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 area we have constructed. Possibly much more importantly, they see the facility and presence of the sapphic neighborhood.” (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 worldwide 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 submit. “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 had been publicly disclosed.)
However regardless of Rascoff’s enthusiasm and Exton’s optimism, the vibe from lesbians and queer ladies throughout the web 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 knowledge deleted and purge your account.” One other one added, “Time to by no means use HER once more, I assume.”
“The enshittification of all the things continues,” a 3rd individual commented, referring to the phrase about how on-line providers decline over time.
This might be due to a rising mistrust of relationship apps usually, as AI options take over and apps — a lot of which Match Group owns — are turning into homogenized.
Different individuals on the thread stated that the app was both already “horrible” or that they had been completely happy to have discovered their accomplice on the app earlier than the acquisition. Basically, nonetheless, 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 it is a big 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 assets and assist,” she wrote. “What’s not altering? The guts of HER.”
Exton went on to say that HER’s staff, objectives, 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 in all probability too quickly to inform if Match Group will stay as much as its promise to “defend” what makes HER particular. For now, the sapphic neighborhood is holding its breath.
