Final week, Match Group (the conglomerate that owns Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and many others) introduced it acquired the sapphic relationship app HER.
HER founder Robyn Exton posted on LinkedIn that, “I am extremely proud to say that Match Group sees the worth on this unimaginable house we have constructed. Possibly much more importantly, they see the facility and presence of the sapphic group.” (Sapphic, like WLW, is an umbrella time period to explain non-male attraction to ladies and femmes.)
“We aren’t a distinct segment. We aren’t an afterthought. We’re a world viewers with a voice, a tradition, and a future. And now we now have the backing to construct for that future with extra care, extra depth, and much more ambition,” Exton continued. She shared extra concerning the historical past of HER on the app’s weblog.
Spencer Rascoff, Match Group’s CEO (and soon-to-be Tinder CEO), shared the publish. “We’re honored to welcome HER into the Match Group household, and we all know our function is to not change what makes HER particular, however to guard it and assist it develop even stronger,” he wrote. (No monetary phrases have been publicly disclosed.)
However regardless of Rascoff’s enthusiasm and Exton’s optimism, the vibe from lesbians and queer ladies throughout the online has been…apprehensive.
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In a current Reddit thread on r/actuallesbians, customers shared their ideas on the acquisition, with most agreeing that they really feel uneasy concerning the deal. One Reddit consumer wrote, “Time to request to have your information deleted and purge your account.” One other one added, “Time to by no means use HER once more, I suppose.”
“The enshittification of every thing continues,” a 3rd individual commented, referring to the phrase about how on-line companies decline over time.
This may very well be due to a rising mistrust of relationship apps normally, as AI options take over and apps — a lot of which Match Group owns — are changing into homogenized.
Different folks on the thread stated that the app was both already “horrible” or that they have been blissful to have discovered their associate on the app earlier than the acquisition. Typically, nevertheless, the purchase appears to be stirring up uncertainty, distrust, and even worry (one individual talked about the report about how Match Group hid assault circumstances).
Exton instructed Mashable in an emailed assertion that this can be a large second for HER. “Match Group will get it — they perceive the facility of queer platforms and are giving us the instruments to proceed what we’re doing now however with much more sources and assist,” she wrote. “What’s not altering? The center of HER.”
Exton went on to say that HER’s staff, targets, and values aren’t altering, and that the acquisition is only the start. “We’ll at all times be right here and queer, nonetheless community-first, and nonetheless deeply dedicated to constructing an area that facilities us, celebrates us, and grows with us,” she continued.
It is most likely too quickly to inform if Match Group will stay as much as its promise to “shield” what makes HER particular. For now, the sapphic group is holding its breath.
