Tinder Social: App launches feature to let people go on group dates

The new feature could be mistaken for a group sex tool, some have warned

That's an iPhone with the Tinder app. (Mike Blake/Getty)

Dating app Tinder has launched a new feature that lets people meet up in groups.

The feature is intended as a way of letting people meet up with people alongside friends, with the aim of making dates more fun and finding platonic friends. But some have said that it might be confused with a group sex app, since Tinder is also known as an app that enables casual sex.

"Tinder is seen by many as being a hook-up site," Ben Wood from the CCS Insight consultancy told the BBC.

"So, it needs to be careful. By expanding in this direction, rather than becoming a more interesting social meeting service, it could be perceived as an orgy app."

The feature has also been hit with other controversies since it launched in Australia. It accesses people’s Facebook friends to let them invite along friends – which some complained caused problems since it revealed who was using the app.

But Tinder itself said that the feature had been launched simply as a way of letting people have a more enjoyable time.

““Tinder Social is designed to make it as easy as possible to plan your night, get out into the real world and meet new people,” said co-founder Sean Rad.

“The new feature takes the Tinder experience to a new level, offering our users more ways to expand their social circles and interact with potential matches. We believe it’s the ultimate tool for planning your next adventure.”

The new feature is accessed using the latest version of the app by “unlocking” Tinder social. That must be done to appear on it, meaning that the problems with it accidentally revealing who is on Tinder are minimised.

From that screen, users can create a group of anyone else who has opted in and make a group. Users swipe to indicated interest in that group – and then the collection of up to four people can decide what they want to do.

Tinder Social is being promoted through a special card in the app, which appears like another user but actually works as a prompt to try it out.