Tinder bets on group dating feature to win back Gen Z

Tired of navigating the online dating scenery alone? Now you tin swipe close on with friends.

Tinder launched a double-dating diagnostic Tuesday, allowing users to make associated profiles with friends to lucifer with different pairs.

Double Date, arsenic the diagnostic is called, is the refined mentation of the failed 2016 merchandise Tinder Social, which was discontinued successful 2017 implicit privateness concerns and idiosyncratic disorder astir its purpose.

To activate Double Date, users prime up to 3 friends to make a brace with. Then they tin browse and similar different paired users. When some pairs similar each other, a radical chat opens betwixt each 4 radical to coordinate plans.

The diagnostic besides allows users to connection individuals wrong a matched brace privately if they privation to modulation to a one-on-one conversation. Users tin support aggregate pairings with antithetic friends portion keeping their idiosyncratic dating illustration separate.

The diagnostic was fashionable with young users erstwhile it was tested successful Europe and Latin America. Cleo Long, Tinder’s caput of merchandise marketing, said the diagnostic is meant to assistance relieve dating accent for younger users.

“This is simply a social-first acquisition that’s truly meant to assistance relieve immoderate of the unit that we cognize a batch of Gen Z experiences with dating by making it much social, much fun, and bringing your friends successful to assistance reenforce that comfortableness piece,” Long said.

Tinder said astir 90% of radical who tried Double Date were nether 29, aligning with the company’s propulsion to clasp Gen Z.

The radical dynamic appears to resonate with women, who were 3 times much apt to amusement involvement successful paired profiles compared to idiosyncratic ones during testing. Users successful radical chats besides sent importantly much messages — astir 35% much than emblematic one-on-one conversations.

The institution said the diagnostic helped bring users to the platform. About 15% of radical who accepted Double Date invitations were either wholly caller to Tinder oregon returning aft a play of inactivity.

The affirmative investigating results prompted Tinder to accelerate its U.S. motorboat up of schedule.

Tinder is owned by Match Group Inc., the institution down Hinge and OkCupid. It is facing mounting unit connected its business. In the archetypal 4th of 2025, Match Group reported a 5% diminution successful paying subscribers crossed each its apps, portion Tinder saw a 7% alteration successful subscriptions. In effect to these shifts, Match made the determination to laic disconnected astir 325 employees, oregon 13% of its workforce.

These caller losses are portion of a broader pattern. Tinder’s paying idiosyncratic basal has slipped from much than 11 cardinal subscribers successful precocious 2022 to astir 9.1 cardinal today. The accordant diminution has caught the attraction of activistic investors, including Elliott Investment Management.

The mounting unit led to important enactment changes wrong the company. In May, Tinder Chief Executive Faye Iosotaluno announced she would measurement down successful July aft little than 2 years successful the role. Spencer Rascoff, who was appointed Match main enforcement successful February to tackle the slowdown successful idiosyncratic engagement, stepped successful to pb Tinder directly.

Rascoff has outlined an ambitious technology-focused turnaround plan. In an interior memo viewed by the Wall Street Journal, helium called connected unit to velocity up merchandise changes and usage artificial intelligence, emphasizing that employees should prioritize idiosyncratic acquisition implicit short-term revenue.

The institution has rolled retired AI features that assistance users make amended profiles and punctual them to reconsider perchance inappropriate messages earlier sending them.

Tinder has besides launched “The Game Game,” which uses OpenAI’s speech-to-speech exertion to fto users signifier flirting with AI-generated personas successful over-the-top scenarios designed to trim dating anxiousness done humor.

During the company’s archetypal 4th net call, Rascoff noted that Match’s apps person fallen retired of favour with younger daters due to the fact that galore saw utilizing them arsenic a “numbers game.” He believes Double Date tin assistance displacement perceptions, calling it little “hook-uppy” and much astir having “a bully clip arsenic friends.”

Tinder’s struggles bespeak broader trends successful the dating app industry. Dating apps person been losing their entreaty amongst singles successful caller years, particularly Gen Z, the procreation calved betwixt 1997 and 2012. Only 26% of online dating services users successful the U.S. are 18 to 29 years old, portion 30 to 49-year-olds comprise 61% of that aforesaid idiosyncratic base.

Gen Z progressively prefers gathering imaginable partners done communal friends and real-world gatherings.

Los Angeles has go a investigating crushed for dating alternatives that skip swiping entirely. Start-ups similar El Segundo-based First Round’s connected Me promote contiguous in-person meetups, portion Venice’s Lox Club hosts play assemblage events for singles to mingle.