Alexia explains how Tinder may one day be as competitive with Facebook as Snapchat is:

Tinder, an app that allows you to swipe right on profile images in order to meet potential friends or dating prospects, has just launched its 3.0 version on Android and iOS. For those of you who want even more in common with the random people you meet through your mobile device, the new Tinder update will have a major revamp of its relevancy algorithm and add some key new features.

Wanting Tinder to be perceived as more than a dating app, cofounder Sean Rad has made the first product iteration towards a “for all” use case, adding a Tinder “lists” feature to its latest update. As you could probably glean from its name, the “lists” feature allows popular users to sort their scads of matches into lists, like “New York friends,” “LA friends,”"Friends who like the color blue,” etc. Emphasis on friends here.

You can add a user to lists by swiping right on people you’ve been matched with in the Tinder message center, and clicking the “Add to list” button, instead of “Block.” Or you could click on the native iOS button in the top-right corner of the message center, to go directly to lists.

In addition to Tinder lists and a “pumped up” redesigned swipe animation, the new Tinder app will allow for six optimized-for-hotness profile pictures, all visible at the same time.

Rad views the product update as Tinder’s first step towards creating a “graph of people you want to know,” referring to the opt-in feature as Tinder’s competitive advantage in the ambient location space. Apps like Highlight and Circle are attempting a similar feat, but without the double opt in advantage.

Tinder = Graph of People You Want to Know

Snapchat = Graph of People You Want to Message Privately

Without these audiences, is Facebook much less than it could be?

By the way, no one knows how many users Tinder actually has. 

According to Rad, Tinder is currently seeing 400 million swipes a day and 4 million matches per-day, up from 350 million and 3.5 million in October. The iOS app has been hovering towards the #10 rank in Lifestyle and #100 overall for about a year, according to App Annie. And there is a strong network effect that leads to more swipes and matches the more users join, though he wouldn’t reveal DAUs, MAUs or total number of registered users, even after much cajoling.

Tinder grew out of Hatch Labs, which was a part of IAC. It presently only has IAC as an investor, though we’ve heard rumors that many Valley firms want to swipe right hard.

React Messenger == graph of people whose faces you want to see: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/react-messenger/id727789669?mt=8

Chris, thanks -- that's interesting and right in the middle of where Tinder wants to be, too.

Still looks like a dating app to me: