June 12, 2015 - Skyline Newspaper

By Skyline Newspaper June 12, 2015 10 years 332 words

Tinder, With Tattoos: Chicago-Based TatChat Connects Ink Enthusiasts

It’s a common woe among the millennial crowd: spending hours at a time sifting through profiles on Tinder, with none of the so-called hot singles in your area as tattooed as …


It’s a common woe among the millennial crowd: spending hours at a time sifting through profiles on Tinder, with none of the so-called hot singles in your area as tattooed as you’d like them to be. If you’re tired of the futility of swiping left on tattoo-less prospects, your prayers have been answered in the form of TatChat, a soon-to-be-released app developed in Chicago. According to Chicago Inno, TatChat’s sole purpose is to bring the 45 million — about one in five — U.S. adults who have at least one tattoo a little closer together. The iOS and Android app, which describes itself as a “living encyclopedia of body art tattoo pieces,” can be used for both dating and friendship; in fact, users can choose to stay anonymous if they wish. On TatChat, it’s the tattoos that take center stage. TatChat users take pictures of their tattoos with the hopes of getting “likes” from other users. The app keeps track of the top 100 most-liked tattoos around the world. Users can leave comments and offer suggestions on other users’ TatWalls, much like Facebook. And if two users like each others’ tattoos, they can message each other within the app. People without tattoos can benefit from TatChat, as well. The app allows the non-tattooed to post a photo of where they’d like to place their tattoo, allowing fellow users to offer suggestions on the design and placement. To help get its platform off the ground, TatChat has launched a KickStarter campaign to help generate funding, hoping to raise $88,000 by June 25. The app’s developers plan to launch the iOS app in August, with a potential November launch for the Android version. “[TatChat is a] source of information for why to have or not to have a tattoo, what to do or not to do, what is liked and what is ignored, while providing open and non-intrusive communication channels among all these people, their art, and motives,” the KickStarter campaign reads.

It’s a common woe among the millennial crowd: spending hours at a time sifting through profiles on Tinder, with none of the so-called hot singles in your area as tattooed as you’d like them to be.

If you’re tired of the futility of swiping left on tattoo-less prospects, your prayers have been answered in the form of TatChat, a soon-to-be-released app developed in Chicago.

According to Chicago Inno, TatChat’s sole purpose is to bring the 45 million — about one in five — U.S. adults who have at least one tattoo a little closer together.

The iOS and Android app, which describes itself as a “living encyclopedia of body art tattoo pieces,” can be used for both dating and friendship; in fact, users can choose to stay anonymous if they wish. On TatChat, it’s the tattoos that take center stage.

TatChat users take pictures of their tattoos with the hopes of getting “likes” from other users. The app keeps track of the top 100 most-liked tattoos around the world. Users can leave comments and offer suggestions on other users’ TatWalls, much like Facebook. And if two users like each others’ tattoos, they can message each other within the app.

People without tattoos can benefit from TatChat, as well. The app allows the non-tattooed to post a photo of where they’d like to place their tattoo, allowing fellow users to offer suggestions on the design and placement.

To help get its platform off the ground, TatChat has launched a KickStarter campaign to help generate funding, hoping to raise $88,000 by June 25. The app’s developers plan to launch the iOS app in August, with a potential November launch for the Android version.

“[TatChat is a] source of information for why to have or not to have a tattoo, what to do or not to do, what is liked and what is ignored, while providing open and non-intrusive communication channels among all these people, their art, and motives,” the KickStarter campaign reads.