Hook-up app Jack’d forced to apologise for telling users ‘all waves matter’
Jack’d sent the “All Waves Matter” notification to users on Monday, 8 March. (Twitter/ Grindrwhileblk)
Jack’d has been forced to apologise after users received an “all waves matter” notification, in reference to the “waves” users can send to each other on the app.
Jack’d, which predominantly caters to queer men and is no stranger to scandal, was criticised on Monday night (8 March), after users began reporting that they had received a notification that read: “All Waves Matter.”
The notification seemed to be a play on the anti-Black Lives Matter slogan “all lives matter” which, according to academic and critical race theory expert , amounts to “racial dismissal, ignoring, and denial”. According to Out, around 80 per cent of Jack’d users are people of colour.
Honey, what is THIS!? @jackd 🥴 pic.twitter.com/GMGQ6jsqqg
— CAR•MINE 💛 (@carminedavis) March 9, 2021
One Twitter user wrote: “Why would ‘All Waves Matter’ be okay?
“Do you think now is a good time to trivialise social movements KNOWING FULL WELL this wasn’t the best idea y’all could come up with?”
The Jack’d team was later forced to apologise on social media, but claimed that it did not know how the notification had been sent out.
It said: “Hey everyone, we saw the notification too… and we’re working on getting to the bottom of how this happened.
“In the meantime, we are sincerely sorry. That statement is not, nor has it ever been our stance on the matter. #BLM.”
However, many of the app’s users are accusing the company of not taking responsibility for its actions.
The Twitter account @Grindrwhileblk wrote: “Brands need to stop trying to be so f**king cute when it comes to social issues. Period.
“WHAT HAPPENED was this message was proposed, vetted and approved by a tone deaf team.
“You weren’t hacked. It was a conscious decision. Stop playing in people’s faces.
“If you do something stupid, STAND in it. Own it. Anything less is COWARDLY.”
Nothing says “I handle valid criticism well" like blocking a Black voice. pic.twitter.com/x4FNVfmNUu— grindrwhileblack (@grindrwhileblk) March 9, 2021
Jack’d user Kodi Seaton, who runs @Grindrwhileblk, told Insider that the app’s Twitter account had blocked him over his “valid criticism”.
More than 24 hours after the notification incident, Jack’d released a statement: “We want to unconditionally apologise to our members for this push notification.
“The writing process for marketing communications at Jack’d involves brainstorming, workshopping, and approval before messages are sent.
“In the case of this notification, a brainstorming session, which included Black and POC team members, was held several weeks prior with the intent of coming up with messages that celebrated a sociopolitical movement we value within our community, Black Lives Matter, that was inclusive of all Black lives.
“This draft should have been disqualified during this session, but was mistakenly added to a list of approved messages.”
The Jack’d team said that it had stopped the notification from being sent three hours after it first went out, when the team “recognised the error in its inclusion and delivery”.
“Moving forward, we are working to ensure that our entire team has a common understanding of the sociopolitical issues affecting all of our global members,” it added.
