Tinder is dominating rival dating apps, Facebook data suggests
If you’re looking for a long-term relationship, marriage, or something more – uh – short-lived, there are plenty of dating apps out there, but Facebook data suggests that to all intents and purposes, there’s only one you really shouldn’t ignore: Tinder.
The app that brought the term “swipe left” into common parlance seems to be absolutely trouncing the opposition, according to data from Thinknum (via Digital Trends). As of this week, Tinder is the app with the most people using Facebook to login.
How big an achievement is that? Well, it’s just leapfrogged Spotify and Candy Crush Saga, which is a pretty huge deal.
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The rest of the top 10 is made up by YouTube, Pinterest, Wish, Texas HoldEm Poker, Candy Crush Soda Saga, PlayStation Network and Farm Heroes Saga. You’ll note that none of these are known for their romantic matching algorithms (unless I’ve seriously misjudged the nature of Farm Heroes Saga).
And Tinder’s rivals seem to be struggling. After a promising start back in 2015, OkCupid has dropped out of the top-100 apps that use Facebook login. Bumble – the app that only allows women to make the first move – is also struggling to gain ground.
Now there is a fairly obvious drawback in using Facebook logins as a way of testing company health. For starters, not all users connect their Facebook accounts. OkCupid, for example, launched in January 2004 – 16 days before Facebook opened its doors and some two years before it was open to those without an academic address.
Old hands will be purely of the email address and password variety.
Tinder, by contrast, first emerged five years ago, by which time everyone already had a Facebook account. Perhaps more importantly, Tinder’s popularity triggered a sea change in attitudes to online dating in general – it was no longer something to be embarrassed about, and hidden away behind cryptic usernames. Connect it with Facebook – be proud!
But – and it’s a big but – this theory falls down when you get to Bumble, which is only a year older than Tinder. And that’s what makes me think there is something in these stats, incomplete as they are.
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Tinder has broken through into popular culture in a way that most tech businesses can only dream of – it’s shorthand for online dating, almost in the same way as Hoover was for vacuum cleaners, or iPod was for mp3 players.
While this doesn’t necessarily mean Tinder’s the best, people go where the numbers are, and they’re undoubtedly largely on Tinder.
Is Tinder overrated? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.