Tinder may bring Snapchat-like video stories after recent acquisition

Tinder just announced that it has acquired a start-up called Wheel, which has a social network for sharing video stories, not unlike what you have on Snapchat. Though what exactly Tinder plans to do with this acquisition is unclear at the moment, it aligns well with the recent trend towards video-centric consumption.

Wheel is a Los Angeles-based start-up that was founded in 2015 under the name Ferris. The app’s always been about sharing fun moments in the form of videos. You could capture anything, edit it, and share with your contacts or even with the world. But as you can probably guess, it wasn’t exactly successful.

Large companies like Snap and Facebook already have those features deeply integrated in their extremely popular apps like Snapchat and Instagram, and users simply didn’t feel the need to migrate to yet another video-centric social network.

Well, Wheel is officially no more as Tinder has acquired it. Although details regarding the acquisition are not available yet, Tinder claims that it will incorporate video features into its app in the future. In fact, some of the executives from Wheel will be joining Tinder, including CEO Paul Boukadakis, CTO Chris Shaheen, Joey Boukadakis, and Brian Daugherty. Paul Boukadakis, in particular, will be VP of Special Initiatives and will reportedly be working in product and revenue as well as marketing:

It’s a new role at Tinder. I’m very involved with the product team, working closely with Brian Norgard, Tinder’s Head of Product and Revenue. I’ll also be interfacing regularly with the marketing team on select initiatives.

Although exact details on just how the company plans to incorporate Wheel’s video-sharing features into its app are unclear, it certainly illustrates that the new trend is all about videos. On one hand, I’m not sure if having a video stories feature on Tinder would be a good idea – you might see things that could traumatize you for life. But if it’s incorporated into the new Tinder Social app – though this app is definitely not as innocent as it sounds – I feel like it would have less of a creepy effect.

What do you think about the new acquisition? Video stories on Tinder: yes or no? Let us know by leaving a comment down below!