Tinder Rolls Out Blue Checkmarks As A Way To Deal With Catfishing

Catfishing, the activity that involves pretending to be someone other than yourself on the Internet, is a big problem on dating apps. Many users have found themselves led on by and otherwise tricked into meeting up with a stranger who wasn't the person they were expecting, leading to, in the best-case scenario, a huge waste of everyone's time. Here to help solve that problem are blue checkmarks on Tinder.

The blue checkmarks are one of the three new safety features introduced by Tinder this week. In order to get the blue checkmark, users must undergo Photo Verification, which is a self-authentication feature that involves submitting real-time selfies that are compared with the selfies already uploaded on the user's profile.

Assuming the two sets of photos match, Tinder will verify the user and add a blue checkmark to their profile so that other users know they are for real. Tinder says that it is currently testing this feature in 'select markets' and that it will make it available to more profiles over the year.

In addition to that anti-catfishing measure, Tinder has also introduced Safety Center, a new dedicated portal where users can find resources, tools and other features to help keep them safe and secure. Tinder says it developed this portal alongside the Match Group Advisory Council — it is being made available to users in the US, UK, Germany, and France initially.

Finally, Tinder has rolled out Noonlight integration, though this is only available to users located in the US. Using this, Tinder users can share details about their future dates on the Noonlight platform, making it known where they'll be meeting, who they're going to meet up with, and when it will take place. With this feature, users will be able to 'discreetly' contact emergency services if they need help.