Cringey lines and perfect profiles: a guide to Hinge (part 1)
Credit: Ava S C
By Ava S C
A couple of months ago I downloaded Hinge. I know, I’m late to the game. I never really bothered with dating apps but having recently moved to a new country, I decided it might be a good way to find my way around and meet some cool people.
Disclaimer: this is not necessarily a ‘success story’. This is just what I did to meet someone I really like.
The first thing to note is that you are a little bit limited by what you can put on a Hinge profile. You need to be super selective. A couple of essential rules though: your first photo must be one of you alone. Stay away from the mirror selfies. And try to show at least an ounce of personality with your selections. Please.
You can definitely exploit the prompts to show character. My answer to ‘I won’t shut up about…,’ is ‘all theatre, but specifically ballet and opera. Also, my year abroad.’ A nice conversation starter which also serves as a litmus test as to whether people are willing to talk about these things with me, even if they haven’t taken previous interest.
When matching with people, there is no real formula. I would always make sure I know who I’m matching with, and that I have things to say to their prompts. I for one cannot make a conversation out of someone stating that their typical Sunday is ‘recovering from Saturday’. Even if I have felt that way myself before.
Now we’re at the talking stage, I’d say that you need to know what you want from a conversation. Can you handle small talk online or are you trying to go straight for the date? Are you cool with asking someone out? Are you okay with a cringey pick-up line? (I immediately unmatched with the guy who opened with ‘are you a microwave because mmmmMmmmmmMmmmmm.’ I hope I don’t need to explain myself.)
I always heavily hint to meet up. I hate online small talk. I’m also not woman enough to ask someone out. So hinting it is. It’s important to note that nothing about this is wrong if you’re okay with it. I just don’t like it. It is important to have boundaries, but you need to remember that other people’s boundaries might not be compatible with yours. That’s okay, it just means I’m not the right fit.
On the date itself, I’m sure this is not news, but it’s always good to go in with no expectations. Remember that this is essentially a blind date, so don’t expect to meet the love of your life. You also cannot truly know the person after messaging for a week or so. Once, I went out with someone who seemed to have a pretty good sense of humour on the app, but then on the date told me he took pride in enjoying TikToks which have been removed for violating community guidelines. So a sense of humour maybe, but offensive and insensitive? Not my thing.
My only expectation was to meet someone who had lived in the city for longer than I had. The person I am currently seeing responded directly to one of my prompts, showing he did look properly at my profile. While talking, I was heavily hinting to them to ask me out; whether they knew what I was doing or genuinely thought it was their idea I don’t know, but it worked.
It turns out we have a lot in common and really do get along. I did really appreciate how organised they were about the date, and all dates thereafter. I don’t know if this is a success story yet, but I am happy with how it is working out. Even if it doesn’t, at least I have narrowed down my process of how to use Hinge effectively. I have set my boundaries. I guess they are quite picky, but I would recommend being just as picky.
