Tinder users this month will have a new, far more interactive way of finding potential love interests than simply swiping left or right.
The app rolled out an apocalyptic-themed adventure game, called Swipe Night, which allows users to dictate what happens next in the story. The user's decisions will then match them with other like-minded players.
"It's entertaining but the core of it is that it is a way to tell something about yourself … And that becomes an icebreaker," said Elie Seidman, Tinder's CEO. The game is live on the app every Sunday evening in October. "You're in it. It's immersive. It's not a story, it's your story."
Founded in 2012 in Los Angeles, Tinder is one of the earliest location-based, smartphone dating apps and popularized the swiping feature, which is now widely used by other platforms such as Bumble. The app has now logged over 30 billion matches worldwide and reports two billion app views per day.
Swipe Night is Tinder's first responsive, streaming video feature and was built to specifically target Generation Z users, which make up over 50 percent of all users.
"We know Gen Z speaks in content, so we intentionally built an experience that is native to how they interact," Ravi Mehta, Tinder's chief product officer, said in a statement. "Our hope is that it will encourage new, organic conversations based on a shared content experience."
Over 25 million people in the U.S. currently use smartphone dating apps, according to eMarketer. The number of users is expected to grow by 5.3 percent this year, which is a slowdown compared to years prior. Yet the sector did gain a major new addition last month with the highly anticipated launch of Facebook Dating.
Tinder, however, continues to dominate the sector. In August, the app's parent company, Match Group ($MTCH), reported that the platform had 5.2 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2019, which marked a 1.5 million year-over-year increase.
Match Group, which took in nearly $500 million last quarter, also owns several other top dating platforms such as OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and Hinge.
Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer for the Human Rights Foundation, joins Closing Bell, where he explains where tech experts are getting it wrong when they call crypto risky and unproven. He also stresses the importance of crypto and points to how Ukraine was able to use Bitcoin during the onset of the Russian invasion.
API platform RapidAPI recently became a unicorn with a $1 billion valuation after raising $150 million in a Series D funding round led by Softbank Vision Two Fund. Microsoft's Venture Fund, M12, and Andreessen Horowitz also participated. RapidAPI says it provides the world's largest API hub which enables millions of developers and companies to build software faster. Iddo Gino, founder and CEO of RapidAPI, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The PGA Tour has announced that it will suspend players that are competing in the LIV Golf event that teed off today. At least 17 players, including names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Sergio Garcia are banned from the PGA Tour competition. Hilary Fordwich, a business analyst and golf expert, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the PGA had to go this route. This is a threat to the future of golf for them, and there's been many contentions about them not being fair and that this is vindictive," she said. "Don't forget, of course, they represent sort of a monopoly in the history of golf. So you've got two sides to this story. You've got those the purists, those that feel that golf should only be a certain way and that there are only these limited events that the PGA puts on. And then you've got other people who are saying … this is all about money"
Facebook parent Meta officially has changed it’s ticker symbol from ‘FB’ to ‘META’. Paul Meeks, a portfolio manager, Independent Solutions Wealth Management, and a professor of practice in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the tech giant has had to make big changes to its name, its ticker, and its business plans. "When you see what's happening in digital advertising — and there was a slowdown there even before the threat of a recession, which could cause a even more drastic slowdown next year — they had to pivot," he said. Meeks noted he sees Facebook dominating in the metaverse space going forward — whatever that may end up being.
Sports merchandising company Fanatics announced it will be making trading cards featuring college athletes, a deal made possible by the NCAA's change to NIL rules for its players. Anchors Kristen Scholer and Ken Buffa break down the deal for Cheddar.
Catching you up on today’s top business headlines with household wealth falling in Q1 for the first time in two years, Meta officially changing its ticker symbol from ‘FB’ to ‘META’, and updates on Tesla.
The European Union has approved a 40 percent quota for women to sit on company boards. This comes as only 9 of the 27 EU member states have gender equality legislation.
Amanda Victoria, co-founder and CEO of Siponey, joins Cheddar News to talk about the company's canned cocktails. The spritz is made with only four ingredients — wildflower honey, aged rye whiskey, sparkling water, and fresh lemon juice.
