Tinder swipes left on under-18 users (yes, 13-year-olds previously could use the site)
Tinder.com
Tinder is kicking young teen-agers off its service, the dating app firm has announced. Currently, anyone 13 or over with a Facebook account can use the app, which popularized the term "swipe right." Other dating apps or sites, like Bumble or Match.com, require users to be 18 years old.
Tinder announced that beginning next week, accounts belonging to those aged 13-17 will be discontinued.
"On a platform that has facilitated over 11 billion connections, we have the responsibility of constantly assessing our different user experiences," a Tinder spokesperson told TheNextWeb.com. "Consistent with this responsibility, we have decided to discontinue service for under 18 users. We believe this is the best policy moving forward. This change will take effect next week."
Tinder did keep the 13-to-17 group in a separate category, designed to prevent older members from connecting with them. Still, the firm received criticism for seeming to encourage sexual behavior in people below the legal age of consent. And Tinder, like other similar apps, relies on Facebook to determine a user's age; that meant it could be faked.
Tinder claims to have 1.4 billion swipes per day, 26 million matches per day, while operating in 196 countries.
The change means may college freshman will be Tinderless next fall, but that might not matter much. As the app has matured, its user base has tilted older. At least in the U.S., newer apps like Bumble and Hinge have, for now at least, captured the imagination of younger users. So this change won't have a big impact on Tinder, and in fact the firm told The Telegraph that it impacts fewer than 3 percent of users.
But times are good for dating apps. Back in February, Pew reported that about 1 in 10 Americans have used a dating app. Also: Some 27% of Americans ages 18 to 24 now report using online dating, up from just 10% in 2013. Feuling that trend: app-dating, with Tinder and Tinder-like tools such as Bumble becoming mainstream. Nearly one-in-ten American adults (9%) have used a dating app on their cellphone, up from just 3% who reported doing so in 2013.
Attitudes about online date seeking are changing, too, Pew said. Eighty percent of Americans who have used online dating agree that it is a good way to meet people. Some 62% agree that online dating helps people find a better match, and 61% agree that online dating is easier and more efficient than other ways of meeting people. Meanwhile, 29% know someone who has met a spouse or long-term partner via online dating — and 46% of college grads knows a digital marriage.
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