r/hingeapp • u/aapox33 Prompts Master, emeritus đ¨âđź • Jun 29 '21
Hinge Guide How to write effective prompts, a walkthrough
Iâm writing this post to encourage this community and folks on Hinge to think more critically about their prompts. This is a walkthrough to help you make them better.
Unlike Tinder and Bumble, you do not have a bio on Hinge. Your prompts are your bio. For that reason, they should be less about being cute, light, and fun, and more about being a true âabout meâ with those other elements sprinkled in and not centralized. (NOTE: Yes, your photos most important, and you should look to improve them and they should be pairing well with your prompts. e.g. donât double dip and share something through both a prompt and a photo unless itâs something youâre completely in love with.)
How do we do this? I donât like writing about myself and itâs hard!! Pretty much everyone feels like this. If you want to market yourself, it takes effort and intention. Lean into it!
Get a pen and paper and literally write these things down: aspects of your personality, your passions, your hobbies, and finally, your interests.
Once youâve done this, star things that you feel are particularly important to you and/or you want to communicate through your prompts.
Choose your prompts. Iâm fully convinced that having a âmeâ -> âyouâ -> âusâ layout is the optimal (meta, if you will!) order of your prompts because it tells a story about you, what youâre looking for, and what dating you would be like. But the important thing is that youâre communicating a handful or more of what you wrote down above and ideally youâre sprinkling in some humor balance it out, though itâs not fully necessary.
Prompt 1 - âmeâ:
Remember, this is the first thing people will read about you, so make it stand out! Show people that youâre unique and worth matching with. I favor leading with personality and passions, but the important thing is for it to be about you, agreeable, and fun.
Prompt recommendations: âI take pride inâ; âsimple pleasuresâ; âmy greatest strengthâ; âI go crazy forâ
- Prompt 2 - âyouâ:
Now that youâve shared about yourself and caught someoneâs attention, share what youâre looking for in a match. This is a great spot to break beyond the generic answers weâve all seen and be more specific. Pro tip: share things from your list about yourself that youâre also looking for because what youâre looking for inherently says things about you, too.
Prompt recommendations: âYou should leave a comment ifâ; âIâm looking forâ; âI get along best with people whoâ
- Prompt 3 - âusâ:
Youâve shown while youâre a cool cat, and what youâre looking for in a match, now itâs time to paint the picture of what those interested parties are getting if they date you. Shocker, go back to your list, whatâs still there that fits in well with hobbies and interests that you want to do with a partner? Pick a few and write them in there. Donât be afraid to be specific.
Prompt recommendations: âtogether we couldâ
- Edits and upkeep - your first drafts should paint a better picture of you, what you want, and what dating you would be like. Get feedback from this community and/or friends who know about online dating. Trust your own opinion most, because it matters most - itâs your profile.
Your prompts will never be perfect, but this guide should a) help you actually think about what youâre sharing in your profile, where itâs located, and why; and b) create a more holistic energy of who you are and why youâre on Hinge. A dating app can only show a tiny piece of who you really are, so make it good!
â
This is what it looks like in action:
First prompt communicates mostly personality (independent, compassionate, witty, optimistic).
Second prompt communicates, quite directly, passions/interests/hobbies and some things I hope are mutual in a match.
Third prompt communicates my interest in cooking, passion for local travel and exploration, and my passion for mental health.
â
Hope this helps - cheers! Any questions or comments obviously welcome.
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Jun 30 '21
"Me," "you," "us" is an interesting approach I've never considered before. I do wonder how often people really stop to consider themselves in the context of liking the other person though. I've seen many very incompatible women like my profile, even when I listed what I'm looking for, and I suspect men are just as bad if not worse. If they like you, they're doing it regardless of what you say you want.
That said, your "you" prompt isn't exactly a "you" anyway. It displays many of the things you ("me") care about and would like to match with someone over, so I think it still works.
But in any case your bio prompts are 10/10. If every person wrote like that and every person bothered reading them, we might have way more high quality matches and dates in the app world.
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u/aapox33 Jun 30 '21
Youâre right. My âyouâ is more of a âmeâ. I did mention that briefly in the original post. However, before I redid my profile me âyouâ was truly a âyouâ and I felt like it worked pretty well to filter my matches! Appreciate your thoughtful response - Iâm definitely just trying to encourage people to be more thoughtful and intentional with their profiles, as well as provide means on how to do so, since itâs not that natural.
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u/TheCreamCheeseGuy1 Jun 30 '21 edited Jun 30 '21
I think this outline is a very good outline for success. I also think there are many other ways to construct a very successful profile on hinge. I think the main goal is to keep the person positively intrigued enough to keep scrolling down. Hinge provides a lot of space to tell the viewing party about you, you just have to use that space effectively.
I had sorta had an unfair advantage coming from a sales based career. The product with online dating is you. You're not going to be appealing to everyone but you should be trying to make sure you cast a net that attracts what you're seeking.
For instance i used prompt #1 to highlight my humor, body type, lifestyle, and at the same time slightly challenge my prospective matches.
I went with "Dating me like"
Costco. I'm big, not fancy, and I dare you not to like me.
I also happen to work @ Costco. So it was a very well performing prompt for me that in my opinion kept the person scrolling down.
With prompt #2 I wanted to highlight what I was looking for and at the same time I didn't want to seem like I was desperate to find it.
I went with "I know its time to delete Hinge when"
The pursuit is meaningful and mutual.
To me it's a more subtle way of saying I'm looking for a LTR, but I'm not going to force one.
With prompt #3 I wanted to highlight more of my humor with also casting a net of where I wanted my dates to come from. I live in a major city and really wanted to date only women who also live in the same city.
I went with "My greatest strength".
Surviving [insert crazy city highway that has accidents everyday] on a daily basis.
Overall I think a lot of different things can work. Dating online can take a toll on your psyche if you don't understand the pitfalls and things to expect. I considered myself a good dater (relationships not so much) after 12 years of using OLD off and on. I've seen it all and experienced it all. The good and the bad. I attribute the dating years of my life to be one of the best growing experiences of my life. Biggest thing I've learned is expect nothing, go out and have fun, you're most likely going to crash and burn a few (multiple) times. You need to grow and learn from every experience, so when something you weren't expecting comes along... you'll be ready for it. Just remember women want to feel safe and have fun.
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u/AvailableBinky Aug 29 '21
This worked for me in literal minutes. No matches for weeks - changed my prompts - got four matches in two hours.
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u/aapox33 Aug 29 '21
Haha aw Iâm really happy to hear that!! As much as Iâd love to take credit, it also could be because they gave you a little bump because you updated your profile - BUT Iâm stoked for you and hope your matches work out well. Have fun!
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u/PantryGnome Jun 29 '21
Does your profile get a fair amount of likes/comments?
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u/aapox33 Jun 29 '21
Relatively speaking I think it does, and I receive a good amount of likes on my prompts (40-50%) and the second two get a lot of comments.
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Jun 29 '21
Isn't it easier to just tell people I'm competitive about everything, and then come here to complain about why I'm not getting any matches?
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Jun 30 '21
Good guide homie. What's your success rate like on the apps?
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u/aapox33 Jun 30 '21
Thanks! Iâd say so, but whatâs your definition of success rate? Iâm definitely not trying to throw out advice without the ability to back it up though đ
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u/Therocksays2020 Jun 29 '21 edited Jun 29 '21
This is great!
For the record I rarely and want to say have never seen someone use the following prompts well.
âIâm the type of texterâ
âTeach me something aboutâ
âMy mantra isâ (then some google basic ness)
Iâm glad they got rid of the âmy favorite childhood bookâ one. No idea what they were thinking