Tinder Adds Share Option So You Can Get Your Friends A Date

Tinder, the matchmaking app, is reportedly taking things to a whole new level, including a “share” button that allows you to text a profile to a friend that might not even be on Tinder. The term “matchmaker” has been bandied about in the unveil of this new option, reminding Tinder users that they can identify someone that they think might be right for someone they know, and send them the link.

Herein lies the rub, however. The link is only valid for five clicks or 72 hours. But that really shouldn’t dim the prospects of this new option. If someone sends you the profile of someone they think you’d be interested in, the odds of taking a look sooner rather than later are almost a certainty. From a business perspective, the odds of you actually joining Tinder so that you can get more information and actually contact that person if you’re interested are also almost a certainty. This seems a brilliant business move by Tinder.

Currently, the share option via Tinder is only possible via a direct text message.

The only downside of this new share option by Tinder is the reluctance of current Tinder members to want their profiles shared, to have them put out into the public by someone else. However, the current thought process is that this is already possible via a screenshot, which Tinder members utilize all the time. In the end, it’s a certainty that Tinder has already weighed the possibility of losing some current members as a result of the new share option, and have deemed that they’ll ultimately gain more members than they’ll lose. Tinder also reminds its users that they can always opt out of having a shareable profile via their Tinder settings.

The Tinder app was launched in 2012. Just two years later, the Tinder app was registering about one billion “swipes” per day. If you’re not familiar with Tinder, users “swipe” the profile pictures of other users, in effect “choosing” other profiles as positive potential matches or the exact opposite: rejecting someone immediately. Tinder is location-based, meaning that you’re only going to see potential matches in a distinct vicinity, a feature that originally set the relationship app apart from many of its competitors.

Seven people, Sean Rad, Jonathan Badeen, Justin Mateen, Joe Munoz, Whitney Wolfe, Dinesh Moorjani, and Chris Gylczynski, are often credited with the inception of Tinder. However, other sources state that list of founders is restricted to only Mateen, Rad, and Badeen. As with other apps and social media sites, as the service gets more popular and more money becomes involve, the question of who originally came up with gets murky. Sean Rad and Justin Mateen are usually thought of as the two primary creators of Tinder. The two have known each other since they were fourteen, and they both attended USC together before looking at the possibilities of internet entrepreneurship.

In creating the Tinder app, Sean Rad has stated that the impetus for the app was his observation that “no matter who you are, you feel more comfortable approaching somebody if you know they want you to approach them.” The primary idea behind Tinder was to offer an easy ability to get to know a complete stranger, rather than someone you know through a friend, etc. The new Tinder share option may seem contradictory to that, however, if you’re truly looking for a great new relationship, chances are you’ll be thrilled no matter how it happens.

As of last year, Tinder had an estimated 50 million users and had an estimated worth of around $1.35 billion. This new share option on the app will most likely just make Tinder even more popular.

[Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images]