Health experts have claimed for a while now that Tinder contributes to higher STD rates, and the company has finally addressed that issue in a way that doesn’t involve freaking the hell out on Twitter. After months of fighting accusations, Tinder has finally decided to put on its big boy pants and handle the situation like and adult by adding links to its app that allow users to find STD testing locations near them. Whether or not this will have any kind of positive impact on Tinder users is debatable, but it’s nice to see that Tinder is taking the problem of sexual health and safety seriously.
A feud between the operator of a popular dating app and a leading sexual health advocacy group was settled on Thursday after the dating site agreed to add links to sexually transmitted disease testing locations. The battle between dating site Tinder and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation stretches back to last fall when the Los Angeles based non-profit group put up billboards and advertisements in Los Angeles and New York associating Tinder with sexually transmitted diseases such as Chlamydia and gonorrhea. Tinder sent a “cease and desist” letter to the group after the billboards were erected. Now that Tinder is adding the STD testing locator to its application, the group is removing its billboards and advertisements mentioning the software. In a statement, the foundation noted the reasons for its campaign, citing a report on a dramatic rise in STDs in 2014 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We are unfortunately now waging an uphill battle on this front,” said Whitney Engeran Cordova, a senior director at the foundation. “The CDC also noted the majority of these infections are affecting young people – the demographic that is on their mobile phones all day long.”
