If you have the courage to hide your social anxiety for a few minutes, Tinder have got some fab news for all you iso-daters out there.
Although it’s pretty easily to facilitate an IRL date night now, well bar you guys down in Victoria, it’s been hard to navigate the dating game in 2020. Like honestly, it’s been hard to do anything in 2020.
But dating was hard enough without a global pandemic, and it was made even harder with lockdowns. So whether you’re just wanting to suss someone out before a date, or if the only human-to-human interaction available to you right now is through a video call – Tinder be out here for you.
As part of a new feature called Face-To-Face (so creative!) You can essentially have a quick video chat with your match – all over the app.
Now look I know what you’re thinking. Dudes are just going to whip their dicks out, people might call unexpectedly, it’s littered with problems. But let’s keep it civil here.
The new feature was created by Tinder’s Trust and Safety Team, and Face To Face includes some tweaks that’ll take care of any of the potential problems.
You Both Decide When It’s Time
You can only video call once you’ve both swiped right on each other. Once the conversation is flowing and you’re ready to show you’re interested in a video call, you can tap the video icon in the app.
The feature won’t be enabled until you’ve both opted in. And don’t worry, it doesn’t tell your match when you toggle it on.
You Can Disable It Anytime
Just like you can enable the possibility of a Face To Face on a match-by-match basis, you can also toggle it off at any point. And thank god for that. If you’ve been on dating apps like me, nothing worse than getting hounded by matches – like let me live, you are not my number one priority.
Set Your Terms
After Face To Face is unlocked, callers must agree to Tinder ground rules so your chat can start on the right foot. Look it’s pretty generic stuff, and doesn’t mean a sleazy dude won’t get his junk out – but it at least sets a precedent.
Eye-To-Eye
Conversation is a two-way street, and it’s better when you’re together – but naturally a good date is an engaging date on both sides. So just seeing eye to will probably help – and you should all be used to Zoom calls by now, so it’s hardly a new thing you’re doing.
Plus, this helps you make sure you’re putting your best face forward with your match.
Feedback
Once the call has ended, Tinder will ask how it went. You can send a report to their team at any time once the call ends, so be honest if it went well or was a total shit show.
Did you hear about new feature for Tinder… Face to face video chat….
Well…..that’s going to eliminate a lot!!!!! Lol…
Twitter should do the same!
— ? BeauCanadian ???© (@UntamedBeauti) July 10, 2020
So look there are some positive signs.
The app recently surveyed about 5,000 members in the US, and half of them have had video dates with a match on Tinder in the past month. Not only that, but 40% of Gen Z members wanted to continue using video as a way to decide whether to meet IRL in the future – and I TOTALLY back this.
I mean we’ve all been there right? You have orgasmic chats, you just connect on so many levels, your wit levels are on par – and you are so excited come actual date night. Then somehow, it just falls completely flat in person, and you think “god I really missed MasterChef for this clusterfuck of a date”.
Or of course the classic you looking nothing like your display pic conundrum. So quick video calls should certainly iron out any potential uncertainties. Which person in this group photo am I actually talking to? Am I actually chatting with a male, or the spirit of a dead fish from the photo – who’s setup a Tinder account through another dimension?? I’d honestly prefer the later in some cases.
So I’ll almost be definitely screening all my four new matches via video call first – even if it’s just a quick five to ten minutes. To pick up on a vibe and general connection.
But either way, it’s an exciting move and I’m certainly keen to use it!
Face to Face will test with some members in the US, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Italy, France, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Peru and Chile in the coming weeks.
