Tap the Group Hangouts pill button on your Discovery screen and invite your friends to form a Group. Before you can see and swipe on other Groups, yours needs a minimum number of members plus a dedicated activity and time. Once that is set, you start swiping, and any Group that matches yours joins you in one chat for the whole group.
The steps
Open Tinder on the Discovery screen, where you normally swipe. Look for the Group Hangouts pill button and tap it.
Invite the friends you want in your Group. Anyone on Tinder can create a Group, so you do not need a subscription or special access to start one.
Set the activity and the time. Tinder will not let your Group discover or swipe on other Groups until both are in place, along with enough members to meet its minimum.
Then swipe on other Groups the way you would on individual people. When a Group you liked also likes yours, a chat opens with everyone in it.
Who can be in it
Every member of the Group has to be at least 18. The feature is offered in select markets only, so if you cannot see the button, it may not be available where you live.
Tinder also asks for consent from Group members before anyone shares private details such as contact information. Agree on that with your friends before the chat starts, so nobody's number gets passed around without asking.
Choosing who goes in your Group
The other Group sees all of you at once, so the friends you invite are part of your pitch.
Pick friends who want the same kind of evening you do. A friend who treats every outing as a contest, talks over everyone, or hits on each woman in turn will sink the Group faster than any bad photo. dating advice warns against taking women anywhere full of aggressive, competitive men, and that warning applies to your own side of the table too.
Aim for friends who are easy company and who actually reply to messages. One of you should also be comfortable taking the lead, confirming plans and keeping the chat moving, because a Group where everybody waits for somebody else goes nowhere.
Choosing the activity
The activity is the most important decision you make, because the other Group is saying yes to an evening, not just to your faces.
dating advice has clear advice on what makes a good group outing. It should be fun for her, with a bit of walking or standing around but nothing exhausting. It should keep you away from places packed with loud, competitive men. And it should be something where people can actually talk.
A small barbecue, a wine tasting, a gallery opening, drinks followed by food somewhere nearby: these all work. A long hike, an evening of video games at someone's apartment, or a movie where everyone sits in silence do not.
The easiest choice is often something you and your friends were going to do anyway. dating advice points out that inviting a woman along to your existing plans is fun for everyone and saves time. A Group Hangout lets you do the same thing with a whole Group at once.
Picking the time
Give the hangout a clear start and a natural end. dating advice's view is that an outing with no end point tends to fizzle out, with people leaving one by one. A plan that finishes at a set time, with everyone heading off together, leaves a better impression.
Pick an evening that is close enough to feel real. A plan three weeks away gives everyone time to forget about it. A plan for this Thursday feels like something that is actually happening.
Keep the numbers sensible, too. dating advice suggests the core group should be around seven people at most. Past that, people split off into smaller clusters, and it stops feeling like one group at all.
Running the chat once you match
Somebody has to lead the chat, and it should be you or one of your friends. Say hello to everyone, confirm the plan, and ask a light question that the whole group can answer.
a dating coach has a good trick for confirming plans without sounding needy. Leave one small detail open when you set things up, such as the exact place or the exact time, and fill it in on the day. The message becomes a practical update rather than a nervous check-in.
Talk to all of them in the chat, not just the one you like. If you and one woman get on well after the hangout, you can follow up with her privately and suggest a plan for just the two of you. That 1-on-1 date is where a Group Hangout really pays off.
Written by Matthew Stevens, Co-Founder & Head Coach. More than half a decade coaching men across the US and worldwide.
Everything here comes out of real coaching work: the approaches, dates, texts and profiles we go through with the men we coach.