Unless you and your high school sweetheart are in it for the long haul, you’ve likely been on Hinge \u2014 I\u2019m guilty as charged. No one is proud of it, but here we are. Whether you have a fully made account you never dared make public, are a seasoned Hinge veteran with a hundred inactive conversations or are even looking for a reason to download the app, you have come to the right place. Here is how to Hinge at UC Berkeley.<\/p>\n
Step 1. Embracing the cringe<\/p>\n
The number one reason people claim they\u2019ve never tried Hinge \u2014 even when they\u2019re interested \u2014 is because it can feel embarrassing. Most avoid the platform because it feels high stakes due to the dread you feel of your friend or classmate possibly seeing your Hinge profile, but realistically, it\u2019s one of the lowest-stakes risks you can take. After all, if they\u2019re seeing you on the app, that means they\u2019re also on it themselves. So, give up that mysterious mystique; it is just as incriminating for the people that see you on Hinge anyways. Regardless, Hinge has you covered with a \u201cBlock List\u201d feature which enables you to block all contacts, so you\u2019ll be a fresh face.<\/p>\n
Step 2. Curating the perfect pictures<\/p>\n
Now that you have officially downloaded the app, let me tell you, the worst bit is yet to come: creating the perfect profile. Rule number one: Never use a group photo as your first picture. This should be obvious, but in the worst case scenario, you\u2019ll get likes just that ask for your friend’s Instagram. Do yourself a favor and just use a solo picture as the cover. Rule number two: be silly. Hinge is already unserious, so you might as well put that picture of you passed out on the sofa on your profile. It\u2019ll be a conversation starter for sure.<\/p>\n
Step 3. Answering the prompts<\/p>\n
Picking and writing your prompts is not a personal essay, but try and come up with something unique before looking up \u2018funny Hinge prompts\u2019 used by half the Berkeley Hinge population already \u2026 Beyond that, it\u2019s never that deep \u2014 you don’t need to make rough drafts of your prompt responses. People will look at them for a maximum of half of a second \u2014 your pictures will likely draw more attention. Hinge has a variety of different prompts you can respond to, so just be genuine, intriguing and a little funny.<\/p>\n
Step 4. Swiping and matching<\/p>\n
Congratulations! Your personal profile is complete, and now it’s time to peruse. My personal favorite way to swipe on Hinge is lounging on the couch and treating it like I’m doomscrolling on TikTok. Shoot your shot liberally because no one really remembers all of their likes. Include a one-liner that responds to something shown in their pictures or prompts. That said, however, please keep your shot no more than PG-13 \u2014 they could very easily be in your next discussion section, so maybe steer away from your most unhinged slide-in.<\/p>\n
Step 5. Messaging<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve got a match! Now, get that conversation off of Hinge ASAP. Conversations on Hinge were made to die and no one wants to seriously message on a dating app. At least move the conversation to Instagram, and if you\u2019re really into someone, ask for their phone number. Remember, even if you think you’re hitting it off, believing you\u2019re special to your Hinge match is like thinking a stripper truly likes you \u2014 not impossible, but proceed with caution.<\/p>\n
With all of these tips and tricks, you\u2019re on your way to mess around on Hinge for a week \u2026 and then delete the app, completing the life cycle. See you back on it next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unless you and your high school sweetheart are in it for the long haul, you’ve likely been on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2791,18789,17303,7644,143,145,144,30743,4574,3808],"class_list":{"0":"post-250651","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-campus","9":"tag-dating","10":"tag-hinge","11":"tag-instagram","12":"tag-oakland","13":"tag-oakland-headlines","14":"tag-oakland-news","15":"tag-relationships","16":"tag-student","17":"tag-tiktok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}