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TECHNOLOGY A23
Saturday 13 February 2016
Young adults swipe right on Tinder, but is it just a game?
TALI ARBEL In this July 5, 2015, file photo, a man uses the dating app Tinder in New Delhi. Online dating is now 85 percent are 18 to 34.
AP Technology Writer hip with young adults, but not always for dating. Tinder seems built to sneak
NEW YORK (AP) — Online young people into online
dating services are now Associated Press dating. “I wouldn’t even
hip with young adults, but call it dating — I don’t think
not always for dating. that age group used on- sible partners in their regu- this without sounding like a you need to call it dating,”
Credit mobile dating apps line dating. That rose to 27 lar life. That includes gays, scumbag, but I used it as said Amarnath Thombre,
such as Tinder, which incor- percent in the latest Pew lesbians and middle-aged a confidence boost,” he Match Group’s Chief Strat-
porate fun elements and study, which was released straight people, he said. said. egy Officer. “You enter
are dead simple to use. Thursday. By comparison, “Conversely, single people But he said he wouldn’t use like you’re trying to play
Swipe right on a profile pic- only 15 percent of U.S. (college students, for ex- Tinder to find a significant a game and then you
ture to approve and swipe adults overall have used ample) who are fortunate other, because he believes end up dating people. It’s
left to reject. No awkward dating sites or apps, just a enough to inhabit an en- it’s harder to trust people more like a psychological
messages to each other slight increase from 11 per- vironment full of eligible you meet on the app. switch.”
unless both say yes. cent in 2013. (If that seems potential partners may not Others describe Tinder as Pew’s survey shows that
But instead of just looking low, it’s because the entire need to actively search for convenient and fun, and some older adults are also
for long-term love, some U.S. population is surveyed, partners at all,” he wrote. possibly a route to a rela- more interested in online
people are turning to including people who are But newer dating apps tionship — but there are dating. Usage among 55
these services for one-night already coupled. For peo- seem to have made it fun obstacles. “A lot of guys will to 64 doubled to 12 per-
stands and even advice ple who have never been for young people to use — message just terrible things, cent. Pew’s Smith said they
from locals when traveling. married, 30 percent have or at least pass the time. right off the bat,” said Mad- probably feel more com-
Others just want to look at used online dating.) Alfred Mohi, 24, said he has die Forshee, a 21-year-old- fortable with the idea of
sexy — and not-so-sexy — Stanford University pro- used Tinder for flings with student in Grand Rapids, finding a partner on the In-
pics when they’re bored. fessor Michael Rosenfeld people he doesn’t want Michigan. She said she’s ternet as they hear about
“It’s turned into a game,” wrote in a 2012 paper that to see again, and for the been sent naked photos — successful matches from
said Tim Smith, a 21-year- the Internet could be help- emotional high of match- “It’s like, I don’t want to see friends and relatives.
old student from Hamp- ful for people in “thin” dat- ing and talking with wom- that.” Tinder owner Match Of course, there are ex-
stead, Maryland. ing markets, ones with rela- en he deems attractive. Group says half of Tinder us- ceptions: Edward Stern, a
When he’s bored, he turns tively fewer options for pos- “I don’t know how to say ers are ages 18 to 24, while 62-year-old New Yorker,
to Tinder to start swiping on said he has been an on-
women in the app, even line dater for decades and
when he doesn’t feel like finds more cynicism today.
talking to anyone. “I could tell you what it
Young adults, ages 18 to was like in the ‘90s. People
24, traditionally haven’t weren’t as afraid or dis-
been big online daters. trustful,” he said. “That’s
They haven’t had much of my biggest impression of
a need, as they are typi- what’s going on today.
cally surrounded by oth- You have to pull teeth to
er young, single people, get people to meet you.”
whether at work or school, He said he typically ends
said Aaron Smith, associ- up going out with women
ate research director with in their 20s, because those
the Pew Research Cen- are the ones who respond
ter. Tinder and rivals such to him. He says he’s happy
as Hinge are changing with “fun” rather than a
the dynamics, and young long-term relationship.
adults are using online Pew conducted the survey
dating in greater numbers June 10 to July 12, 2015,
than any other age group with 2,001 U.S. adults. Inter-
these days. views were conducted in
In 2013, only 10 percent in English and Spanish. q
Visa buys nearly 10 pct stake
in Dorsey’s company, Square
NEW YORK (AP) — Visa is regulatory filing. That would payment. In this Jan. 5, 2015 file photo, Dr. Greg Werner poses for a picture
now a major shareholder make it the San Francisco Square Inc. went public with his Square credit card reader at his office in New York.
in Square, the mobile pay- company’s second-big- in November. The Square
ment services company gest shareholder, accord- device plugs into smart- Associated Press
co-founded and led by ing to that data research phones or tablets, so credit
Jack Dorsey. firm FactSet. cards can be accepted al-
Shares of Square spiked 14 Visa has been working on most anywhere.
percent before the open- payment services technol- Dorsey, a co-founder of
ing bell Friday. ogy of its own including Square, is also co-founder
Visa snapped up a near- Visa payWave, which al- and CEO of Twitter Inc.q
ly 10 percent interest in lows users to pass a card
Square, according to a over a terminal to record a
