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 shit 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.
How the Hinge Algorithm Actually Works, According to a Hinge Insider
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’.”
An Investigation Into Why Men Get So Competitive on Dating Apps
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
The sad reality is that some people on Hinge might not be who they say they are. If you're on the platform, you need to be aware of Hinge scams.
Does Hinge show profiles based on attractiveness? ›
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? ›
The Experience
These may assist users in finding a great match. 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.
How to tell if someone is a catfish on Hinge? ›
How can I spot a catfish?
- They want to know your personal details. ...
- Conversations that get personal very quickly. ...
- You can't find any trace of them online. ...
- They ask you for money. ...
- They ask you to keep your relationship secret. ...
- They avoid face-to-face contact. ...
- Their stories don't add up.
How To Identify a Hinge Scammer: 12 Warning Signs
- Their accounts are “too perfect.” Fraudsters use photos of models or attractive individuals to get your interest. ...
- You can't find much information about them online. ...
- They have purple “Just joined” badges on their profiles.
Feel free to take as many screenshots as you would like of other people's profiles. They will not receive a notification from Hinge informing them of your screenshot. So go ahead—send that screenshot of your Hinge crush to a friend to see if they think you should pursue a conversation.
Does Hinge have a hidden option? ›
The hide option allows you to remove a Match from the main view in your Matches drawer. If that person messages you, they'll “un-hide” and reappear at the top of your list. Scroll down to the bottom of your Match drawer to see your list of people you've hidden.
What makes a Hinge profile a standout? ›
Standouts are Hinge users in your area that get a lot of attention. Don't be surprised if you find your Standouts especially attractive, or if they have especially funny and amusing profiles. Standouts receive a lot of likes, but they also align closely with the preferences you have set for yourself on Hinge.
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? ›
Now, if you've spent any time on Hinge, you'll know it's fairly normal to see the same profile twice, or get a notification that a profile you've previously rejected has Liked you. So what's going on? It turns out, giving a rejected profile a second chance is a feature of the Hinge algorithm — not a bug!
Say No To 'Standouts'
While it might seem counterintuitive to reject profiles you might be interested in, according to TikTok, that's exactly what's required here. In theory, by rejecting (hitting X) on standout profiles, you'll be bumped into their feed, giving them a chance to send you a like.
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.
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 are the weaknesses of Hinge? ›
CONS:
- You can only interact with your daily suggested matches unless you upgrade to a premium subscription.
- Free users only get 8 "likes" a day - and that's only if you upload all 6 photos. ...
- Your "free" filter options are limited to basics like gender, age, location, ethnicity, and religion.
Main Findings. Facebook was mentioned the most as a Google Search suggestion for the topic of fake profiles; Tinder was the second most mentioned platform. Comparing only dating platforms, Tinder had the highest number of mentions—12—while Badoo came in second place with just 4 mentions.
Is there a lot of bots on Hinge? ›
If dating wasn't hard enough, it appears that profiles rumoured to be generated by artificial intelligence have popped up on dating apps like Hinge.
How to tell if someone is verified on Hinge? ›
After successful verification, you'll get a new badge on your profile to help show people that you're really you. With Selfie Verification, you will also be able to see whether other Hinge profiles are verified. That way, you can make more informed decisions about who you interact with on Hinge.
How to find out if someone is real? ›
A consistent online presence on various platforms suggests they might be authentic. Next, try using reverse image searches. Upload their profile picture to a search engine. Finding the same picture linked to different names or stories is a warning sign.
