Tinder’s new “blind date” feature is a blast from the past – members will now be able to chat with one another prior to knowing what the other looks like. First, they’ll answer a series of ‘icebreaker’ questions that will categorically assort them. Once that’s complete, they’ll be paired with someone based on commonalities.
The pair will enter a timed chat where they’ll know nothing more about each other than the other’s answer to the multiple-choice questions. Once the time expires, their photos will be revealed to one another, and each will be able to decide if they want to match or move on to the next candidate.
“We’ve all seen the mix of anticipation and excitement [that] going on a blind date brought some of our favorite movie or TV characters, and we wanted to recreate that experience for today’s generation with the Blind Date feature,” said Kyle Miller, Vice President of Product Innovation at Tinder. In the news release, Miller continued: “There’s something really special about letting conversation introduce someone’s personality, without the preconceptions that can be made from photos. The new Blind Date experience brings a surprisingly fun, banter-based way to interact and create connections that’s all new to Tinder.”
In the early stages of testing the new feature, members made 40% more matches than the Fast Chat feature according to the company. Blind Date is now available in the U.S. and will be rolling out globally in the coming weeks.