Tinder users will no longer be able to lie about their height, and some men are less than happy about it.
On Friday (local time) the dating app announced it would be rolling out a 'Height Verification Badge' (HVB).
The feature would require users to input their "true, accurate height" along with a photo of themselves standing next to any commercial building. Tinder's algorithm would then verify if they're really as tall as they say they are via a badge on their profile.
- Australian cop jailed after checking Tinder dates on police database
- Woman dupes hundreds of men into Tinder date for marketing campaign
- Woman shares horrific Tinder dating stories as warning to others
Tinder claims to have developed the HVB years ago, but hoped users would be honest enough not to need it. It looks as though that's not the case.
"It's come to our attention that most of you 5'10ers out there are actually 5'6," the company said in a statement. "The charade must stop."
Societal expectations around the ideal male body mean that in the dating world, it's quite common for men to add a few inches to their height.
While women aren't expected to be tall, there is an equivalent pressure around weight, meaning women on dating apps are more likely to use photos from when they were thinner.
There have been a lot of negative reactions to the HVB from men, many of whom seem to feel personally aggrieved at the idea of being honest about their height.
Some are demanding Tinder rolls out a weight verification feature so that women will be equally targeted.
"So body shaming is okay now? Can't weight [sic] for you to weed out fat women with silicone tits, tattooed eyebrows, fake tan and dyed hair!" wrote one particularly upset gentleman.
Matthew Haag called the HVB "disgusting".
"I wasn't getting any matches before and now you're absolutely sabotaging every hope I have for some in the future," he wrote.
However as Haag is the founder of popular esports organisation 100 Thieves and has more than 2 million Twitter followers, it's possible he was joking.
Some suspect the HVB is an early April Fool's prank, but others believe it could be a real feature as it was announced several days before April 1.
Newshub.
