Last week, Match Group (the conglomerate that owns Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and many others) announced it acquired the sapphic dating app HER.
HER founder Robyn Exton posted on LinkedIn that, "I'm incredibly proud to say that Match Group sees the value in this incredible space we've built. Maybe even more importantly, they see the power and presence of the sapphic community." (Sapphic, like WLW, is an umbrella term to describe non-male attraction to women and femmes.)
"We are not a niche. We are not an afterthought. We are a global audience with a voice, a culture, and a future. And now we have the backing to build for that future with more care, more depth, and even more ambition," Exton continued. She shared more about the history of HER on the app's blog.
Spencer Rascoff, Match Group's CEO (and soon-to-be Tinder CEO), shared the post. "We're honored to welcome HER into the Match Group family, and we know our role is not to change what makes HER special, but to protect it and help it grow even stronger," he wrote. (No financial terms were publicly disclosed.)
But despite Rascoff's enthusiasm and Exton's optimism, the vibe from lesbians and queer women across the net has been...apprehensive.
In a recent Reddit thread on r/actuallesbians, users shared their thoughts on the acquisition, with most agreeing that they feel uneasy about the deal. One Reddit user wrote, "Time to request to have your data deleted and purge your account." Another one added, "Time to never use HER again, I guess."
"The enshittification of everything continues," a third person commented, referring to the phrase about how online services decline over time.
This could be because of a growing distrust of dating apps in general, as AI features take over and apps — many of which Match Group owns — are becoming homogenized.
Other people on the thread said that the app was either already "terrible" or that they were happy to have found their partner on the app before the acquisition. In general, however, the buy seems to be stirring up uncertainty, mistrust, and even fear (one person mentioned the report about how Match Group concealed assault cases).
Exton told Mashable in an emailed statement that this is a huge moment for HER. "Match Group gets it — they understand the power of queer platforms and are giving us the tools to continue what we are doing now but with even more resources and support," she wrote. "What's not changing? The heart of HER."
Exton went on to say that HER's team, goals, and values aren't changing, and that the acquisition is just the beginning. "We'll always be here and queer, still community-first, and still deeply committed to building a space that centers us, celebrates us, and grows with us," she continued.
It's probably too soon to tell if Match Group will live up to its promise to "protect" what makes HER special. For now, the sapphic community is holding its breath.
