Nancy Jo, this is Tinder calling. Tinder went off against Vanity Fair via Twitter on Tuesday, Aug. 11, accusing the magazine of "one-sided journalism" and an "incredibly biased view" of the popular dating app in its juicy new piece, "Tinder and the Dawn of the 'Dating Apocalypse.'" After the dating app's rant went viral, a spokesperson for Tinder released a statement to Us Weekly admitting it had "overreacted."
Tinder first directly blasted the writer of the piece, Nancy Jo Sales, who is famously the author of The Bling Ring. Sales' article detailed the oftentimes bleak hookup culture perpetuated by dating apps, kicking off her piece with a detailed look at twentysomething subjects in Manhattan.
"When asked if they’ve been arranging dates on the apps they’ve been swiping at, all say not one date, but two or three," Sales wrote in her piece, noting that one subject — an investment banker — replied, "'If you had a reservation somewhere and then a table at Per Se opened up, you’d want to go there.'" The general overview of the article was not flattering to Tinder, which clearly miffed the dating company.
Hey @nancyjosales — that survey is incorrect. If you're interested in having a factual conversation, we're here. https://t.co/SLWlTLvJuf
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
–@VanityFair Little known fact: sex was invented in 2012 when Tinder was launched.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
–@VanityFair & @nancyjosales — we have lots of data. We surveyed 265,000 of our users. But it doesn’t seem like you’re interested in facts.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
It's disappointing that @VanityFair thought that the tiny number of people you found for your article represent our entire global userbase ????
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Next time reach out to us first @nancyjosales… that’s what journalists typically do.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Tinder then defended its platform, saying the users were responsible for how they chose to date.
The Tinder Generation is real. Our users are creating it. But it’s not at all what you portray it to be.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Tinder creates experiences. We create connections that otherwise never would have been made. 8 billion of them to date, in fact.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Tinder users are on Tinder to meet people for all kinds of reasons. Sure, some of them — men and women — want to hook up.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Our data tells us that the vast majority of Tinder users are looking for meaningful connections.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
In fact, Tinder said its app is helping people connect globally, even in oppressed countries and dictatorships where Internet access is typically scarce.
Talk to the female journalist in Pakistan who wrote just yesterday about using Tinder to find a relationship where being gay is illegal.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Talk to our many users in China and North Korea who find a way to meet people on Tinder even though Facebook is banned.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Talk to the many Tinder couples — gay and straight — that have gotten married after meeting on Tinder.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
We love ALL of these #SwipedRight stories. Tinder is simply how people meet.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
The ability to meet people outside of your closed circle in this world is an immensely powerful thing.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
Following its epic Twitter meltdown, the app released a statement to Gawker on Wednesday. "We have a passionate team that truly believes in Tinder. While reading a recent Vanity Fair article about today's dating culture, we were saddened to see that the article didn't touch upon the positive experiences that the majority of our users encounter daily," a rep told the site. "Our intention was to highlight the many statistics and amazing stories that are sometimes left unpublished, and, in doing so, we overreacted."So we are going to keep focusing on bringing people together. That’s why we’re here. That is why all of us at Tinder work so hard.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
If you want to try to tear us down with one-sided journalism, well, that’s your prerogative.
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
But it’s not going to dissuade us from building something that is changing the world. #GenerationTinder
— Tinder (@Tinder) August 11, 2015
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the app released a statement to Us Weekly.
"We have a passionate team that truly believes in Tinder. While reading a recent Vanity Fair article about today's dating culture, we were saddened to see that the article didn't touch upon the positive experiences that the majority of our users encounter daily," the rep told Us. "Our intention was to highlight the many statistics and amazing stories that are sometimes left unpublished, and, in doing so, we overreacted."