There are unlikely couples, that of the giant of the meeting applications Tinder and the French NGO "A voted" is a convincing example.

From Thursday February 17 and until April 8, the two partners are uniting through a communication campaign to "match Gen Z with the vote!"

In other words, encourage young people to vote in the presidential election or at least encourage them to register on the electoral lists.

With a slogan: "If you date downstairs... Then vote downstairs!"

Concretely, an ad will automatically appear on the dating application.

When users "swipe" the profiles [by sliding their finger to the right of the screen if they like the profile, to the left to ignore it, editor's note], they will at the same time be able to discover a kind of mini-video in four flaps called "Swipe Video Card".

If they want more information, they will be sent to the "A voted" site, which centralizes all the steps to take to participate in the 2022 presidential election. In a second step, they may be redirected to the sites of registration on the electoral lists of public services.

😍 Very excited to share our new match: @avote_ong X @tinderfrance = love and voter registration 💌https://t.co/Q08wGjDTtL

– Clemence Pene (@ClemencePene) February 16, 2022

Politics on the Rise on Tinder Profiles

This friendly initiative, which may make you smile at first glance, reflects a darker reality: the abstention of young people.

“This subject is not new, we have been talking about it for forty years, underlines Flore Blondel-Goupil, co-president of the NGO, interviewed by France 24. But the phenomenon is growing among young people. The last regional elections recorded record abstention rates among 18-25 year olds. This was a real shock. And the latest polls relating to the turnout for this presidential election – an election which normally does not suffer too much from abstention – also provide for record abstentions. There is a democratic bug."

Indeed, according to a recent study, 59% of 18-30 year olds registered on the electoral lists plan to abstain in the first round of the presidential election.

Knowing that young people represent nearly 50% of Tinder members, “this partnership represents a great opportunity to raise awareness as much as possible, believes Flore Blondel-Goupil. Today it is necessary to bring democracy back to where exchanges take place, where opinions are formed.

According to the makers of the dating app, the choice of platform is relevant because mention of the term "politics" has increased by nearly 59% in the last 12 months in users' biographies.

The scourge of "mis-registration"

However, non-registration or "mis-registration" largely affects young people.

"Of course, there are many factors that favor abstention, such as the lack of confidence in the institutions and in the political leaders, the lack of renewal of the political class, the absence of recognition of the blank vote. But within of our organization, we have chosen to tackle the problem at the base by working essentially on the problem of 'mis-registration' which affects young people in particular", notes the co-president.

Being "badly registered", that is to say being attached to a polling station which does not correspond to his actual place of residence, is mainly linked to moving.

Young people often leave home for their studies.

However, being a “badly registered” voter multiplies by three the risk of being an abstentionist.

In total, according to the work of sociologist Céline Braconnier, some 7.6 million citizens were "mis-registered" in 2017 and 51% of them were in the 25-29 year old category.

To these "mis-registered", we must add between 3 and 4 million non-registered.

>> To read also: "Presidential 2022: 'poor registration' on the electoral lists, a French evil"

Tinder to the rescue of democracies

This is not the first time that Tinder has supported such initiatives.

In the past, the dating platform had already supported a campaign on consent in France.

Abroad, she has also been involved in similar actions, notably during the elections in the United States in 2020, in Germany in 2021, in Brazil in 2018 or in the United Kingdom in 2019.

No way for the dating site to play politics.

Monday, February 13, Young with Macron (JAM) attempted, on Tinder, a major operation to encourage young people to register on the electoral lists.

Tinder immediately reacted by threatening to ban these profiles created according to them solely within the framework of a political campaign.

The verdict of the polls

"Voted" doesn't just rely on Tinder to get young people on their way to the polls.

Since January 11, the NGO has also entered into a partnership with the giant Meta by creating a chatbot, that is to say a digital and playful conversation space.

"Alongside the digital initiatives, there are also actions carried out on the ground by our organization, in particular with the homes of young workers. The latter do not always know how to take the steps."

🗳️ Great moment 🎉, we are launching the first chatbot on WhatsApp in France to encourage electoral participation, in partnership with @MetaFrance, @OuestFrance and @20Minutes #AVote


💬 To check your registration on the electoral lists 👉 https://t.co /DHTFYprVYm pic.twitter.com/tI9Rc7dzyR

— Voted (@vote_ong) January 11, 2022

All these communication operations intended to register on the electoral lists will end on March 4, the end date for registration.

"It will be interesting to see the numbers of new registrants on this date to find out if our efforts have borne fruit."

Before the deadlines of April 10 and 24, where we will know for good the abstention rates.

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN