A new Vanity Fair article called “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse'” doesn’t exactly heap praise on the dating app for its role in the modern relationship.
And when someone at Tinder read it, they jumped on Twitter.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is a corporate tweetstorm:
Hey @nancyjosales — that survey is incorrect. If you're interested in having a factual conversation, we're here. https://t.co/SLWlTLvJuf
— 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
I bet you really want to read that article now?
Tinder has always tried to play off the fact that it’s a hookup app – which it is. But is Tinder ruining the modern relationship? I don’t know. Is wanting to hook up with attractive people a new phenomenon?
“Tinder users are on Tinder to meet people for all kinds of reasons. Sure, some of them – men and women – want to hook up. Just like it real life. And in the many years that existed before Tinder,” says the company.
And that’s a fairly good point.
But reading Sales’ piece in Vanity Fair does make you feel kind of icky about a lot of it. And it’s hard to deny many of the points she makes.
In the end, I’m not sure Tinder’s Twitter freakout was the best way to respond.
Image via Tinder
