How To Like Someone in Hinge

Hinge is a dating app looking to take on the might of Tinder. It has been around for many years and seeks to do dating a little differently than the current incumbent. It is still about the profile and the pics but the journey to the date can be a little different. This tutorial will show you how the app works and how to like someone in Hinge.

Hinge began with a pure Facebook focus. It would take your Facebook profile data and images and create your profile from that. Then it added the ability to not link to Facebook at all and treat it like a normal dating app. You could go the Facebook route or create your profile from scratch depending on how good your Facebook profile is, or whether you wanted another app harvesting your social media data.

Unlike Tinder, Hinge concentrates on being the introducer and not the event itself. It makes it clear that it sees its job as introducing people and then getting out the way to let you meet for real. It’s a nice thought and one that pervades throughout the way Hinge works.

Also unlike Tinder, Hinge is not about swiping. It goes back to its Facebook roots and asks you to Like people instead. You can like an image, a comment, one of their profile answers or something else. You can filter based on a bunch of criteria too. Liking or swiping, it’s all the same in the end but it is a key differentiator between the two apps.

Like someone on Hinge

So you downloaded the app, created your profile with Facebook or from scratch, added your profile, criteria and completed your end of the bargain. Now it’s time to look for a date.

Hinge uses the criteria you set to filter your potential matches. It then shows them one at a time in no discernible order so you can say yes or no. You still swipe, this time just scrolling through potential matches rather than rejecting them. When you find someone you like you can read their profile and have the opportunity to like an image, an answer to a question or the profile in general.

On the profile you will see a small heart in a circle. Tap that to like it. If the heart is on an image, you’re liking the image. If it’s on a comment or answer, you’re liking that comment or answer. You then have the opportunity to leave your own comment and hopefully engage in conversation.

The more you use Hinge, the more it gets to know what you like and don’t like. It will refine the profiles it shows you based on what it learns.

Same rules different app

Hinge does work differently but is also very similar. You still need to upload some high quality images and write a killer profile. The profile part is made slightly easier with Profile Prompts. These are a series of questions you can add to your profile as icebreakers such as ‘The award I should be nominated for is…’, ‘I’m actually legitimately bad at…’ or ‘The dorkiest thing about me is…’

Writing the profile requires the same attention and effort it does on Tinder, Bumble or any dating app. The better your images and profile, the higher the chance of getting a date.

Some things are different though. Hinge wants to be more about the dating and relationships than hookups and interactions. Where Tinder seems content to keep messaging and interactions within the app, Hinge wants you out there as quickly as possible. Like someone and the app will even suggest places of mutual interest you could go on a date.

The introduction of the fee was controversial but actually works in your favor. Sure you have to spend $7 a month on a dating app but it also filters the wheat from the chaff. We all know the quality of people on free dating apps and websites and nobody wants to have to contend with that. By raising the barrier to entry even slightly, you eliminate the majority of the scammers, fakes, catfish and general jerks that hang around the free apps.

Hinge is different enough to be fresh and profiles more detailed than Tinder. It markets itself for those looking for a relationship rather than a hookup and in that I think it delivers. I like the way it seems to genuinely want you to get out there and have a real date rather than just hang out on the app. For those reasons alone I think it worth using.

Have you used Hinge? Like it? Had success on it? Any horror stories you want to share? You know what to do!