It appears that COVID-19 and social distancing is putting a sharper focus on apps and platforms that feature some sort of video functionality. It’s part of the reason why Zoom has proved so popular in recent months, and why other apps are adding more features to their offerings to compete.
Now Tinder (under the Match Group) is embracing video, with the dating app confirming in an earnings call (PDF) earlier this week that it would introduce video chats later this year.
“We are confident that demand for human connection will never dissipate and remain committed to fulfilling that need,” the firm explained in its earnings call, “This period of social isolation would have been much more dire for single people – who no longer have other avenues to meet and connect such as bars and concerts – if not for our products.”
A precise launch window for the feature is unknown, and that may likely be down to the fact that Tinder has quite a few hurdles to negotiate should it intend to roll out video functionality.
We’re not talking about the design work and coding to integrate video, or the many hours it will take to ensure a solid viewing experience.
As The Verge points out, a big issue will be how Tinder handles harassment or abuse on video. There has been no mention of what measures will be in place, given how recently the announcement was made, but it will indeed a consideration.
This as gathering evidence for video will prove difficult, as there is no physical record like there is in a conversation thread. It will also be hard to get users to agree to having their video sessions recorded too, with countless privacy concerns being raised.
While we hope Tinder has the best of intentions with the addition of video chats, it is an uncomfortable reality that online harassment and abuse are prevalent on social media apps. It is also an issue that will take some serious thought in order to effectively handle.
As such it will be interesting to see what Tinder’s approach to harassment and abuse will be when video chats go live on the app later this year.
