Oh, Tinder. The dating app that's already full of strangers adds a disappearing-photo feature

What would happen if the app version of picking up strangers at a bar and Snapchat had a lovechild?

It would be Tinder’s new “moments” feature, which the company just announced today via a blog post.

From its blog:

Moments are swipe-able photos you can instantly share with all of your matches at once. With Moments you can swipe through fun Moments shared by your matches and get a glimpse into each others lives. You can react by swiping right to “like” or left to “nope” a Moment, just as you would profiles, or you can take it one step further and reply with a message. Moments are the perfect excuse to say more than just “hello.” Just like real life the moments we experience start to fade, which is why every shared Tinder Moment can only be seen for 24 hours.

Swipe left to “nope” a moment? Ok, Tinder.

Also, all that language about moments fading is not boding well for a company that still can’t admit that it’s not only a dating app (still pretending it’s just for “meeting people”), but that it’s so superficial that these matches are mostly ephemeral as well (yes, there are some stronger matches, but that’s rare). As a colleague pointed out: “When I think ‘evaluating people’s pictures,’ I definitely think ‘best friends.'” Me neither, my friend. Me neither.

It continues:

Capturing and sharing a Moment is designed to be really quick and less intimidating. Tinder Moments expire in 24 hours, so you can be yourself without the pressure of making it perfect. You can just share it raw or apply filters, draw, and add text to you make the most of the moment.

Yes, no effort, because Tinder was so hard in the first place.

But this new feature is also showing us that the Tinder folks are kinda smart too — they know that their main demographic is also Snapchat’s main demographic. You know, the young folks who refuse to learn real dating skills and want hookup options delivered right into the palm of their hands, which they’ll then judge on a very superficial level.

(I should mention that I have no moral problem with any of the above — far from it. But I do wish Tinder would just stop kidding itself about what it is.)

So Tinder is offering these people the features they already love and use. And of course, we could have a long debate about Snapchat being about candid moments and personality, not appearances, and so on. And maybe that’s true in Snapchat’s case, but Tinder?

Not sure about that, although I guess it’ll boost their engagement numbers, so again, points for being smart, Tinder.