Ask any single woman right now, and they'd probably tell you how rough it is in the dating world. With ghosting and misleading bios, it can be challenging to know who you're really talking to on dating apps -- and whether they're telling you the truth.
Tea is an app that allows women to anonymously review men and spill "the tea" on men they've dated. About 1 million women have started using the app in the past week. It's reminiscent of those Facebook "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" groups that many cities have, except this app uses AI to verify that the people making profiles are women.
Tea has become a viral sensation in the last few weeks -- for good and bad reasons.
The app experienced a security breach -- revealed Friday -- in which data, including women's driver's licenses and selfies, was posted to 4chan. The breach is reportedly the result of Tea's unsecured database. The company confirmed to CNET that unauthorized access to its systems had occurred.
What is the Tea app?
Tea is a free, women-only app exclusive to the US. It's not a dating app; it's a tool that women use in addition to their dating apps. It's a space where you can share negative interactions while dating and solicit feedback on specific men you date to expose potential risks and protect other women.
It was founded in 2023 by Sean Cook, who cites his mother getting catfished online as the motivation for the app. Tea has taken off in the past week, gaining more than a million users in that time. According to a social media post from Tea, the app has about 4 million users. It's the top free app in the App Store right now.
Tea is intended to function as a community that keeps women safe, something that traditional dating apps lack. With candid reviews and warnings from other women about people they've dated, Tea offers women the security of having a better idea of who they're dating.
When you open the app, you'll see local men in your area whose pictures have been uploaded. You'll also see if the man was labeled as a red or green flag, and any comments left by other women.
You can look up specific names in the search bar and create alerts for names. The app's capabilities aren't limited to comments about a man's "red flags." Tea can also reverse-search photos to catch catfishers through Tea's Catfish Finder AI, run background checks, check for criminal histories and public records and look up phone numbers.
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