In 1995, when most of the current Match Group target population was still in diapers or starting preschool, the Internet was in its 12th year of existence. Many of us did not know about the creation, let alone able to pronounce it. In our generation, popular websites included AIM, Cartoon Network, and MySpace. Yet, there was one company founded in 1995 that was barely known to anyone. Through the years, it billed itself as the first online dating website. That website is known as Match.com

Match.com laid the groundwork for online dating as we know today. You view a profile, say yay or nay, and possibly message. Due to media trends not being as harmful on mental health as they are today, Match.com produced great outcomes. Fast forward 30 years, and the dating scene is an absolute nightmare. 

Over the past two decades, social media has shaped how we communicate and live our daily lives. It has become a platform for advertising, research, and unfortunately, weaponization of mental health. 

Before I detail more on the weaponization of mental health, let me add on to Match.com. Now known as Match Group, the monopoly of brands such as Hinge, POF, and Tinder, is managed by CEO Spencer Rascoff. On his Instagram, he promotes himself as a man of the people, often seen in stories with Match Group employees all around the world. I will get into more later as to how he has become a typical Instagram influencer instead of the leader we need in corporate America. 

Now, let's go back to the weaponization of mental health. The past decade has had its share of many influential political and social events. Understandably, people have fought for their strong beliefs. Unfortunately, Match Group has profited off of these events, as well as weaponizing mental health. Here are just some ways Match Group has destroyed the fabric of society:

1. Believing a potential victim's report as believable, without the potential suspect being given due process.
   
   • Examples of these include users reporting others based on appearance, political beliefs, job, etc. 
2. Banning users for no legitimate reason.
   • Echoing the bullet point under #1, Match Group automatically considers a report reasonable of a ban. 
     • To make matters worse, Match Group does not listen to blamed users argue their case as to how they are being defamed. They use AI to review appeals and only use humans if there is someone at their desk that day. Appeals can take years (the author of this petition was banned for no reason several years ago, and their appeal is still pending.)
3. Invasion of privacy
   • There are a couple of examples of this. 
     • Photo verification: Match Group states any data associated with photo verification (including the photo itself) will not be retained. This is a blatant lie, which will be detailed in the next post. 
     • Like anywhere in life, if someone gets in trouble, they try to utilize a second change. Taking a second chance on an app which banned someone as a user is difficult. Well, your time creating a profile will be a waste of time, as the platforms will remove it within a few hours. They use facial recognition technology. They mark flags on your payment methods. Match Group is trying to make itself the government. 

With all that said, let's talk about the effects of Match Group weaponizing mental health for financial gain:

1. People are lonelier than ever. The adage that we should just walk up to someone and talk to them is stale. Match Group has shaped personalities to where we talk to people based only on their appearance and other external characteristics. Vivek Murthy (Former Surgeon General under U.S. President Joseph R. Biden) wrote at length about how society has become lonelier. We have forgotten how to communicate with people with quality. 
2. Men's mental health is at an all-time low. Gender stereotypes and wars need to stop. Men are becoming more irritable and lonelier due to harassment on the dating apps. History has taught us that men have to be the Goliaths of everything. We need to focus on bringing up ALL men instead of pointing out things we don't like on other matches and reporting them just because we may not find them as a match. That is why there is an unmatch button. 
3. The population is declining. People are having less children because they are not getting married in their desired timeframe. Match Group has exploited this for financial gain. Match Group could reform the app with so many different features (at a low cost, preferably no cost at all) to help people better match. The criteria Match Group uses is basically bare bones. The more specific they get, the quicker we can reduce population decline. 
4. Our workforce is affected daily by mental health struggles. To tie into the mental health points, people tend to work, come home, eat, and sleep. They also use an app with no real return on investment. This can take a toll on the body, overtime. Using an app to forget about struggles can lead to addiction. Match Group was sued over this in 2024.
   • https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1231513991/tinder-hinge-match-group-lawsuit

Everyone still on apps owned by Match Group (Hinge, Tinder, POF, etc.,) please delete your accounts. Hinge is promoting cyber harassment, and this will only get worse if we do not stop this now. Reform can come if we cause their stock and other financials to sink. If Match Group truly cares about bringing others together for years to come, then they can show that commitment by reinstating the accounts of the many, unjustly banned individuals who have been targeted for no legitimate reason. Let's cause their financials to sink as we unite. Through unity, we see who has our backs. Once Match Group sees their platforms are declining quickly as a result of this petition, then we may listen and negotiate. Until then, Match Group is being held accountable for profiting off of the declining mental health of people all over the world.