A lawsuit has been filed in San Francisco by six users of dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge, and others, alleging that these apps are designed to make their users addicted to them, according to CBS News. The lawsuit was filed on Valentine’s Day against Match Group Inc., which is a company based in Dallas that owns a number of different dating platforms.
Each of the six people has a subscription to Hinge and Tinder.
The complainants claim that these apps “have altered social reality” in their 58-page complaint. Technology has taken the place of traditional courtship, which has been practiced for a millennium.
The complaint went on to say that although online dating has made it easier for people looking for a relationship, users have had to pay a high cost. “The apps are actually made to be addictive,”
Speaking of the Match Group, these people stated that it “truly portrays the platforms as useful instruments for creating relationships off-app while covertly exerting every effort to attract, retain, and engage paying users and keep them on-app.”
Match’s apps, according to the lawsuit, “employ recognized dopamine-manipulating product features to turn users into captive gamblers in search of psychological rewards, creating market success by fostering dating app addiction that requires expensive subscriptions and encourages continued use.”
The use of “push notifications” and incentive rewards are two examples of the strategies mentioned in the document. According to The Guardian, the lawsuit has been called “ridiculous” by Match Group.
“This lawsuit is baseless and absurd. Neither advertising nor engagement metrics are the foundation of our business model. Every day, we proactively work to get users off our apps and on dates. A company representative stated, “Anyone who doesn’t comprehend the goal and mission of our entire industry.”