Choosing a Hinge prompt is honestly a lost art form. It’s all about the balance of showing who you are while still seeming appealing enough for someone to send a like — honestly, it can be kind of intimidating.
As an avid Hinge user, I’m always open to updating my prompts and seeing what kind of new suitors I can attract, so when this story opportunity presented itself, I was more than willing. Even though I was excited, I can’t say I was surprised by the results.
It’s no shock that trying to date right now is basically everyone’s own personal hell consisting of rescheduling a date three times before just canceling altogether, meeting up for drinks while they don’t ask you any questions about yourself (hits too close to home), and cringing at the ways men try to start a conversation (being called an untrained golden retriever is not a compliment).
But with warmer weather around the corner, most people are on the crawl for a little summertime fling: hence the dating apps, and me having my Hinge matches send me date proposals via email.
Before we dive into the suitors, you should know that I had this prompt on my profile while traveling between states. This kind of worked out perfectly because I could see if my location influenced the quality of matches I was getting. (All I have to say is if you’re in Chicago, snatch up that man, please!) So without further ado, let’s meet the folks trying to make an impression.
New York singles were not what I expected.
New York City is huge, obviously, we all know that. So of course there are a lot of options on dating apps. However, in New York, the options almost seem endless which I think has caused a lot of people to have decision paralysis.
It’s estimated that 1,280,000 people are on dating apps in NYC. That’s a lot of singles — yet it still seems like everyone complains about not being able to find anyone. After doing this prompt… I think I understand why.
In New York, I saw the least amount of traction from this prompt. In total, I got one email response and a few direct responses to the prompt in the app.
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand a lot of people just like to mindlessly scroll on apps and honestly don’t want to put in the effort of sending a whole email. But in a way, I think that’s the problem: we’ve gotten so used to just scrolling through apps and sending likes, that a lot of us (myself included) would rather just send a like. And once it becomes mutual, we just let the chat stay barren until you’ve been matched for weeks and it just feels inappropriate to message. It’s a constant cycle, none of us are really down to put the effort in. (Even if our dating goals say we’re looking for a relationship.)
However, I was pleasantly surprised by the email response I received from John*.
They included a time, place, and a promise of chips and guac. Honestly, I was sold. Plus a little humor understanding I might just fake an excuse and leave if it wasn’t going well. I love it when men are aware.
But to my and my roommate’s disappointment, I wasn’t able to attend because he was away that weekend and I was away the next… until we meet again, John.
Here are some honorable mentions from the New York suitors:
Cute response, but no calendar invite was sent. 3/10.
Respectfully, I don’t think we’d have the same book interests. 6/10.
Why respond at all? Or send a like? Immediate no.
But I might have met the love of my life in Illinois…
I was only in Illinois, Chicago to be exact, for about two hours on a layover. And I didn’t expect to get any responses however, I was pleasantly surprised by the response I received.
Why was I actually sad that I couldn’t go on a date with him? He seemed so sweet. Plus I’m a sucker for Thai food. Sorry for wasting your time, Amir*. But if I’m ever in Chicago again I’ll hit you up.
My matches in Florida were… interesting…
Let’s just say I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Florida suitors. Having grown up in Florida, I know the vibes of some of the people down here and let’s just say they’re not exactly my type. However, I was trying to stay open-minded.
This was one of the emails I received. Points for trying (I guess) and actually sending an email, however, they didn’t try all that hard. 2/10.
Love the opening line starting out, however, I’m not sure why Matt* then felt inclined to tell me his stats? But points for presenting two date options, especially the food trucks, that sounds like fun.
Anyone not from Florida reading this let me help you understand what the singles are working with down here I’m going to present some honorable mentions:
What does this mean? Does anyone know?
I don’t know what I did to piss that guy off, but I can’t believe he’d wish that on me.
Overall, I had a lot of fun adding this to my profile. It was interesting to see who was willing to put in that extra effort by sending an email — which honestly isn’t even that hard. But I digress.
While I didn’t have any dates come out of this prompt (I didn’t respond to anyone, LOL) it was certainly entertaining to do. If you’re on the market and you want to find people who are willing to put in some extra effort before a first date, I’d definitely recommend it.
*Names have been changed.