Several popular dating platforms will soon boast a new anti-harassment feature aimed at encouraging users to think twice before sending toxic messages.
The Dallas-based dating company Match Group announced this week that it would be rolling out its “Are You Sure?” (AYS?) feature to more of its apps by the end of the year. These include Match, BLK, Stir, OurTime, Chispa, and Upward, while Hinge will begin featuring AYS? sometime in 2024.
AYS? works by detecting potentially harmful or disrespectful words or emojis in users’ messages before they are sent out, according to a news release from Match Group. When triggered, AYS? flashes a warning so that the sender can double-check whether he truly wants to send the message. The program identifies problematic content in 18 different languages by learning from messages previously flagged as inappropriate by users.
Noting that many users might not even realize that some words could be construed as harassment by others, Rory Kozoll, Match Group’s senior vice president of central platform and technologies, stressed that AYS? has a partly educational function.
“This tool has been a powerful way to help educate and encourage users to not send messages that could be potentially harmful to others. Intervention and prevention help provide meaningful changes in behavior, while also giving users a way to put their best foot forward when first getting to know someone,” Kozoll said.
AYS? was first introduced on Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and Meetic platforms in early 2021. Since that time, Match Group reported that the anti-harassment feature had flagged approximately 500 million messages for being potentially problematic. On the app Plenty of Fish, AYS? was credited with a decline of 84% in flagged content among users, suggesting that some might be changing their ways of communicating with potential dating partners.
Match Group will also be launching a new “Respect Before Swiping” campaign to help encourage fruitful exchanges between the estimated 337 million people using dating apps worldwide. Perhaps they could use the help since dating nowadays is not easy. A viral Instagram user’s list of first-date locations women find unacceptable hints at this, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
