‘It doesn’t matter that my boyfriend is 5 feet 6 inches “‘ ‘

Joe is a little shorter than the average American man, 5 feet 6 inches (1.67 m) – but when Ashley came across her Tinder profile last year, the last thing she thought was the height of Joe.

“We were talking about our hobbies and our passions,” says Ashley, “not superficial things”.

The news that the dating application where Ashley and Joe found love are testing new feature – allowing certain premium users to filter potential matches according to their size – met reactions mixed earlier this week.

While date as Ashley are worried, this could stifle possible connections, others say that functionality could actually help men to find a correspondence.

Tinder’s test takes place in “limited” parts of the world, excluding the United Kingdom, with the functionality available only for those who pay for its two highest subscription levels. Tinder did not say to the BBC in which countries where it was tested.

It works by informing the corresponding algorithm of the application based on the indicated preference of a user, rather than completely filtering certain users. But the online reaction at its launch went from fun to indignation.

“Tinder has just declared war on short kings,” wrote a social media user, while another said they “use the Tinder High filter to filter all men higher than 5 feet 9 inches”.

Another commented: “I don’t care what Tinder says – short kings are the elite.”

Ashley, from Wisconsin, says that she understands why height can be a break for certain dates – but this was not the case for her.

“I heard people speak:” I cannot wear heels or my partner will be shorter “, says the 24 -year -old,” but that never counted me “.

Joe is “just such an incredible person,” she said, it wouldn’t matter “if he was measuring six feet or five feet high”.

The use of a height filter could have kept it and Joe from meeting, she adds – and she believes that others could also miss.

Joe, on the other hand, says that the filter function of Tinder’s height could actually make the encounters more difficult for shorter men.

“Limiting yourself to physical things about someone will reduce your opportunities and chances of finding a partner,” he said. “The height should not have any importance when you look forever.”

The 27 -year -old said that his own dating experience had not “been so bad” and that his matches had judged him according to his personality, rather than his size.

But he thinks that the new Tinder filter could affect the chances of other users of significant connections.

Tinder does not start here again – seasoned strands will be familiar with various types of filters, which are now common characteristics of meetings, especially in the United Kingdom.

Hinge, a competitor of Tinder key, already allows users to pay filter correspondences according to their size. Other filters include the level of education, religion and verification if the potential corresponds to smoke, drink or take medication.

Bumble allows Premium users to avoid correspondence with certain star signs, while grindr users can filter by body type.

But as the largest meeting of meetings in the world, Tinder’s experience with height filtering always has great importance and has also triggered a discussion in Great Britain.

At 5 feet 9 inches, Matt Heal, of Manchester, says he feels jaded by the online dating scene.

Matt around the average height for a man in the United Kingdom, but says that certain date preferences for larger men have disadvantaged it on applications.

“As a person who is neither very large nor financially easy, I certainly felt desensitized to dating (using applications),” he said.

The 28 -year -old thinks that it is understandable that applications like Tinder are trying to optimize their corresponding algorithms.

“People have preferences based on all kinds of things,” said Matt, adding these features help people “to see other people who are interested, rather than sliding for hours on people you do not consider compatible”.

However, he thinks that dates should not be too rigid about what they are looking for.

“If you were in people who have more than six feet, would you not really get out of someone who measures 5 feet 11 inches” – if they were beautiful and had similar interests? “”

Matt believes that it is easier for men of his size to meet offline people, explaining that meeting someone in person, through common friends, for example, can mean a less normative approach.

But Beth McColl, 31, thinks that the Tinder height filter can offer a little reassured shorter men. The writer and Podcaster based in London says that it could help people avoid “women who do not want to go out with really tall men”.

Whether women use this feature, Beth is uncertain.

“Women generally have no problem going out with a shorter man,” said Beth, “but they may have a problem with a shorter man who is really hung on it.”

Aside from the filters, Beth thinks that the real problem of modern dating lies in the dating applications themselves.

“This encourages us to treat meetings like choosing something in the menu,” she said, adding: “There is nothing to be a little bigger who will make this man a better partner-but I think we were mistaken in thinking that there is real in there.”

As for whether the Tinder movement will prove popular with mass scale users – which remains to be seen.

“Features like this capitalize on a well -known preference – some women want larger partners,” said Lara Besbrode, director general at Matchmaker UK. “They do not treat deeper problems at the heart of online dating fatigue.”

But, she says, the attraction is “not static” and can evolve over time.

“A man who measures 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 m), but confident, kind and emotionally listening can be much more attractive than someone who checks the 6 -foot box (1.8 m) but lacks substance,” explains Lara.

Tinder told the BBC that his new filter demonstrates that he “built with urgency, clarity and concentration” and that it is “part of a wider effort to help people to connect more intentionally” on the application.

A spokesperson said: “Not all tests become a permanent feature, but each test helps us learn how we can offer smarter and more relevant experiences and advance the category.”

And this ephemeral moment when he trips on the profiles of the other on a meeting of meetings can be vital, as Ashley and Joe know.

Ashley fears that people who use the new Tinder filter “can cut themselves off from people who are potential, rather than someone who is their favorite size”.

But for the moment, his scanning days are over and his relationship with Joe flourishes. It is “phenomenal”, says Ashley, “super sweet”.