Photo via Alamy. Collage by VICE Staff.
If you spent lockdown flicking through dating apps, you’ll have come to realise that most people have sh*t profiles. Open any app and you’re confronted by overzealous use of the plane emoji, recycled Peep Show quotes and people who have managed to base an entire personality around the fact that they went to South America once. Of course, we are all guilty of falling into dating profile cliches. The bio you thought was clever and funny is probably being torn apart in a stranger’s group chat right now.Of all the popular dating apps, Hinge requires the most effort. Not only do users have to provide photos of themselves, they also have to complete a series of icebreaker-style prompts, aimed at sparking conversation with potential matches. These range from the mundane (“The next vacation I want to go on… ” or “My dream dinner guest… ”) to the outright cheesy: “My ideal date…” or “I’m looking for… ”. Unsurprisingly, “socially distanced drinks” and “a quarantine bae” have been two popular responses to the latter two since the start of the pandemic. And if you thought you were kooky by choosing Louis Theroux as your dinner party guest, you are sorely mistaken.
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Clearly, perfecting a Hinge profile is hard, so it’s not surprising that a community of keen Hinge users has popped up on Reddit. r/HingeApp is a subreddit dedicated to “discussing the online dating app” and invites posters to talk about how successful and – more importantly – unsuccessful they’ve been on the app.Unlike r/Tinder, which mainly consists of people posting screenshots of funny pick-up lines, the Hinge equivalent is a little bit more serious. Most posters seem to genuinely care about finding “the one”: a post celebrating a woman shooting her shot by commenting on a man’s picture gets over 100 up-votes. As with many subreddits, there are also plenty of questionable conspiracy theories. One poster claims that only conventionally hot users have their profiles marked with “just joined”, while two say that they “only see unattractive girls” on the app, wondering whether “physically attractive girls are having success with Tinder and Bumble” instead. Another goes to the trouble of tallying the number of profiles they have seen in a month (3,666), the number of these that they liked, the number of matches they received and finally, the number of dates that they actually went on: one.But the main focus of r/HingeApp is its critiquing of posters’ answers to prompts and choice of photos. Zach Schleien, the subreddit’s creator and sole moderator, tells me that he wanted to give Hinge users a space to receive honest feedback on their profiles.“I've always really been obsessed with online dating and the ability for technology to bring people romantically together,” he says. “I had a dating blog before [creating r/HingeApp] and it was just a way to review dating apps and give tips to millennials who were dating at the time.”One r/HingeApp poster I speak to, who wishes to remain anonymous, has found the subreddit useful. “Most of my friends are married or have long-term girlfriends,” he says. “They’ve never used dating apps, so they have no idea how it works.”When I ask Schleien about the appeal of discussing your dating profile with strangers on the internet, he claims that posters on r/HingeApp will always be honest – and this is a good thing. “When you ask your friends, they may be biassed, or they may not want to hurt your feelings,” he says. “With a stranger, you’ll take it with a grain of salt but they're not going to be biased. A stranger can be like, ‘Hey, that photo just is not a good look’ or ‘That fun fact is super boring’.”
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Many posts on the subreddit do appear to be constructive, but some responses are pretty brutal. A 24-year-old woman asking for feedback on her profile because she isn’t getting any matches is met with the age-old advice: “You need to smile more”. A 19-year-old man who asks, “Am I ugly?” receives a blunt takedown: “Awkward selfie. Bad lighting, plain room background, no smile. Replace photo”. Strangers may be honest, but it’s a far cry from the safe space of sharing a cute new selfie in a friend WhatsApp group.Despite all this, Schleien believes that on the whole, the Hinge subreddit is helpful. “I think it's nice to kind of crowdsource because dating apps don't really show you your best photo, or things of that nature,” he says. “People have no clue how to position themselves.”@nanasbaah
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FAQs
But founder Justin McLeod denies claims that the app judges users based on their looks, telling Fortune Executive Exchange that “we don't really have an attractiveness score.”
Does Hinge have a bad reputation? ›
Hinge's current rating on Trustpilot is fairly poor, with 1.3 out of 5 stars based on 371 reviews. However, there are some positive reviews. “I have been using this app for a couple of years and landed several dates. To me, it is the best app out there.
Are most Hinge profiles real? ›
Online dating has simplified the process of finding love. However, if you're using dating apps like Hinge, some of your matches could be scammers in disguise. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [*]: Nearly 70,000 Americans reported being scammed on dating apps in 2022, losing an average of $4,400.
What's a good Hinge profile? ›
Choose pics that show off your personality and activities you enjoy, as well as photos that might get a conversation going. Make sure all of your photos include you. Don't waste precious profile space on a photo of your pet lizard, unless you're in the photo with him. Be sure your photos accurately reflect who you are.
How many likes do attractive girls get on Hinge? ›
How many likes do you get on Hinge as a girl? Girls can receive around 99+ Likes a day, if they're particularly popular on the app. Stats have shown that the top 1% of women receive about 11% of the total Likes on Hinge, whereas for men it's around 16%.
Why does the same person keep popping up on Hinge? ›
Seeing people you've previously said 'no' to is actually by design. Our studies and testing found that often people's minds change about someone between sessions. We'll only show you people you've already skipped if you have run out of new people to see who match your preferences.
What is the Hinge controversy? ›
While Hinge's advertising slogan boasts that it is "designed to be deleted," the lawsuit claims Match Group's dating apps are really designed to turn users into "addicts" who do not find true love and instead keep purchasing subscriptions and other paid perks to keep the publicly traded company's revenue flowing.
What is the male to female ratio on Hinge? ›
What Is the Male to Female Ratio on Hinge? Based on the same demographic study, the male to female ratio on Hinge is approximately 2:1, with men outnumbering women.
Is Hinge good for over 50? ›
While it's not geared specifically toward older adults, Hinge is a very popular dating app with a wide demographic of users. Beyond its large user base and popularity, Hinge stands out as a great dating app for seniors thanks to an inclusive and personalized design.
Is there a lot of Catfishes on Hinge? ›
Spam, scams, and fake accounts are oft the subjects of ire of online daters, especially for apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, who face backlash for how these online spaces have become a "paradise for predators." Spokespeople for Tinder and Bumble told Mashable through email that their platforms are continuously ...
The Age Group That Uses the Hinge App Most Often Ranges Between 25 and 34 Years Old. Further, 20.71% of its users are within the 18 to 24 age category, while 18.43% fall within the 35 to 44-year age bracket.
How to check a fake profile? ›
Check if it matches the person or seems out of character. Fake accounts often spread false information and extreme views, and their feeds are usually filled with memes, stock photos, and recycled images. No published posts is also a sign of a fake account.
What age is most popular on Hinge? ›
According to the app itself, Hinge is geared towards Gen Z users, with the average Hinge user aged at 25 years old. Millennials make up the second largest group. So if you're looking for people between the ages of 18 and 27 or 28 and 43, Hinge can be a great app for meeting new people.
How to make a killer Hinge profile? ›
How can I make my profile stand out on Hinge? To make your profile more appealing, make sure to use high-quality photos that show off your appearance, activities, and personality. You can also include your likes and dislikes, hobbies, and character traits to give potential Matches a better idea of who you are.
Which Hinge prompt gets the most responses? ›
Best Hinge prompts
- The way to win me over is.
- My simple pleasures.
- I go crazy for.
- Together, we could.
- My most irrational fear.
- We'll get along if.
- I'm looking for.
- This year, I really want to.
The short answer: No; Hinge, like many online dating apps, does not feature read receipts or have any way to let you know if a message has been read.
Does Hinge show all people who like you? ›
As a Hinge member, you can see each Like individually and must either match or skip each Incoming Like one-by-one. With a Hinge+ or HingeX Subscription, however, you can see everyone who has Liked you at once by tapping on All in the upper left corner of your screen.
Is Hinge most compatible based on looks? ›
The Hinge Most Compatible feature uses Hinge's algorithm to determine the most compatible pairs of users on the app. They also look at demographic information, such as suggesting matches of a similar age, to make sure the potential dates they suggest are a good fit.
Do you know if you are a standout on Hinge? ›
Hinge does not directly notify you when your profile is featured on Standouts on someone else's feed. However, if you suddenly start receiving a bunch of Roses and comments, you more than likely have made it onto people's Standouts feeds!
