Tinder taps comedian Whitney Cummings to launch ‘Reactions’

Following in the footsteps of Facebook and iMessage, Tinder has today introduced Reactions, letting Tinder users send each other custom animated responses.

These reactions include Hearts, Eye Roll, Round of Applause, Martini Throw, etc. This makes it even easier for Tinder users to casually use the app without actually having to work at the conversation.

In January of last year, Tinder introduced Giphy support and bigger emojis. Reactions seem like a natural extension of that, making the already featherweight Tinder experience even more casual and simplified.

But it seems that Reactions are part of a larger initiative at Tinder, which is meant to give women all the tools they need to deal with douchebags.

Actress and comedian Whitney Cummings is helping Tinder launch Reactions in a video series called “The Menprovement Initiative,” directed by J.J. Adler.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3WwQkItiUM&w=560&h=315]

The video shows real female employees at Tinder interacting with Whitney Cummings to improve men. That said, Tinder doesn’t have a sterling history of empowering women, especially its own female employees.

Tinder offers clear community guidelines about bad behavior, and gives users tools to both report malicious actors and swipe left after matching to quickly escape an unwanted conversation. That said, branding Reactions as a way for women to deal with douchebags seems a bit lackluster.

Responding with the splashing martini reaction won’t do much to stop unwanted messaging from coming your way, and in fact might even encourage the guy to send more. Because these reactions are cute, and feel flirty. It’s like Tinder created a way for users to wink at cat callers on the digital street.

Tinder Reactions might make conversation easier between Tinder parties, but it doesn’t seem to fit in well with the so-called Menprovement Initiative.