What is the Tinder App?
Description: Tinder is a meet and date app. According to the App store description, “Tinder is how people meet. It’s fun, free and effective….there are more than 26 million matches made on Tinder.” Although there is a “gotinder.com” website, the matching functionality only works through the app.
Category: Lifestyle
APP Store rating: 17+ (“infrequent/intense sexual content or nudity, frequent intense/mature/suggestive themes”).
What do parents need to know about Tinder?
Virtual Matchmaking – Using location services, the app identifies people nearby and shows photos of individuals. Users can either hit a green heart button or a red X button. Users are notified when someone gives a heart, but not when someone selects the X. Users are anonymous until both like each other, at which time identities are made and users can message each other. The app makes face-to-face meetings easy, due to how locations are revealed, making privacy concerns very real for parents.
Hook Ups? Tinder’s reputation is troubling, touted as one of the best “hook-up” or “one-night-stand” apps on the market. All based on a picture that might not even be real. UKnowKids.com says, “Online predators are an issue on any social media and this one will be no exception. With photos from Facebook on the site [combined with the location information] an online predator would have very little trouble determining the hang out spots of the teen they were after. ” Here is a recent article from Teen Vogue on what they discovered about the app – teens connecting with adults who quickly shift the conversation to sex.
Some Blockage – the Tinder app can be effectively blocked with OpenDNS on both Apple and Android devices, using the “dating” category.
April 9, 2019 Update: Snapchat plans to power its Stories within Tinder, so that users within Houseparty could see Snapchat Stories content from friends without ever leaving Tinder.
Tech Crunch: Snapchat will Power Stories and Ads in Other Apps (Tinder, Houseparty)
The bottom line – is Tinder safe?
Parents should block this app, run the other direction, and take extreme caution when deciding if their young kids should use this app based on the risks noted.
Now what? Have you heard of Bark?
Are you interested in having greater insight into the social media platforms that your kids are using? Bark is one of the best platforms we’ve tested. If your kid is using social media, then they need Bark. We trust them and we think you should, too!
[Click here or the logo above to learn more – free to begin!]
*There may be affiliate links throughout this post because we’ve tested and trust a small list of parental control solutions. Our work saves you time! If you decide that you agree with us, then we may earn a small commission, which does nothing to your price. Enjoy! 