Assignment 3 For Internet Commerce and Consumers

1. Love Me, Tinder
A Case Study onTinder

2. Question
“Analyse the degree to which Internet business has matured and/or is
constantly developing and innovating using a detailed case study of a
Internet business.”

3. What is Tinder?
▪ Tinder is one of many location based social networking dating apps.
▪ Bases it’s matches on your Facebook interests and friends.
▪ It allows it’s users to pick and choose between a varied range of girls and
guys, depending on preference, who are located around the area in which
they live.
▪ Was created by Sean Rad, Jonathan Badeen, Justin Mateen, Joe Munoz,
Whitney Wolfe and Chris Gylczynski and was initially released on
September 12th 2012.
▪ By May 2013 it had become “among the top 25 social networking apps.”
(Lust At First Photo, 2015)

4. First Dating Website
▪ First ever Internet dating website, Match.com, was developed and launched
on the web on the 21st of April 1995 by IAC (InterActiveCorp). [Online
Dating Magazine, n.d.]
▪ As of October 2015 it costs $20.99 per month to use Match.com for 12
months. USA prices. (Ruderman, 2015)
▪ By 2015 – Match.com had over 4.1 million paying subscribers. (“Match.com
Statistics, 2015)
▪ Match.com whilst being viewed as one of the most popular dating websites
doesn’t have the same features asTinder does. Some features that make
Tinder, in my opinion, slightly more safe and private than Match.com

5. Differences
▪ Tinder and Match.com, both developed by IAC, have features that differ from one
another.
▪ Privacy –Tinder gives you the option to swipe left (Reject) or swipe right (Like) with
your potential matches. Unless a person swipes right they won’t be able to get in
contact with you and also won’t be able to know you’ve swiped left to them.
Match.com allows every person signed up to the website or app to view your
profile whether they want to talk to you or not.
▪ Cost –While both Match andTinder are free to download Match charges it’s
customers for certain subscriptions, which will be used for both your app profile
and your website profile.
▪ Mobility –When Internet dating first started the only way to get on these sites was
through a computer, there was no other way. Now that we have smart phones and
other technologies it is more easy to find dating apps and technologies that allow
us to stay connected when away from the computer.
▪ (Cummings, 2014)

6. The Importance of Networking
▪ Network Effects can be defined as “A phenomenon whereby a good or service becomes
more valuable when more people use it.” (Investopedia.com (n.d.).
▪ With this definition in mindTinder can be a great example of how Network Effects can
profit a business.
▪ Tinder’s main service, like many dating apps, is to match you with potential people that
you can meet up with and start a relationship.
▪ If only a handful or no people were on the app, excluding yourself, the app would be
useless as you wouldn’t meet any new people and so the value of the app decreases.
▪ Because, however,Tinder has recently just “hit an astonishing 8 billion matches and
gets 16,000 swipes a second” (Smith, 2015), the likelihood of you meeting someone
new and starting a relationship increases as the number of people on the app increases.
▪ As more people buy and download the app, the creators and developers get more profit
from the app.

7. How is Tinder Innovative?
Breaking it down…
▪ Tinder has paved the way for the “liking” strategy used now in
internet businesses. (Refer to following slide for more information).
▪ It is a location-based app which shows all the fellow singles in your
area. It is purely designed to link you up with people that are near you
in distance. (Configured to only match you with someone in the same
state as you).
▪ It’s the first dating app to link to your Facebook account; allowing to
assess whether someone is a “catfish” or not based on mutual friends
linked etc.

8. Swiping is the New Liking – How Tinder has
changed the future of Internet Business.
▪ The overall design format based on a “liking” and “disliking” formula
thatTinder has embedded into their Internet Business app is
evidently influencing other companies.
▪ “A ton of ‘Tinder for X’ apps have sprung up over the last year, with the
‘swipe right, swipe left’ model — a User Interface Stylect co-founder
Giacomo Summa describes as “addictive” — proving popular with users
and investors alike.” (techcrunch.com)

9. In Conclusion…
▪ As technology continues to evolve and become more efficient over
time; it’s seemingly evident that we, as humans, are growing and
evolving with it. A pure example of this is seen with the dating app
that has become the global phenomenon known as ‘Tinder’.Through
statistics and research found throughout the course of this research
assignment, it’s become apparent that we resort to going ‘online’ to
meet a companion rather than straight up in person.Tinder allows for
the opportunity to scan and assess someone prior to meeting them.
Tinder offers more options to users as we sift through and “like” and
“dislike” the people we want.Tinder is essentially an internet
business that has purposely been designed for people to shallowly
nitpick and scan for the right person to date. It’s a fast, efficient and a
successfully proven online dating service that allows for users to find
the “right companion”.The app, through its success has been able to
expand and thus continues to evolve.

10. References (1 of 2)
▪ Cummings,T. (2014).Tinder vs. Match: What’sThe Best Dating App? Retrieved from
http://heavy.com/tech/2014/05/tinder-vs-match-whats-the-best-dating-app/
▪ Francis, K.A. (N.d) How Has the Internet Impacted Businesses? Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/internet-impacted-businesses-321.html
▪ Laythe, L. (2013).Tinder: Innovative online dating, ego booster or hook-up app? Retrieved from:
http://www.upbeacon.com/2013/09/12/tinder-innovative-online-dating-ego-booster-or-hook-up-app/
▪ Lust at First Photo. StarTribune (Minneapolis, MN).The StarTribune Company. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-330158251.html
▪ Match.com Information, Statistics, Facts and History. (2015). Retrieved from
http://www.datingsitesreviews.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Match-com-Statistics-Facts-History
▪ Network Effect. (n.d.). Definition of Network Effects. Retrieved from:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/network-effect.asp
▪ O’hear, S. (2014). Swiping isThe New Liking: Now Applies to Shoe Shopping. Retrieved from:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/01/swiping-is-the-new-liking/

11. References (cont.…)
▪ Online Dating Magazine. (n.d.). History of Match.com. Retrieved from
http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/history/match-com-history.html
▪ Ruderman, L. (2015). How Much Does Match.com Cost? Retrieved from
http://www.lauraruderman.org/how-much-does-match-com-cost/
▪ Scribner, H. (2014) 5Tinder success stories that will make you believe in love all over again
Retrieved from http://national.deseretnews.com/article/1999/5-tinder-success-stories-that-will-
make-you-believe-in-love-all-over-again.html
▪ Smith, E. (2015).Tinder Chief Boasts App’s 8 Billion Matches. Retrieved from:
http://pagesix.com/2015/06/21/tinder-chief-boasts-apps-8-billion-matches/