70% Of Women Who Date Online Have Received An Unsolicited Photo, Pushing This Dating App To Roll Out AI Explicit Image-Blocking Technology
If you have been single at some point over the last decade, then you have also probably tried out a dating app or two. And the sad reality is that during that time, you were likely met with at least one major jump scare.
But, if you have somehow been so fortunate and have absolutely no clue what I’m talking about, then let me paint the picture.
It’s a random Tuesday evening, around 8:00 p.m. You likely finished work around 5:00 p.m., cleaned up the house, cooked and ate dinner, and now you are finally settling down on the couch.
While you pop on whatever reality TV show has you hooked at the moment, you also decide to slide out your phone and give online dating one last try.
Right after you start innocently swiping and scrolling, though, you receive a match. Yay! But wait, it gets even better because the person you matched with also sent you a message.
Of course, you want to play it cool, though, so you give it a few minutes before opening the text. And during that time, you imagine what your match could have possibly said. Did they open with a cheesy pickup line? A simple “hey?” What if they asked me out on a date?
Ding ding ding! The mental two-minute timer has finally gone off, and it is officially safe to “read” the message without looking like a creep.
As soon as you tap on the chat icon, though, you quickly realize that you were never the creep all along– because there is a nasty unsolicited picture of a pickle staring right back at you. Gross!
It is no secret that this inappropriate occurrence has become mainstream on social media platforms, particularly on dating sites and apps.
PheelingsMedia – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
And if it’s happened to you, you may have been left wondering how many other women’s inboxes were cursed also.
Well, according to a new survey of over one thousand U.S. self-identified males and females conducted by the dating app Flirtini, practically everyone has fallen victim to a pickle pic at some point or another.
In fact, seventy percent of women reported that they had received an unsolicited picture; meanwhile, sixty-seven percent of straight men revealed they had been sent unwanted explicit photos, too.
The demographic most affected by this explicit photo epidemic, though, is gay men– eighty-eight percent of whom have clicked on their inbox and come face-to-face with a jumpscare and a half.
All pickle jokes aside, though, the survey also found that these unsolicited photos are wreaking more havoc on people’s minds than you might initially think.
Over forty-three percent of women opened up about how receiving explicit images or texts actually negatively impacted their mental health.
And if this fact is representative of the greater U.S. dating pool, then explicit photos could have disastrous implications.
So, after combing through these findings, Flirtini decided to develop a new “c*ckblock feature”– in which AI neural network technology detects any explicit photos and prevents them from being sent to users.
“Any woman who has actively dated in recent years has either been subject to unsolicited images or known someone impacted. Flirtini is not opposed to consensual x-rated sharing,” explained Flirtini’s spokesperson Sarah Segal.
“It’s just not content the dating app chooses to support on its platform for obvious reasons.”
In addition to the new AI feature, the dating app has also rolled out tools that allow users to only reveal personal profile details once they feel comfortable.
Other safety features include a dedication to deleting fake profiles and strong protections against screenshotting.
“It’s easy for online dating to become dull or onerous. Flirtini is here to help daters find that feeling of excitement that comes from really good conversational chemistry. Members should have a positive experience without being subjected to seeing one’s actual member,” Segal added.
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