In recent news, Tinder spoke out on Twitter against Vanity Fair
about an article on the online dating app written by journalist Nancy Jo Sales.
Tinder went on a 31-tweet rant after they clearly disapproved of the article’s
viewpoint of how Tinder has negatively impacted dating in our modern age. But
does venting online solve anything? Sure, speaking out on social media got
people engaged and talking about Tinder and Vanity Fair, but not necessarily in
the best ways for Tinder.
After Tinder’s online tirade, many people surprisingly spoke
up in defense of Sales and Vanity Fair. I’m sure that this wasn’t the kind of
response that Tinder had anticipated. While Tinder also had many supporters
posting pictures of successful married Tinder couples, they later released a
statement explaining their Twitter outburst:
“We have a passionate team that truly believes in Tinder.
While reading a recent Vanity Fair article about today’s dating culture, we
were saddened to see that the article didn’t touch upon the positive
experiences that the majority of our users encounter daily,” Tinder said in the
statement. “Our intention was to highlight the many statistics and amazing
stories that are sometimes left unpublished, and, in doing so, we overreacted.”
Tinder’s rant may have seemed unwarranted at first, but it actually
may have been a calculated PR move. In fact, BuzzFeed journalist Claudia
Koerner said she was contacted by a PR rep from Tinder and was told to be on
the lookout for a response.
@summeranne I in fact got a pitch from a PR person that Tinder was about to tweet storm, and I should watch for it.
— Claudia Koerner (@ClaudiaKoerner) August 12, 2015
From a professional viewpoint, Tinder would have been safer
with just releasing a factual statement in response to the Vanity Fair article.
Below are three reasons why Tinder should not have blasted their thoughts publicly
on social media.
1.
It’s
annoying and whiny – Tinder came
off looking unprofessional and immature about the situation and the criticism. Twitter
user @meowseo compared the reaction to their “immature ex-boyfriend.”
2.
People
can screenshot – Once something is on the Internet, it never dies and
topics can resurface at any time. This incident is something that the Tinder management
team will remember and have to revisit for years to come.
3.
Things
can get heated – Emotions can quickly pour out and things can be said in
the heat of the moment that will have to be resolved later. It seems like the
Tinder rant was emotionally charged by someone involved with their social media
team.
It’s important to stop and think before starting a social
media rant that may hurt your business later. We rarely recommend taking an
emotional approach to this kind of situation. Tinder may have been worried that
the Vanity Fair article would hurt their business, but in responding, they ended
up making themselves look far worse in the process.
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