There are a lot of opportunities for people to get into deep and vulnerable conversations. But it seems like there can be benefits to it? I thought video dating would be weird and impersonal. Forty-three percent of men told us that they were willing to do this with someone who they’ve only met virtually.
We did the research at a time when it was not safe for people to meet up in person. Who are video calls most likely to work for? Yes! People have really been getting to know each other and they’ve been going deep and they feel open to becoming exclusive with a person that they haven’t yet met in person. Over a third of Hinge users who have used video chat dating tell us that they would become exclusive with someone that they’ve only met on video chat. We’ve done a huge research project into how people are using video dating during the pandemic and the research is based on people who match on Hinge and then use FaceTime or Zoom to go on a video chat date. How has that been going down for Hinge users? Since lockdown began, people have started video dating. If not, I, personally, would encourage them to play around with what they put on their profile and perhaps try something a little bit more authentic or vulnerable, and see how that changes the types of conversations that they enter into. In general, anything you put on your profile is the beginning of a conversation and if people feel like that’s helping them to get into the conversations they want to be in, then that’s great. The only way that would influence your experience on Hinge is how well other people respond to what you put and for that. The Hinge algorithm wouldn’t be influenced by a meme or writing a jokey answer. Would writing joke answers and posting memes instead of real pictures ruin someone’s chances of finding The One? This gives us a clue to, not just to who you’re looking at, but who you are actually engaging with. Over time, we see who do you like, who do you send comments to, who are you having conversations with. It’s all about pairing people who are likely to mutually like one another. It’s not just based on who you are likely to like, it’s also based on who is likely to like you back.
Logan Ury: We use this Nobel prize-winning algorithm called the Gale-Shapley algorithm. VICE: Hi Logan! Generally, how does Hinge’s algorithm work? We spoke about why your ex's profile seems to appear every time you open the app, how the "most compatible" is calculated and whether video dates can ever be not awkward.
I gave her a call to find out more about the workings of the Hinge algorithm, which is claimed to be better geared towards helping users find a long-term partner than other apps on the market. Enter Logan Ury, director of relationship science at Hinge, the millennial dating app with the tagline, "designed to be deleted".