What you need to know
- Tinder launches its latest feature dubbed Fast Chat: Blind Date.
- The app will match people based on commonalities and put them in a timed chat.
- They can decide to "like" the person or move on to another match.
- Fast Chat: Blind Date is available now in the U.S. and will arrive globally soon.
Are you looking for a last-minute Valentine's date? Tinder wants to give you a shot by launching a new feature on the dating app — Fast Chat: Blind Date.
The name is pretty self-explanatory, as it's Tinder's way to make blind dates cool again.
The feature works by having users answer questions about themselves, after which it will pair them with someone with who they have things in common. After they're paired up, they will enter a timed chat, although neither person can see each other's profiles; they will only be able to view their answers to certain multiple-choice questions.
Once the chat is over, each participant will have the chance to "like" the other person, whose profile will be revealed to them if they match. Otherwise, they will move on to the next potential.
Similar to the app's recent Music Mode feature, Tinder explains that Gen Z is the target audience for Fast Chat: Blind Date as the feature "taps into their '90s nostalgia," a decade they largely missed out on.
The company explains that early testing showed a 40% increase in those that matched using the Blind Date feature over those that used Fast Chat with visible profiles, which brought the features together.
"There's something really special about letting conversation introduce someone's personality, without the preconceptions that can be made from photos," says Kyle Miller, VP of Product Innovation at Tinder. "The new Blind Date experience brings a surprisingly fun, banter-based way to interact and create connections that's all new to Tinder."
Fast Chat: Blind Date can be found in the Explore tab and is available now in the U.S. on iOS and the best Android phones, just in time for Valentine's Day. However, the rest of the world will have to wait, as the feature will roll out globally over the coming weeks.
