A recent post on Reddit has offered insight into how dating apps may be trying to further customize the user experience—though some folks may not appreciate the focus paid to one physical feature in particular. "Oh god. They added a height filter," reads the entry from last week, with a screenshot showing an apparent new tool on the Tinder dating app that allows people to set height preferences for potential dates. A Tinder spokesperson confirmed the filter's existence—something that even the company once joked about on April Fools' Day—to TechCrunch, noting that only users who pay for Tinder Gold and Tinder Premium, not those who use the free version of the app, will have access to it.
Plus, the filter won't be a "hard filter," per se, sifting out every single profile that falls below the user's set height requirements—instead, it will simply prioritize recommendations based on those preferences. "This is part of a broader effort to help people connect more intentionally on Tinder," the company's Phil Price Fry says in a statement. Quartz notes that Hinge, another dating site owned by Tinder parent Match Group, already has a height filter.
The height filter has spawned an entry on Know Your Meme, which notes "concerns that the feature could limit profile visibility for a large percentage of men on the app." It also broaches the subject of bias against not-so-tall men on the site. "It's over for short men" is one lament cited by the Independent. Match Group recently saw a 5% year-on-year shrinkage in its user numbers (700,000 or so people) and may be hoping that its latest tool could help draw more women to the male-heavy app. (More Tinder stories.)