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Tinder Opens New Era Of Digital Dating; Mobile Dating Apps, Copycats Follow Suit

| Feb 06, 2015 12:54 AM EST

Tinder

With the rise of Tinder, mobile digital dating has become a whole new trend. With this, a slew of mobile dating apps and copycats have rushed to fill the niche.

Online dating is not really something new. Sites like eHarmony and OkCupid have long dominated the market. These sites required users to create elaborate online profiles and used algorithms to suggest matches. All this accoutrements, however, have been transformed by the simplicity of Tinder, reports the New York Times.

The app, available for iOS and Android, enables users to scan potential dates based on photos, distance and a short description. To express interest in a potential date, users just swipe right. It is also a cinch to set up, as it uses one's already established Facebook account.

Tinder's success is also largely attributed to its market base made up largely of millenials, most of whom do not traditionally use dating sites. Match.com president Amarnath Thombre said Tinder also "opened up this young demographic, 18- to 25-year-olds, that no product could open up before."

Tinder has also paved way for other mobile dating apps. Thombre said that Match.com experienced a 35 percent growth in users who signed up using their own mobile app. Copycat apps, such as clover, have mimicked Tinder's swipe-to-match model and added their own features.

With the number of competing apps on the rise, Tinder has made plans to gain an edge over the market. Tech Crunch reported of a premium paid service called Tinder plus, which lets people access two key features: undo and passport.

With the planned "undo" option, users will be able to take back an accidental swipe. The passport option, meanwhile, will allow users to make matches outside their geographic region.

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