Tinder's April Fools' Day joke has massively backfired, leading to a heated debate over what information should be shared on the online dating app.
In a tongue-in-cheek blog post , Tinder announced that it was introducing a new "Height Verification Badge," to encourage male users to be more honest about their height.
"Let's be real, when it comes to online dating - honesty is the best policy. Yes, your height matters as long as every other shallow aspect of physical attraction does," the company wrote.
"It's come to our attention that most of you 5'10ers out there are actually 5'6. The charade must stop. This type of dishonestly doesn't just hurt your matches - it hurts us, too."
Tinder promised that the new "verification tool" would be very easy to use.
"Simply input your true, accurate height with a screenshot of you standing next to any commercial building," it said.
"We'll do some state-of-the-art verifying and you'll receive your badge directly on your profile."
While the tone of the blog post is clearly insincere, Tinder caused considerable confusion by publishing it on 29 March, rather than April 1.
This led many users to take it seriously - and some were outraged by the new height verification "feature".
One man even suggested that Tinder should introduce a "weight verification setting" for women, after accusing several of his dates of "fat-fishing".
"I can just about guarantee they won't do a f****** thing about weight for women," he wrote on the social media forum Reddit.
"I have friends who have been fat-fished. That's essentially the same d*** thing."
He went on to clarify that "fat-fishing" is when women use pictures of themselves looking thinner than they actually are to trick men into going on a date with them.
Others waded into the debate, with some claiming that both men and women should divulge their height and weight, in the name of "gender equality".
"I completely agree. I already have a height requirement, and have no problem with guys who have a weight requirement," wrote one Reddit user.
"I'd have one of those too if it was an option, I'm not attracted to fat or short people. People have preferences, simple as that."
While Tinder still hasn't confirmed that the post is an April Fools' Day joke, the online consensus is that the Height Verification Badge is not real.
"We really need to discourage the practice of starting April Fools Day early," one Twitter user commented.
