Is it just us, or is every app trying to be more like Snapchat?
Tinder (MTCH) has jumped on the ephemeral messaging train with a new photo sharing feature called Moments, TechCrunch reports. The feature allows you to take or upload a photo — called a “moment” — and then broadcast it to all of your matches at once. If a match swipes right on your moment, the two of you can begin chatting.
But here’s the catch — like with Snapchat Stories, your Tinder moments will only be viewable for a period of 24 hours.
“You can see who is interested in you based on liking content,” Tinder CEO Sean Rad told TechCrunch. “And people love using Tinder for the joy of swiping, so we wanted to use the same experience to help people get to know each other.”
Moments is great for anyone who’s actually using Tinder to “get to know” people and make friends. You could send out a photo of a new museum you were visiting, and then you and one of your matches could have a stimulating intellectual discussion about the rise and fall of ceramic urns in Ancient Greece.
But come on — that’s not why most people are on Tinder. Most of the app’s users are on it to find hook-ups, in which case 24 hours is way too long a lifespan for the types of photos people really want to send. When it comes to sexting, a 24-hour viewing window is an eternity.
The new feature seems rather extraneous, and doesn’t seem to be meeting any dire needs of Tinder users. What’s next — being able to order food through Tinder? Call an Uber? Check the weather?
Then again, maybe people will get on board with Moments and actually start using Tinder to meet new pals. There’s no doubting some of us could use the social skills training.
