More and more single Charlotteans turning to Hinge and flirting on Instagram

One woman calls Hinge “the least f***boy-ish app of all the apps currently,” dubbing it “the new Bumble.” However, she explains it’s “pretty vanilla though, literally. Not much diversity.”

Hinge launched in 2013, and has been through several transformations. Today, you connect with a potential match by commenting on their answer to a prompt or liking a picture, sans swiping.

Unlike other apps where you can get away with connecting to matches with minimal effort, Hinge users are required to fill out information about themselves before their profile goes live.

Hinge aims to stand out in a crowded space by attacking the hookup reputation attached to apps like Tinder, calling itself “an app that’s designed to be deleted” and proudly proclaiming that 3 out of 4 Hinge dates lead to second dates.

Hinge’s active user base has gone up about 500 percent in the last year.

One 26-year-old woman explains why she favors Hinge saying, “I really like the fact that you have to answer the three questions to have your profile published. It helps you really find out more about the person.”

Another woman agrees, saying Hinge makes it “easier to start a conversation.”

A 29-year-old man working in finance explains, “The removal of swiping allows for more deliberate matching. Most of the people who match actually mean to match.” He told the Agenda that he finds Hinge users to be more open-minded, friendly, and responsive as opposed to other apps like Tinder. He likes Hinge more than Bumble. “Most matches end up non-responsive on Bumble because even though the girl’s on the app, she’ll never make the first move.”

Single Charlotteans also say they’re using Instagram’s direct messaging feature to start conversations.

However, Instagram’s effectiveness when it comes to actually landing dates is up for debate.

One woman said, “I’ve had guys ask me out through Instagram, just never gone. What’s even creepier and very common: guys will see you at the bar. Instead of saying hi at the time (which would be welcomed) they will DM later, ‘I think I saw you.'”

Another woman says, “I’ve slid into DMs but haven’t actually met any of them, but some of them continue to watch my stories.”

One guy in his twenties says he prefers meeting through Instagram versus dating apps because, “Dating apps have so many misleading photos, it’s unreal. Instagram shows you their mindset. The hardest part with Instagram is that there are thirsty guys sending d*** pics, so basically like an uncontrolled dating app. You don’t get a response on Instagram unless you’re simple and truthful.”