Hinge is a mobile dating app that piggybacks on your Facebook network to find & match you up with like-minded people based on your profile, interests & preferences.
Shades of Tinder, no doubt, but this is a much more refined concept. Someone, somewhere has given an analogy that if Tinder is akin to meeting up with someone in a bar in your neighborhood for a one-night stand, then Hinge would be the equivalent of going to a friend’s home for a party or dinner, & ending up going steady with one of their other friends who also attends the party.
The way Hinge works is pretty simple. You sign in with Facebook & set your preferences, including age, sex & location. You may also add your interests or hobbies so that others will know what kind of a person you are.
The mobile dating app will then go to work, using its algorithm for hunting for like-minded people in your Facebook network who match your profile & preferences. It will give you up to seven matches per day – all found from your own network, meaning that they will be friends of friends.
The fact that you are only given Facebook-validated contacts who are friends of your friends means that the names, pictures & profiles can be relied on, & you don’t have to do any verification or pre-screening yourself. You don’t have to worry about whether the sweet person you are being matched up with turns out to be someone else entirely.
Hinge was founded in Washington D.C. in Feb 2011 by Justin McLeod, who is the company’s CEO. In Aug 2011, the app expanded its reach in the Northeast to New York City & Boston, & the company is now headquartered in New York City.
Hinge.co has been funded to the tune of around US $5.2 million, including a recent $4 million Series A funding round from Great Oaks, Social + Capital & others that enabled the company to expand its reach beyond the Northeast. Hinge is now available in DC, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, & most recently launched in Los Angeles.
Click here to download the Hinge mobile dating app on your iOS device.
Click here to download the Hinge mobile dating app on your Android device.
Image Credit: Hinge
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