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Six years ago, Tinder pranked us with an “April Fools” about adding a “height verification” feature . . . “to bring honesty back to dating.”
That hasn’t happened, but now, they ARE testing a feature to allow people to FILTER BY HEIGHT. So, they aren’t enforcing what height you report . . . but they are allowing women to filter out short men.
Some people are up in (short) arms over this, but this isn’t groundbreaking territory. Hinge already lets paid users filter by height, and the sun is still rising. (Both Tinder and Hinge are owned by Match Group.)
A Tinder spokesperson said, “This is part of a broader effort to help people connect more intentionally.”
It’s worth pointing out: For now, it sounds like the height filter will just be a “preference” to guide the algorithm for premium users . . . not a “hard filter” that would completely cut people off. (Tinder Platinum starts at $40 per month.)
Naturally, some people are complaining about it.
One person on social media said, “Justice for all us short kings!” And another said, “It’s so hypocritical that men are demonized for having preferences, but it’s okay for women . . . imagine if Tinder added a weight filter.”
Okay. Two things:
One: Dating apps have always been brutal.
And Two: It’s just another tool that’s TRYING to make everyone’s experience more efficient. If you’re willing to shrink your pool of prospects to filter by height, then that’s your choice.
And to the detractors, it would’ve been something these people would’ve done eventually anyway. Now, you’re also being saved the time of dealing with height-obsessed daters.
