Ever spotted a celebrity's face on Tinder and wondered if it’s a fake? Now you don’t have to worry anymore.
The popular dating app just launched verified profiles, following in the footsteps of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The profiles of “notable public figures, celebrities and athletes” will now be marked with the recognizable white-and-blue checkmark badge, Tinder announced in a blog post on Tuesday.
“Many celebrities were telling us that no one believes it is really them on Tinder, so we launched verified profiles to authentic users who are notable public figures,” Rosette Pambakian, vice president of global communications and branding at Tinder, told The Huffington Post.
The dating app has seen problems with scammers, bots and fake profiles in the past, raising concerns of cybersecurity and catfishing. On the other hand, real celebrities using the app often made few matches, as people automatically assumed they were fake, former Tinder CEO Sean Rad told The Hollywood Reporter in March.
At the time, Rad said a plan was under way to introduce a verification system that would "allow celebrities to enter Tinder in a different way" and combat the skepticism around celebrity profiles.
Casual Tinder users might come across profiles bearing the names of popular figures, artists or athletes who have spoken about using the app, including Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Hilary Duff, who recently chronicled her Tinder adventures in a music video.
Individuals wishing to verify their profiles can email verified@tinder.com for consideration, Pambakian said. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, she added, though she also said that for now "only notable public figures will be considered, including celebrities and athletes."
For us "normals", then, can Tinder introduce a filter for only verified profiles?