Is your pet lonely? Let your puppies fall in love on this app
There’s a new dating site in town, and it’s nothing you’ve seen before. Pets keep us company, but what if your pets feel lonely? Pinder, a new dating app & a paronomasia on the popular human dating app Tinder, is the place for your pets to find love. You have your eyes wide open, so let us explain.
Loneliness can get to anyone – experts have suggested on multiple occasions that animals like dogs & cats are inherently pack animals. It’s their instinct to stay in groups, have companions, and operate together. So your pet staying home alone all day might be battling the feeling of loneliness as you slog at work to provide for them.
Pinder is addressing this problem – taking inspiration from Tinder – with the twist that only four-legged eligible singles are allowed on the app.
A match arranged by pet parents
Kevin Botero, the founder of the app Pinder was quoted as saying, “We’re just taking the effective format of Tinder & applying it to the pet community.” The format is similar too – you have the best profiles of puppers to browse through – and swipe right on.
It’s a familiar drill: you post your furries’ photographs, location, favourite snacks, and quirks. Then the swiping game begins. Once there’s a match, pet parents are given the option to either start chatting privately or through an external social media app. If your puppy is a celebrity on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, this is a legitimate way to slide into the DMs.
From a Seattle-based dog dressed as a postman to an Austin-based pig fond of cabbage, you find profiles of the animals, their adorable photographs, and a quick view of their interests. You know what they say about good first impressions!
Botero adds, “I personally know relationships that have come about through people walking their pets in the park, so it’s definitely possible. On Pinder, you’re getting that level of pet-obsessed parent you’re looking for, which in reality is somebody just like you.”
Pet parents get a platform not only to hook up their pets but also to socialise with other pet parents. They already know they have something in common: their love for animals. In this manner, the app doubles up the fun. Some pet parents hook up themselves, while others are very straightforward about who they’re looking for as their pet’s companion.
It’s also acceptable to post about your search finding a dog to breed with. We know it doesn’t come easy for pet parents, so this might be a good matchmaking service after all.
Literal puppy love
The idea behind the app was inspired by the pet influencers community. All these Instagram profiles of puppies, where their humans talk in their pets’ supposed voices, have become celebrities & influencers in their own right. Botero explains, “These pet communities are often communicating on behalf of their pets. So we thought there really should be a more fun and direct way to connect pet parents.”
Even data gives evidence as to our obsession with online pet personas, according to Botero, who found that 55% of millennials follow at least one such pet account. Even celebrities like Nina Dobrev & Priyanka Chopra have a dedicated account for their pet dogs, both of whom talk about their celebrity mom in the assumed voice of the dog who accompanies them on their tours.
So if pets are already social media celebrities, why not use this to up their game & hit their luck with potential companions? Pinder was soft-launched earlier this month, so we suggest all the pet parents get on the ride.
