Hey internet friends. Do you believe in love at first sight? Do you believe a stronger-than-magnetic
pull between two strangers on their respective mobile devices can manifest as they both swipe
right for each other? Oh boy, I'm looking forward to your comments on this one, because
finding dates used to require putting on some pants and leaving your house, but not anymore
thanks to millennials' most popular source for creating a spark, the app called "Tinder".
But is this dating app just a convenient way to fend off the prickly cold of loneliness
or is a more sinister agenda heating up with each swipe?
(Typing) "Do you think we should meet?" "Meet?"
(News anchor) "The dating app Tinder has become Apple's number one app."
(Interviewer)"I swipe right if I'm into you? Left if I'm not?" (Sean Rad) "Yes." (Interviewer) "Is the...
smart phone disrupting love?" (Sean Rad) "No, I think it's enabling love."
(Buzzfeed) "The good thing about online dating is there's over forty million singles in the United States
alone who are using dating sites and dating apps."
"So statistically speaking, meeting in real life is actually weirder than meeting online…and grosser."
If you're not sure how Tinder works, I'll brief you: Imagine a regional human buffet with a menu on your phone. Tinder
finds potential romantic matches near you, narrowed down by your criteria, showing profiles
with photos so physical attractiveness can be evaluated in a split second, and if you're
not interested in the individual offered, you pass by swiping left. If you are interested,
you swipe right. The reason why Tinder is so successful? In order to communicate, the
person in which you expressed interest must express mutual interest before you can exchange
messages. The idea is for strangers to meet and fall into easy intimacy, or at least,
that's what Tinder has gotten a reputation for: being the go-to hook up app. Behind the
multi-billion dollar location-based dating app is an interesting cast of characters.
Jewish Tinder co-founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen launched the app in 2012, and now,
Tinder is owned by Match Group, Inc., which is an American company headquartered in Dallas,
Texas that owns other online dating websites like OkCupid, PlentyofFish, and Match.com.
But this is where it gets interesting…Match Group is a subsidiary of InterActiveCorp or
IAC, an American media and internet company with Barry Diller sitting on the board of
directors as Chairman. After working for ABC in the 60's and Paramount Pictures in the
70's until his employment at Paramount ended in a bitter conflict with Martin Davis, Diller
was an executive at Rupert Murdoch's FOX Broadcasting, and according to the director of the FOX show,
The Simpsons, the primary antagonist of the show, Mr. Burns, was based off of Diller,
which is curious when you consider that The Simpsons has accurately predicted or alluded
to major events like 9/11, ebola, and Donald Trump's presidency, a practice which some
refer to as "predictive programming", since cartoons serve as the perfect conduit for
the unsuspecting mind, a mind ready to be socially engineered and flooded with subliminal
messaging. We'll get back to unsuspecting minds in a moment, but first, I want to go
back to this IAC board of directors under which Tinder operates. Former First Daughter
Chelsea Clinton is listed as "Director" on this board, and despite her lack of experience
in the internet industry, she is paid a reported $300,000 a year for this role. But is Chelsea
Clinton's role just to be a celebrity face on the forefront of a corporation, boosting
its visibility, or is she a mere hint of agendas being pushed through this new medium, the
online dating scene? Mr. Burns: "They're all covered with filthy germs, aren't they Smithers?"
Smithers: "Why what do you mean sir?" Germs: "Freemasons run the country!"
It appears that Diller didn't end the social engineering with TV programming, which makes sense since young people are constantly
plugged into a mobile electronic device. There's a stark juxtaposition between generations
in their introduction to the world of relationships and sex. The rise of the internet opened up
an entire realm of connections, both positive and negative. The internet and social media
has changed the way we date, and it's also warped our ideas about sex and sexual norms,
especially with pornography being so easily accessible. Can you imagine if someone combined
the addictive aspects of social media, like instant gratification and validation, with,
let's say, the accessibility of sex or stimulating conversation into an app, but then used that
platform to push a political ideology or agenda through subliminal or, even sometimes, overt
messages integrated into the system? Well, can you imagine? Well, you don't have to, because
I've got a few examples for you. Let's go to November of 2016, when Tinder announced
that it "would be expanding its gender identity choices from 'man' and 'woman' to include
a wider range of options" so transgender users could have a better app experience. "Transparent producer
Zackary Drucker explained the change was 'empowering' to trans people like her, adding, 'I think
that many people will be opened up to the possibility of swiping right on an out trans
person, and to have an expanded dating pool.'" Why not create a separate app for trans folks
and those who wish to date trans folks? Was that out of the budget, Diller? With 37 custom
gender options, there's a variety of flavors on the dating app, and it sounds like Tinder
wants us to sample them all. Adams: "There's still a stigma associated with the notion
of dating a trans person. They were not able to have the same experience with Tinder that
other users could have." Glicker: "This update allows users to add their gender outside of
the binary, and also we've added language within the app and we've added information
and education to inform users about how this feature is used and about how they can add
their gender to their profile." While Diller is married to Diane Von Furstenberg, making
a Zionist-Jewish power couple, he is widely believed to be gay. Speaking of Zion, there
was a surge of Israeli propaganda spreading to Tinder, speculated to have been headed
by the “Director of Interactive Media & Public Diplomacy at Office of the Prime Minister
of Israel", which wasn't the first time or last time someone utilized Tinder for a political
campaign. And while those examples which furthered political and social agendas reached unsuspecting
minds on this Tinder app, what is really the concern is the data mining of users in order
for Tinder to perfect their AI. In May of 2017, Match Group announced it was exploring
artificial intelligence in order to improve your matches and land you dates without any
swiping on your behalf. "Tinder’s users could potentially be able to ask Siri to assist
them in finding dates and help to find potential matches in areas nearby to users…letting
Tinder users know who’s taken or single when walking into a room." Tinder requires
you to register with their app through your Facebook profile, so one could assume that
relationship statuses will be curated from your profile and your Facebook friends' profiles.
And while AI is not new and has certainly been around for a while, the worry here with
Tinder and its use of AI is that its creating a culture of depersonalized contact where
individuals are disposable in their social interactions. My personal opinion is that
while we're more connected than ever with apps like Tinder, the behavioral norms perpetuated
by Tinders' hookup culture are a highway to loneliness: it's an endless game of
interaction, validation, acquisition, and trying not to catch STDs or feelings…I question the
ethics of those who have their hands on our personal data, and I question their intentions
with that data. Tell me, have you ever used an app like Tinder? Have you ever tried online
dating? What was your experience? Let me know. I always look forward to your comments. Thank
you so much for subscribing and supporting my channel on Patreon. BYE!