Tinder Has a Meltdown, Learns Social Media Isn’t for Winning Arguments

The big culture story this week has been Vanity Fair’s takedown of Tinder in a controversial print piece (though available early online) by Nancy Jo Sales titled “Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse.’”

Sales may be relying just a little-bit-kinda-much on hyperbole, although her piece features a plethora of interviews and analysis she feels serves as a steady foundation for her argument: Tinder encourages a concerning trend toward a culture of sexual gorging. This is, in her eyes, a cause for alarm:

“So where is this all going to go? What happens after you’ve come of age in the age of Tinder? Will people ever be satisfied with a sexual or even emotional commitment to one person? And does that matter? Can men and women ever find true intimacy in a world where communication is mediated by screens; or trust, when they know their partner has an array of other, easily accessible options?”

It’s true Sales sounds a little “kids these days” with her objections to hook-up culture, though that doesn’t automatically invalidate what are still valid concerns. Whatever mad person runs Tinder’s Twitter account apparently doesn’t agree. He or she launched a 30-tweet tirade against it on Tuesday evening. The word “meltdown” hits the right note here:

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