{"id":19944,"date":"2025-09-14T02:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T02:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/19944\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T02:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T02:45:14","slug":"tinder-tries-to-win-back-gen-z-with-dating-app-modes-designed-for-double-dating-and-college-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/19944\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinder tries to win back Gen Z with dating app ‘modes’ designed for double dating and college students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gen Z and dating experts have proclaimed traditional dating apps are doomed<\/a>. But Tinder is courting the next generation by introducing new \u201cmodes\u201d focused on double dating and connecting college students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Tinder introduced<\/a> three new modes for users: a For You Mode, a Double Date Mode, and a College Mode. These each allow users to toggle between different match types based on what they\u2019re looking for on any given day. The For You Mode lets users see all available matches based on a user\u2019s preferences, while Double Date Mode allows users to pair up with a friend to find other match pairs. College Mode narrows down matches to other surrounding users who are also in college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Modes was built to accommodate changing needs and desires, based on feedback from its\u00a0 Gen Z users, and changes in the dating industry at large, Cleo Long, Tinder\u2019s senior director of global product marketing, told Fortune.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our focus is really around drawing inspiration from Gen Z and what feels authentic and organic to them,\u201d Long said. \u201cThe evolution of Modes is drawing off of that need from Gen Z to have more flexibility and be able to sort of float in and out of different states. The idea here is really around helping our users have the power to control what they\u2019re looking for in a given moment and be able to find that more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Tinder<\/p>\n

Tinder had previously launched the double-dating feature and TinderU<\/a> (dedicated to college students), but Modes allow for users to have a more dedicated space to browse matches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Double Date mode, users can pair up with a friend to match with other pairs, which Tinder argues lessens the pressure to meet new people and makes it easier to connect with users looking for the same type of match. And it\u2019s seemingly working: Engagement among Double Date users (prior to the Modes launch) were sending nearly 25% more messages per match than one-on-one chats, and nearly 15% of users who accepted a Double Date invite were either new to Tinder or recently reactivated their account. In other words, double dating is pulling Gen Z to Tinder\u2014or bringing them back. Double Dating has been a winning feature with Gen Z and young millennials, with 85% of its current users between the ages of 18 and 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is resonating with people in that they want to go on this journey with the friend,\u201d Long said. \u201cThey want that little bit of extra psychological safety there along with them, by having a friend at your side while you\u2019re connecting with other people.\u201d Similarly, College Mode offers more \u201creassurance\u201d to users in making what can feel like a big group of people feel closer, she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Breathing new life into dating for Gen Z<\/p>\n

A recent Forbes survey<\/a> found more than 75% of Gen Z respondents felt burnt out using dating apps like Hinge, Tinder, and Bumble because they didn\u2019t feel as if they could find a genuine connection with someone despite how much time they spent on the apps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Match Group<\/a> and other dating-app companies had been struggling for a while following a boom in the early 2020s. But Match Group shares popped in early August on the news that the company had issued an upbeat guidance between $910 million and $920 million in the current quarter, beating a $890 million estimate from analysts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are operating like a company that is just getting started, and we believe the best chapters of the category and company are still ahead,\u201d CEO Spencer Rascoff said during the earnings call. \u201cWe are moving with urgency, we are obsessed with the product and we are building for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s after Rascoff had admitted<\/a> in a letter on LinkedIn<\/a> posted in March saying today\u2019s dating apps had started to like a numbers game that leaves \u201cpeople with the false impression that we prioritize metrics over experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modes, on the other hand, is the company\u2019s latest attempt to meet Gen Z where they are. But others remain wary of whether dating apps will make the comeback they\u2019re hoping for, given Gen Z\u2019spreference<\/a> for making real-life connections.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Dating apps] can try to come up with more ways to [allow] people to assess chemistry,\u201d Ilana Dunn, a dating coach and host of the Seeing Other People podcast, told<\/a> Fortune. \u201cBut unless they are really pushing people to meet in real life by maybe creating more in-person activations and events where people can assess, \u2018Oh, is there a vibe here?\u2019 I don\u2019t know that they will make the comeback to being as big as they once were.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Fortune Global Forum returns Oct. 26\u201327, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and global leaders will gather for a dynamic, invitation-only event shaping the future of business. Apply for an invitation.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gen Z and dating experts have proclaimed traditional dating apps are doomed. But Tinder is courting the next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[8744,8745,2945,61,60,17730,202,80,17731],"class_list":{"0":"post-19944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-dating","9":"tag-dating-apps","10":"tag-gen-z","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-match-group","14":"tag-mobile","15":"tag-technology","16":"tag-tinder"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}