Tinder, the notorious singles dating app that lets users “swipe right” to hook up with random people they “match” with, banned at least two women for their social media recruiting tactics. They were campaigning for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the Democratic Socialist vying for the Democratic nomination to run for president in November.
Unique Social Media Recruiting
Move over Berniebros – these women appear to #FeelTheBern more than you – and they’re much more cordial about it, too. Robyn Gedrich and Haley Lent both used Tinder to their’s – and Bernie’s – advantage. They both swipe right on every match. According to Reuters, Gedrich and immediately writes,
“Do you feel the bern? Please text WORK to 82623 for me. Thanks!”
After the story broke that women were using the hookup app to court potential votes for Sen. Sanders, Reuters reported that two Tinder users – including her – were banned for reportedly spamming too many people on the app because they used the same recruiting messages each time.
According to Reuters,
“They received notices from Tinder in the previous 24 hours that their accounts were locked because they had been reported too many times for peppering men on the site with messages promoting Sanders’ candidacy.”
It doesn’t seem to matter how nice Tinder users are when courting potential voters, though. As soon as some of the men using the app find out they’re not getting hooked up with what they want, they start throwing what could be viewed as a Trumpertantrum by the way they talk to the women.
It’s clear that some people just don’t go for this social media recruiting tactic. For example, in the screenshot above, “Jordan was extremely explicit as to what he wanted, and even said he’d vote for Sanders if he got it – who knows if he was joking. Other users are just downright nasty. Many of them sound like Max, the user from the below screenshot, who makes it clear he is anti-Semitic – he likely supports Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump.
Others have Trumpertantrum-like outbursts too.
Other annoyed Tinder men cuss the women out – and still others swipe left or otherwise report them for “spamming.” It’s the spam reports that have gotten these two women into trouble.
Neither has let it stop them, though. There are multiple avenues to campaign for Sen. Sanders – the Bernie Sanders’ Dank Convos Facebook page for one, and the Tinder Campaigning Tumbler page for another.
Why Did They Use Tinder?
Talking about why she used Tinder, Gildrich said via Digital Trends that Tinder let’s you connect with people in a different way – they’re already looking for conversation and real life meetings. She says,
“Granted, they may be looking to meet you for other reasons, but it’s not specifically stated that that’s what I’m looking for, so that’s why I find it to be the platform that I can campaign more on.”
Tinder’s Rosette Pambakian, Global Communications & Branding vice president, responded to questions from the media, according to Digital Trends. She said,
“We wholeheartedly support people sharing their political views on Tinder, but we don’t allow spamming. So feel free to spread the Bern, just don’t spam.”
The question is – are they being reported for spamming, or are they being retaliated against because they didn’t give the guys what they wanted? No one will know for sure, but it’s a safe bet that after reading some of the truly triple-X rated cuss outs, these guys likely retaliated.
What’s Next?
Kelsi Bee, who appears to run the Bernie Sanders’ Dank Convos page, points out in a post that it’s this type of media exposure that makes them and Bernie Sanders look bad and could hurt his campaign. She lays down rules – no spamming – and gets the point across to keep trying, but be reasonable.
The page description notes that it’s not just for Tinder users anymore, even though it used to be. It’s now used to post screenshots of any social media recruiting attempts at getting others to Feel the Bern.
Lots of women – and men – are still using Tinder to campaign for Sen. Sanders using the unique social media recruiting technique, and none of them have any official connection to the campaign itself.
As for the Facebook Dank Convos page, it’s membership has doubled since it’s inception and, being it’s a public group, anyone can read the posts.
Beware if you do, though, as you’ll likely need some disinfectant afterwards. Trust me.
Featured Image: Screenshot of NowThisElection Video Via Facebook
