Tinder to Roll Out Verification Feature for Love-Hungry Celebrities Following an uptick in celebrity usage, dating app Tinder has announced a verification feature not unlike Twitter's blue checkmarks.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Lately, the matchmaking app Tinder is seeing stars.
After reportedly experiencing a 400 percent leap in usage by Olympians during the Sochi Games, Tinder's CEO, Sean Rad, announced a new verification feature -- Ã la Twitter's blue checks -- for its growing crop of celebrity users.
Bold-faced names including Jamie Kennedy, Lindsay Lohan and Ashton Kutcher have already stated their love for the app, according to The Hollywood Reporter. However, they are frequently snubbed by users who assume their accounts to be fake.
While Tinder grants access via users' Facebook accounts, the new verification system will allow celebrities to enter the app "in a different way," said Rad.
Related: In Sochi, People Are Using Matchmaking App Tinder Like Crazy
Tinder's double opt-in system -- in which both parties must express interest in order to communicate -- is especially convenient for celebrities who might otherwise be bombarded by unwanted missives.
"It gives them the control to filter through the noise and communicate with people they want to know," noted the company's chief marketing officer, Justin Mateen.
Tinder was launched in 2012 and is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, the same company that also owns other online dating platforms like Match.com, OkCupid and the European MeeticGroup.
After syncing with a users' Facebook profile to source key information, the app suggests potential matches based on geographic proximity, similar interests and common friends. Users swipe "right" on profiles they're interested in and "left" on those they're not.
The app reportedly facilitates 10 million matches every day.
