Swiping safely: Tinder adds STD clinic locator feature

[steve2470]

http://college.usatoday.com/2016/01/29/tinder-adds-std-clinic-locator/

Tinder, a popular online dating app within the college crowd, is sparking a new type of conversation among its users. Instead of trading cheesy pick-up lines, they can now broach a significantly more serious topic: health.

In January, the app, which boasts an estimated 50 million users, introduced a new “Health Safety” feature to its interface that allows users to easily search for free STD testing clinics in the area. With this new service, powered by patient engagement app Healthvana, users can compare local doctors and filter results to fit their specific needs, such as options “LGBT Focus” and “Women’s Focus.”

“I think it’s a pretty fantastic effort on (Tinder’s) part,” says Stephaine Fouts, a junior at Washington and Lee University and the president of the university’s Sexual Health Awareness Group. “It would make sense that the increased use of apps like Tinder and Grindr corresponds to the increase in the spread of STDs, so I think it’s really great of them to take the initiative to try to do something about it.”

With mobile dating app usage and the frequency of STDs both rising nationally, college students, some of who are engaging in sexual activity for the first time and don’t always know how to do so safely, are at a higher risk for infection than ever before.