Tinder Social: What the new group dating feature is really like

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled into an old friend and her buddies who looked utterly deflated at a burger restaurant in Sydney, Australia late on a Friday night. 

They were at the end of a lacklustre group date with a band they had met on Tinder. The band had set up their own profile, and invited the girls to a pub they were playing at nearby that night.

"It seemed like it would be fun," my friend said, half eating a burger. The date was actually a rather boring and awkward affair, a far cry from the wild fantasy of dating a garage rock outfit. "We weren't even sure if the tambourine guy was even in the band," she laughed.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

It's a bitter reality that will be a part of the Tinder Social experience, the app's foray into group dating that launched to a "small group of users" in Australia on Wednesday. 

The feature has already been criticised for allowing someone to easily see an entire list of Facebook friends who are signed up to Tinder. So if you have used the app, you have automatically opted into Tinder Social. It's particularly unpleasant for those that might currently be in a relationship and have accessed the app previously.

While that might be easily rectified with an app update, the likely awkwardness of a group Tinder date will unfortunately forever be singed into one's mind, or remain a punch line.

If you dare, the act of joining Tinder Social is relatively simple: You can select up to four of your friends (of all genders) who are using the app. Once selected, a notification is sent to them, so there is no chance of springing a group date on someone, unfortunately. They can also opt out after the fact. 

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

There's a 48-hour expiry on the group that you set up, which seems like a rather odd limitation. It helps keeps the groups fresh, if anything, and you can disband your group anytime if it's not working out. 

Little is provided to help set your group apart, aside from a text box that you can write a message and tell the Tinder world what your group is up to. Your group's message will show up as a little pink bubble above your names in the app. 

Here are some of the messages I saw, and no prizes for guessing if they're sincere or not.

"Looking for people to play Cards Against Humanity!"

"T***a eats ass like groceries."

"We hate you."

"Please teach us how to group chat!!"

"Party time !!!"

"Looking for a 5th member for our orgy."

"Looking for a 5th member for our orgy."

There aren't many groups on Tinder just yet and they currently intermittently show up on the app. There is no separate view between profile types available at the moment, with groups just bundled in with individual profiles. Unfortunately, the gender selection option also doesn't work for groups.

I was hoping to score a group date for the purpose of this piece, but unfortunately no luck on that front. Our group's message "Writing an article about Tinder Social" didn't seem to be attractive enough for the Tinder crowd, sadly. Maybe we should have written something about eating ass.

So will it revolutionise group dating? It certainly makes it easier, if you somehow find yourself a group that is actually keen for a proper date. Apart from that, it is the same old dating problems with a different sheen.

While there are plenty of lurid headlines out there on Tinder Social that mention orgies and "enabling group sex," it's a stronger likelihood that you'll be listening to an offbeat tambourine playing in an empty pub.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.