible is that it’s usable by both Tinder users and non-users. Tinder members who receive the link can view the complete profile of the person their friend is meeting. However, they are not able to interact with this profile directly. For those who don’t have a Tinder account, they can still view essential details such as the match’s photos, name, and age through a limited profile view, as explained by a Tinder spokesperson in discussions with TechCrunch.

This feature builds on Tinder’s philosophy that dating is a communal experience, much like its “Matchmaker” feature that allows friends to suggest potential matches to one another. The links also have a built-in expiration feature, to discourage sharing them on social media platforms, ensuring privacy and security are maintained.

The development of “Share My Date” was fueled by user behavior; data from Tinder shows that over half of singles under 30 discuss their dating plans with friends. Melissa Hobley, Tinder’s Chief Marketing Officer, emphasized that the new feature aims to streamline the information-sharing process. “We’re dedicated to continuously evolving our service to foster a fun, safe, and respectful dating environment. With ‘Share My Date’, we want to simplify how singles share their plans, so they can focus on the excitement of meeting someone new, from selecting an outfit to brainstorming conversation topics,” she stated.

Tinder is set to introduce this feature progressively across a broad range of markets including the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, India, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Brazil, Singapore, Switzerland, Mexico, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand in the upcoming months.

The launch of “Share My Date” coincides with a period of slower growth for the dating app industry. Tinder itself reported a modest 2.38% increase in new installs in the U.S. last January, a sharp decline from the nearly 16% growth seen the year before. Additionally, Tinder’s paying customer base saw an 8% decline in the last quarter of 2023 compared to the year prior.

With Match Group set to announce its first-quarter earnings for 2024 on May 8, stakeholders and industry watchers will be keen to see how new features like “Share My Date” impact the company’s performance amid broader market challenges. This new feature represents a strategic move to enhance user engagement and safety, crucial factors for success in the competitive online dating landscape.