If not true love, at least a true photo! Tinder introduces a tool to limit the ability to impersonate someone else

Arranging a date with someone on Tinder, arriving at the meeting point and finding out that the person you're meeting looks completely different in real life - this is the nightmare of probably all users (not only) of this dating app. In order to prevent such cases, or to give people more ways to be sure that the person they're meeting is actually who they see in the photo, Tinder introduced photo verification some time ago. Now it has improved this feature.

Verifying photos used to mean taking a few selfies in certain positions, and the app would then compare those photos to others the user had on their profile. Now, people who want to get the blue "Photo Verified" badge have to complete a few tasks and take a video of themselves taking them.

"Tinder users repeatedly tell us that photo verification is one of their most valued security features. This tool is another way we help users better assess the authenticity of their counterpart," said Rory Kozol, senior vice president of product integrity at Tinder.

Meanwhile, photo verification is not only a tool to ensure that users can feel safer on Tinder themselves, but it also increases their chances of being matched. "For our users aged 18-25, photo verification gives them a 10% higher chance of being matched with someone." Indeed, users of the dating site value authenticity, with nearly 40% already having a blue badge confirming the authenticity of their photos.

Only chat with verified users

Newly, Tinder is also launching the ability to chat only with those who have verified photos on their profile. The feature can be found in the messaging settings, but be warned, it will only be available to those who have had their photos verified themselves. Before you start chatting with someone, you'll also now have the option to ask the person to verify their photos first to prove it's actually them.

While video verification is live now, the in-chat options will be rolled out by Tinder gradually over the coming months. And it will also gradually prompt all previously verified users to re-verify their pictures using the new tool. The reason is simple - those who verified a long time ago may well look completely different now.