Tinder- New Age of Dating
Tinder, only being released for the past 2 years, is the new, fast growing dating app. But what makes it so different from other dating sites such as Match.com or OkCupid? Not only is Tinder spreading like wildfire in the dating world, but it’s popularity and number of users have surpassed those of other dating sites in ratio to the amount of time it’s been released. Disregarding the fact that is it fast and easy to use, it is also due to how it grew socially.
Tinder has grown rapidly in the past two years, and it’s not just because of it’s functionality. The ability of Tinder users to connect through Facebook has brought it to fame. Unlike other dating sites that slowly gained users from advertisements, Tinder already gained many of it’s users simply by connecting to one of the most popular social networking sites. By doing so, it gained a huge spike in users in a matter of days without having to advertise extensively. Unlike other dating sites, Tinder already had a wide network of users before it launched by simply making it easy for users to network with people that were already their friends on Facebook. Because of this connection, informational cascading happens; people were more inclined to use the app because they see on Tinder that other people around them are also using it. Even if you don’t directly see your friends using it, you might come across someone who is using a Facebook photo that your friend was tagged in. With Tinder connecting users to people within a certain distance, users are mainly connected to people that they may know, are acquaintances with, have mutual friends with, etc. Having the ability to see other people around your area using it widely influences the growing number of users. Therefore, already having a wide user audience influences a greater increase in informational cascade causing Tinder to be a more widely used dating app in comparison to other dating sites.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/fashion/tinder-the-fast-growing-dating-app-taps-an-age-old-truth.html?_r=0