Tinder launches group dates feature

Tinder is launching a new feature that allows groups of friends to discover each other and meet up.

Until now, the app had focused on offering singles a way to find dates.

Its chief told the BBC that the move marked the "first step that we're taking to make Tinder more social and a little broader when it comes to the types of connections we want to enable".

But one expert said Tinder Social might be seen as a group sex feature.

"Tinder is seen by many as being a hook-up site," commented Ben Wood from the CCS Insight consultancy.

"So, it needs to be careful. By expanding in this direction, rather than becoming a more interesting social meeting service, it could be perceived as an orgy app."

Tinder's chief executive Sean Rad, however, stressed that it was not about targeting this "niche" activity.

"It definitely allows you to make connections beyond just romantic ones," he explained.

Tinder is owned by InterActiveCorp (IAC), a New York-based business that also owns the dating site Match.com, the search service Ask, and The Daily Beast news site.

It says that 85% of Tinder's users are between the ages of 18 to 34, and that the app has already led to more than 11 billion matches since it launched in 2012.