Tinder thinks you need a timeline for your matches


One of the world's most popular dating apps just got a little bit creepier.
Tinder announced Tuesday that it's testing out a new feature letting users see more social media content from people they match with. The "Feed" — which is being tested in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada — is an updating timeline where users can see new Instagram posts, Spotify top artists, and new profile pictures from their Tinder matches. Engadget notes that the dating app already allows users to connect their Instagram and Spotify accounts to their Tinder profiles, but this new feed takes it a step further by creating something that resembles a Facebook News Feed filled with content posted by potential romantic interests (who, let's remember, you don't actually know yet).
If you don't want your matches to know about your life before you meet them, Tinder lets you manage which social media accounts and posts get linked to its feed. But once you allow it, Tinder users can interact with your social media content. As Tinder proclaims: "[G]ive Leilani a shout-out on her solid Boomerang skills, or let Zoe know the 'Best. Burger. Ever.' pic she just posted is your favorite too."
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Tinder missed its most recent quarterly profit estimate, but the dating app is still profitable and was recently valued at $3 billion. The "Feed" is one of several new features Tinder has rolled out this year. In June, Tinder announced the creation of a subscription service that allows paying users to see who has "liked" their profile. And two weeks ago, the company introduced a machine learning tool that uses algorithms to show users new people that it thinks they will swipe right on. Tinder has over 50 million users, and the company recently promised to "blur lines between the physical and digital world for dating." Totally not creepy!
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Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
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