Tinder Has Twitter Meltdown Over Critical Vanity Fair Article
Tinder has thrown a Twitter tantrum over a Vanity Fair article all about today’s hookup app generation, mobile dating apps and the “dating apocalypse”.
Written by journalist and author Nancy Jo Sales, who wrote The Bling Ring, the article was published last week on Vanity Fair.
Titled “Tinder and the Dawn of the “Dating Apocalypse””, Sales gives a glimpse into today’s hookup app generation, told through the eyes of young men and women who recount their often shocking experiences in the modern dating landscape.
The article really focuses on how today’s daters are using apps like Tinder, the kind of throwaway hookup behaviour both sexes are accustomed to, and how dating apps could be changing their attitudes towards sex, love and relationships.
Here are some sample excerpts:
“With these dating apps, he says, “you’re always sort of prowling. You could talk to two or three girls at a bar and pick the best one, or you can swipe a couple hundred people a day–the sample size is so much larger. It’s setting up two or three Tinder dates a week and, chances are, sleeping with all of them, so you could rack up 100 girls you’ve slept with in a year.””
“But others lament the way the extreme casualness of sex in the age of Tinder leaves many women feeling de-valued.”
“So where is this all going to go? What happens after you’ve come of age in the age of Tinder? Will people ever be satisfied with a sexual or even emotional commitment to one person? And does that matter? Can men and women ever find true intimacy in a world where communication is mediated by screens; or trust, when they know their partner has an array of other, easily accessible options?”
Although the article was posted last Tuesday, Tinder only embarked on the 30-tweet rant yesterday, after journalist Nancy Jo Sales posted a link to an article which said 30% of Tinder users are married.
Tinder repeated their position that this survey was “preposterous”, which sparked a flood of tweets explaining why Tinder is so much more than just a hookup app, helping singles across the world create meaningful connections, relationships and friendships.
Tinder has insisted for years that the app is about more than just hookups, and this Twitter storm almost feels like that particular pot boiling over after simmering for a long time.
And the company has subsequently stood by the rant, which has received national press and lots of attention on Twitter, with an official statement.
Check out the full rant below, and read the Vanity Fair article here.
@nancyjosales That survey is incorrect. If you’re interested in having a factual conversation, we’re here.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
–@VanityFair Little known fact: sex was invented in 2012 when Tinder was launched. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
–@VanityFair & @nancyjosales – we have lots of data. We surveyed 265,000 of our users. But it doesn’t seem like you’re interested in facts.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Our actual data says that 1.7% of Tinder users are married – not 30% as the preposterous GlobalWebIndex article indicated. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
It’s disappointing that @VanityFair thought that the tiny number of people you found for your article represent our entire global userbase
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Next time reach out to us first @nancyjosales… that’s what journalists typically do. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
The Tinder Generation is real. Our users are creating it. But it’s not at all what you portray it to be.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Tinder creates experiences. We create connections that otherwise never would have been made. 8 billion of them to date, in fact. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Tinder users are on Tinder to meet people for all kinds of reasons. Sure, some of them – men and women – want to hook up.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Just like in real life. And in the many years that existed before Tinder. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
But we know from our own survey data that it’s actually a minority of Tinder users.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Our data tells us that the vast majority of Tinder users are looking for meaningful connections. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
And our data also tells us that Tinder actually creates those meaningful connections.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
We have tons and tons of emails from people that have all kinds of amazing experiences on Tinder. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
It’s about meeting new people for all kinds of reasons. Travel, dating, relationships, friends and a shit ton of marriages.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Talk to the female journalist in Pakistan who wrote just yesterday about using Tinder to find a relationship where being gay is illegal. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Talk to our many users in China and North Korea who find a way to meet people on Tinder even though Facebook is banned.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Talk to the many Tinder couples – gay and straight – that have gotten married after meeting on Tinder. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Or talk to people that have made some of their best friends on Tinder.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
We love ALL of these #SwipedRight stories. Tinder is simply how people meet. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
The ability to meet people outside of your closed circle in this world is an immensely powerful thing.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
So we are going to keep focusing on bringing people together. That’s why we’re here. That is why all of us at Tinder work so hard. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
If you want to try to tear us down with one-sided journalism, well, that’s your prerogative.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
You could have talked about how everyone on Tinder is authenticated through Facebook. And how we show users the friends they have in common. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Or you could have talked about how everyone on Tinder is on an equal playing field.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Users can’t message each other unless BOTH people are interested in one another. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
You could have talked about how users build a Tinder profile that expresses who they are.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Or how millions of Tinder users have connected their Instagram accounts, so potential matches can learn more about them. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
This all creates social accountability so that Tinder users treat each other well.
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Instead, your article took an incredibly biased view, which is disappointing. – Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
But it’s not going to dissuade us from building something that is changing the world. #GenerationTinder
– Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Here are a few reactions to the Tinder rant:
@Tinder @nancyjosales You guys really are defensive as hell. This stream of tweets is embarrassing. – Damon Linker (@DamonLinker) August 12, 2015
My article isn’t even about @Tinder lol
– Nancy Jo Sales (@nancyjosales) August 12, 2015
smh RT @VanityFair Tinder fingers turned to Twitter fingers
– Desus Nice (@desusnice) August 12, 2015
@Tinder not clear: are you suggesting journalists need your okay to write about you?
– Nancy Jo Sales (@nancyjosales) August 12, 2015
“hi is this tinder i can’t swipe right on this phone help pls” @Tinder pic.twitter.com/dqUU1Uh6fq
– darthâ„¢ (@darth) August 12, 2015
The @Tinder meltdown is just another reason why I don’t use the app. Classier apps are out the. Good article @nancyjosales
– Jerry Munk (@jerry_munk) August 12, 2015
It’s incredible how defensive tech companies get when journalists write non-embargoed, non-chaperoned stories. pic.twitter.com/HLhIM8g8q7
– Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) August 12, 2015
