It appears dating app Tinder is looking to follow in Snapshot's footsteps by giving users the ability to send photos to fellow users but those images won't be sticking around long as they will "erased" in similar fashion to the popular chat app Snapshot.
It has prompted many to view Tinder's effort as a move into Snapshot's territory, but the question is whether Tinder will get it right after a series of controversies surrounding the failure of Snapshot to fully erase images from its database.
The LA-based Tinder has announced it is adding Moments, a new feature that will allow for the sharing of images with their "matches," who can then respond as if it were an instant message. According to co-founder and CEO Sean Rad, the Moments feature will function similar to Snapshot, and photos will disappear after a certain period of time.
"Pictures will disappear within 24 hours," Rad said in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg News. With the feature, Tinder wants "to help users to get to know their matches better."
Tinder is a dating app based almost entirely on a user's Facebook page. It creates recommendations based on the information provided via the social network. Users are able to develop their own profiles by choosing images from their Facebook page.
On the app, users can then browse other profiles based on parameters set by the user, including distance and likes, in order to allow Tinder to create similar preferenced users as potential dates.
But there are experts and observers who believe through this new image-based feature, Tinder could quickly become the "sexting" app that many thought Snapshot would become but never did. By browsing through a large number of profiles, sending potentially explicit images, it could be a worry that could lead to concerns over a users' privacy and what images they want others to view. Users are notified when one of their images is liked by another person.
But Rad disagrees, saying the majority of users are expected to send simple images that express a cautious interest in the other person.
"People love using Tinder for the joy of swiping, so we wanted to use the same experience to help people get to know each other," Rad says.
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