Johannesburg - The dynamic of the world’s most popular dating app Tinder could change if the service allows people to see who likes them, even before they swipe right.
Tinder recently topped the US iOS app charts when it allowed a select group of users to test a paid-for Tinder Gold subscription, which allowed users to see other users who liked them on the app.
Tinder traditionally works by allowing users to anonymously ‘like’ others, until they find a match by mutually swiping right.
The app requires users to sign in through Facebook, or through an independently created profile within the app.
Users can then swipe left for “No” or right for “Yes”.
A match is made when two users swipe right; they can then privately message each other.
After introducing the service, Tinder became the top-grossing app on Apple’s App Store. Tinder Gold will add an extra $4.99 to Tinder’s Plus option, which costs $9.99, making the total almost $15.
Plans are also afoot to offer Tinder Gold to Android users from next month.
The dating app further features an invitation-only layer of the core application Tinder Select, which can be turned off and on and which only celebrities, rich and popular people have access to.
Since late last year Tinder has quietly been operating on the app, which is described as exclusive to “celebrities and people who do really well on regular Tinder”.
The company also decides who on regular Tinder is allowed to join the exclusive service.
Comparisons have been drawn between Tinder Select and similar dating app The League, which works by users applying to use the application and then joining a waiting list of hundreds of thousands of users.
The League says its goal is to keep the ratios balanced, the community diverse, the admissions rate low, and the engagement high.
Tinder Select users are able to nominate regular Tinder users. Approved nominees do not have a similar privilege of nominating another regular user.
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