This new app will change online dating as you know it

The modern dating scene is not an easy one to navigate. Trends like breadcrumbing, zombieing, love bombing and others have many people feeling burnt out and disillusioned. Although there are many apps to facilitate meeting other people, they hardly have any safeguards against some of these disturbing trends. There’s a new dating app on the scene that sets out to address some of the common concerns with online dating.

No ghosting

Launched in 2022, Tame describes its unique offer as a focus on ‘healthy human connection and safe use’. One of the ways in which it sets itself apart from existing dating apps is that it only allows you to match with one person at a time. When you start chatting with that person, you won’t have access to other profiles. The company explains the rationale behind this:

If you are interested, you engage in a conversation and move forward with the person you have chosen. If not, no one is left in the dark, you leave the conversation and both of you can discover other people.

If along the way you wish to end the conversation, the app offers you reasons to choose from, including ‘no spark’ and ‘toxic behaviour'. According to Tame, this limits ghosting and offers closure as you are not chatting with several people at the same time.

No swiping

Another novel feature that this app has is its ‘no swiping’ rule. Managers of the app say the rule is to limit 'anxiety, depression and psychological distress’ they claim are associated with swiping.They explain how exactly this works in practice:

When setting up your profile, you'll choose a few questions that will automatically be asked to those who like you. You will be able to read their answers and respond to their questions in turn, before deciding whether or not you want to get to know them better.

But not everyone thinks these features will improve how people date. Some Twitter users have described the features, especially the ban on ‘ghosting’ as ‘awful’ or ‘the worst idea ever’. One such user for instance wrote:

Demanding people to explain why they want to quit talking to someone they barely know a) reinforces the disturbing ideology that “no” isn’t a complete answer and needs justification and b) puts women in danger.

Sources used:

Metro: New dating app where ghosting and swiping are banned dubbed ‘online prison’

Mirror: New dating app where ghosting and swiping is 'banned' branded 'online prison'

My Perfect Life: The new Tame app makes ghosting impossible, yet people are not on board

Tame:Explore the concept