German government uses Tinder to encourage voters to the polls

A new project of the German Federal Agency for Civic Education and the dating app Tinder hopes to encourage more voters to the polls for the federal election on February 23.

Tinder teams with German government ahead of election

The German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), which is tasked with educating and encouraging residents and citizens about how to get involved in German politics, has launched a shared project with Tinder ahead of the federal election on February 23.

Starting February 6, anyone using the dating app in Germany will be prompted to head to the Wahl-O-Mat website, which is also run by the bpb. 

The Wahl-O-Mat (Election-O-Meter) is a well-known interactive website which is widely used in the lead-up to German elections. The site asks undecided voters about their opinions on specific issues to determine which party’s manifesto is best aligned with their stance. You can use the Wahl-O-Mat here.

“[The] Wahl-O-Mat makes it possible to compare your stance on 38 theses with different parties’ stances. [...] This means you can quickly and easily inform yourself about their stances,” Tinder wrote in a press release.

Tinder surveys Gen Z about dating and politics

Alongside teaming up with the bpb to host the Wahl-O-Mat, Tinder surveyed 1.001 users aged between 18 and 25 about politics and dating.

65 percent of respondents told the dating app company that they plan to vote in the upcoming German election, and 30 percent admitted they would rule out a prospective date who wasn’t planning to.

29 percent of women respondents said their prospective partner’s politics was important to them, while 33 percent of men agreed. On Tinder, users have long had the option to list their political stance, but this is limited to a small number of labels, e.g. liberal, moderate or conservative.

57 percent said the voting process should be simplified and 48,5 percent said they would be open to new tools that would make it easier to cast their vote.

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