You don’t fully appreciate how reliant you are on a particular app or piece of technology until you no longer have access to it. And that’s exactly what happened to millions of Tinder users yesterday.
Apparently, people were having difficulty logging into Tinder, and became stuck in an endless loop of sign-in errors.
My Tinder Tweetdeck column is full of people freaking because Facebook’s privacy changes appear to have somehow goofed up Tinder and now how will people ever have sex again!!! pic.twitter.com/FJZ6XxvizX
— Madison Malone Kircher (@4evrmalone) April 4, 2018
According to The Verge, the debacle was the result of Facebook’s response to the Cambridge Analytica data mining scandal. The company is in the process of rolling out privacy-related updates, which seem to be affecting certain apps that require a Facebook login — specifically, Tinder:
Today … [Facebook] announced sweeping changes to many of its most prominent APIs, restricting developer access in a number of crucial ways. Soon after, Tinder users started noting on Twitter that they had been kicked off the dating app and couldn’t log back on, as those who used Facebook Login were caught in an infinite loop that appears to be related to an unknown bug. Since you need a Facebook account to log into Tinder, this bug has potentially affected Tinder’s entire user base.
Obviously, people couldn’t help but *facepalm* over this awkward stumbling block in Facebook’s attempts to rehabilitate their public image.
Facebook’s API change broke @Tinder, stuck in a constant loop of asking for validation.
Which, is extremely representative of how I use Tinder.
— Tyler Walker ?️? (@airercode500) April 4, 2018
Facebook’s API changes just broke Tinder. It throws you into an endless login loop. Bravo to Facebook for being considerate of their only valuable product. pic.twitter.com/QbJA1uTi0v
— Daniel Sinclair (@_DanielSinclair) April 4, 2018
In a statement, Facebook assured everyone that “This was part of the changes that we announced today, and we are working with Tinder to address this issue.” Tinder released their own statement via Twitter.
A technical issue is preventing users from logging into Tinder. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to have everyone swiping again soon.
— Tinder (@Tinder) April 4, 2018
Of course, when people can’t log into their dating app, they tend to get a little pissed.
Tinder. Please help. My family is dying. pic.twitter.com/HpXTo8ymXH
— Madison Malone Kircher (@4evrmalone) April 4, 2018
Like, seriously. Y’all weren’t prepared for the wrath of c*ck-blocked Tinder-users.
I LOST ALL MY MESSAGES. WHAT IF I WAS SPEAKING TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE??? COME ON
— Bianca (@biianncaa1) April 4, 2018
Of course, some people still managed to find the silver lining.
When #tinder goes down and you look on twitter and see which girls are posting about it ?? pic.twitter.com/SGHVJiimtI
— Dean Isherwood (@Deanish1) April 4, 2018
Good thing Twitter wasn’t down. Otherwise, where would people go to complain??