Dating app Tinder introduces verified accounts for lonely celebrities looking for love

Celebrities: they're just like us! Or, they now have the option to be more like the estimated 50 million of us who use the dating app Tinder. Until Tuesday, the app, which allows users to swipe through photos of nearby users, wasn't easy to use if you happened to be famous. Besides the obvious peril of people assuming you're just a creep posing as a good-looking, beautiful and successful person online, Tinder profiles required a Facebook account to set up, which means celebs who stay off Facebook (or only have a page for professional purposes) couldn't sign up.
Now, however, the new verification system will allow lonely celebs to take a shot at love — or maybe just some awkward texting before a stranger asks them for nudes. The new verified profiles have blue checks next to users' photos, similar to the ones used by Twitter and Facebook. Of course, how many celebrities will actually sign up remains to be seen. At the very least, it seems like good plot fodder for a remake of Notting Hill.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Marshall Bright is a digital production assistant at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked at America's Test Kitchen, SAVEUR and Studio 360. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, she now lives in Harlem with her cat, Pickles.
-
Trump reignites Jan. 6 furor by awarding military honors to killed rioter
IN THE SPOTLIGHT With military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt, the president makes good on campaign promises designed to animate his political base while relitigating history
-
'Is it OK to be happy when the world is falling apart?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Will online age checks doom internet freedom?
Today's Big Question Or do they protect children from harm?
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play