Well the proof is finally here. Millions of people are officially paying for love online in a movement that was previously unheard of.
Since its inception, popular dating apps such as Tinder have introduced a new language of rejection to its legions of users. Rather than settling with simply being dumped, hopeful singles now have to face being ghosted, breadcrumbed or blocked.
Tinder is aware of this social injustice and have begun charging its users to alleviate the sting of the shut down – that is, for a price. Tinder will begin showing users the people who liked them before they even swipe.
The member’s only service forms part of Tinder Gold, the dating app’s premium service which also provides Passport, Rewind, Unlimited Likes, five Super Likes per day, and one Boost per month.
This commercial move in the game of love essentially reinforces the trend of free-to-use apps introducing charges to its users for extra features, much like the strategy that many of the existing mobile games have been employing.
So how much is Tinder making from the thirstiness of users? Whilst Tinder is free, accessing the extra features requires Tinder Gold which commands a fee of approximately AU$30 a month.
Multiply that with the 2.5 million paid Tinder users from around the world and you have $75 million in online subscription-based revenue.
From this we can denote another long-believed truth. Love is damn expensive.