Tinder Social: App launches tool to let people go on dates in groups

The feature has already been criticised for apparently showing Facebook friends who are on Tinder – whether they like it or not – and embarrassing them

Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps in the UK, dividing opinion whether it has revolutionised romanced or encourages superficial dating (REX Features)

Tinder has launched an app for allowing people to find groups of friends – but has already faced claim that it is embarrassing people and facilitating group sex.

The company has announced that it is testing “Tinder Social”, a new feature meant for matching people with groups rather than with one person in particular. And it is already proving controversial.

Since the app relies on inviting Facebook friends along to potential meetups, it allows users to see all of their friends on Tinder who might be interested in coming along.

But that means that it exposes everyone who is on the dating app – whether or not they want to be found out. It also makes it easy to look at friends’ profiles on the site, making it a perfect way for “your Facebook friends [to] laugh at your bio at Tinder”, as one Twitter user pointed out.

Tinder users who want to stay private can opt out of the test feature, by heading to the settings. But it is at the moment opt in for those that have it – meaning that people could be sharing the fact they are on Tinder with their friends without even knowing.

The feature as it appears to Tinder users

And even for those who are happy to announce that they are on the site, Tinder Social’s purpose is still unclear. It is apparently meant to facilitate platonic group meetups – but people have already pointed out that since Tinder is often used for casual sex, the feature appears to be useful for finding people to engage in group sex with.

The company announced the feature with a blog post that said it was a way of taking “an average night out with your friends to the next level”.

That matches the same coy ways that Tinder has described itself in the past. The company continues to insist in public that it is primarily an app for allowing people to make new friends – and the company’s official account sent out a string of angry tweets last year when an article said that it was contributing to hookup culture.

For the moment, the feature is only being tested with “a small group of users in Australia”. It said that it would be launched globally “soon”.