Tinder ridiculed for Twitter rant over Vanity Fair story
Tinder is catching grief for launching a barrage of angry tweets in response to an article in Vanity Fair magazine that blamed the app for ruining the modern dating scene.
The article, "Tinder and the Dawn of the Dating Apocalypse," interviewed scores of 20-somethings who agreed dating sucks and that Tinder was part of the problem. The writer, Nancy Jo Sales, added fuel to the fire by claiming 30 percent of Tinder users are married - a stat the company said was wildly inaccurate.
The article came out last week but Tinder decided to respond in a big way on Tuesday - essentially laying out its side of the story on Twitter. The burst of tweets started with the sarcastic suggestion that no one ever hooked up before Tinder came along.
-@VanityFair Little known fact: sex was invented in 2012 when Tinder was launched.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
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
Tinder called the story one-sided, taking aim at Sales for failing to get the company's response in the article, and complaining that those interviewed in the story did not reflect the true range of its millions of users worldwide. The app claims to make 26 million online matches a day, and says it's used for a lot more than just casual hook-ups.
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
One of the most quizzical claims was that Tinder could offer up testimonials from users in North Korea.
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
When the Twitter barrage was all over, some 30 tweets criticizing the article had been put out from Tinder's official account.
"Don't try to pretend you're something you're not," CNET senior editor Jeff Bakalar told CBS News, adding that in his view, the story reflected realities of today's dating scene.
"This is pretty nuts. It's like a head shop saying we only sell tobacco products. We know why people are there. They are there to get nasty, the same reason they are on Tinder," he said.
"The entire dating landscape has changed. It's gone to this sort of microdating. That is where we are at. Yes or no. Do you or do you not want to. That's what it's like."
Bakalar said Tinder had overreacted to the article and suggested the company might want to "reassess its social presence" following the Twitter rant.
"When you go on a tirade like that, it doesn't necessarily make you come out looking like the innocent victim there. That's what they need to realize," he said. "The story is not about you, Tinder. It's about people who use Tinder and how it's impacting and sort of changing the way dating is evolving. They seemed to have missed the boat on that."
By Wednesday, emotions seemed to have calmed down at Tinder and the company acknowledged its Twitter rant may have gone too far.
"Our intention was to highlight the many statistics and amazing stories that are sometimes left unpublished, and, in doing so, we overreacted," the company said in a statement to Wired.