TikTok is pausing a short-lived dating feature that threw singles into raunchy chat rooms

TikTok is pausing a short-lived dating feature that threw singles into raunchy chat rooms TikTok tested a "dating" option on its livestreaming feed. Screenshot/TikTok/BI For a brief moment, we looked for love in a hopeless place: TikTok.TikTok tested a new dating feature over the past week that thrust users into live group chats with other singles.The tool lived in a section of the app called "hangout" that's tailored toward multi-guest experiences. It invited users who wanted to flirt to join chat rooms with "great people" or "awesome people to meet," according to different versions of the feature viewed by Business Insider.TikTok's live dating option, which was made available to a subset of users in the US and a few other markets, is now being paused, a company spokesperson said, noting that TikTok often experiments with features that may not be broadly released.During TikTok's brief dating stint, some of the chat rooms in the category seemed unrelated to courtship. Others viewed by Business Insider got raunchy. A user in one livestream encouraged viewers to comment in order to vibrate a "creator's XXL electric buttplug," for example. Another chat room was looking for lesbians seeking "big beautiful women."The experience felt like an uncanny hodgepodge of Tinder, Twitch, Clubhouse, and Omegle.TikTok's community guidelines limit livestream hosting to creators over the age of 18. It won't recommend "restricted content" to people between the ages of 13 and 17, and the company spokesperson said users wouldn't have had dating livestreams recommended to them unless they'd already followed the host creator. Live dating is one of several experiments happening on TikTok, which regularly tests ways to drive up engagement and expand into new businesses beyond standard short-form videos. The company operates a full-service e-commerce platform and is casting for actors to make its own micro dramas, for instance. TikTok told users it was "connecting you with great people..." — then put them into a livestream. Screenshot/TikTok/BI TikTok's push into dating may have been inspired by activity on its sister app in China, Douyin. Livestream blind dates have become increasingly popular in the country, where digital matchmakers host sessions for singles on Douyin and competitor apps like RedNote. Features that take off on Douyin often end up on TikTok next.Other US social-media platforms are also eyeing dating as a potential new business line.Facebook launched an entire suite of dating features to compete with apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble. Partiful, a social network for planning events, also launched a dating feature in 2026. Other apps like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and even LinkedIn have sparked romance simply by offering chat features like comments or DMs.Have a tip? Contact Sydney via email at sbradley@businessinsider.com or Signal at @sydneykbradley.123. Contact Dan at dwhateley@businessinsider.com or Signal at @danwhateley.94. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read next Sydney Bradley has been covering media and tech for Business Insider since 2020. She breaks news and writes extensively about Instagram and Facebook, as well as new social media startups, dating apps, the creator economy, venture capital, and tech culture.She regularly contributes to BI's "After Hours" series, where our reporters dive into the social scenes shaping tech, media, and finance.Sydney's reporting on Instagram was nominated as a finalist for the 2021 Los Angeles Press Club National Entertainment Journalism Awards.She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in American Studies. You can follow Sydney's work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram at @sydneykbradley.Have a tip? You can also contact her via encrypted messaging app Signal (@sydneykbradley.123), encrypted email (sydneykbradley@proton.me), or standard email (sbradley@businessinsider.com). 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