Hinge is adding video. It's time to get yourself camera ready.
Like it or not, it's becoming very clear that video is about to become a big part of online dating, and Hinge is leading the charge.
The dating app is launching a new video feature today that will allow you to add clips to your profile. You'll simply be able to upload existing videos from your phone or your Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Hinge’s CEO Justin McLeod told Mashable that they’ve taken the video plunge because, “it adds more texture to profiles, so people can really get a good sense of you.” For better or worse, but the point is really to let people see as much of you as they can.
AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections
Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups
They’re not the first of the major apps to go in this direction. Match announced last week that it's launching Stories, a tool that lets you stitch together photos, videos, and voice to tell people about yourself. Back in January, Bumble announced it was adding disappearing snaps, but it has not yet made that feature available. So that makes Hinge the first to actually roll it out.
McLeod said they opted for this very low-stress approach because they wanted it to be easy for their users, and they really wanted to avoid ending up with something akin to those infamously creepy direct-to-camera video profiles. He said, "What we’re trying to do is create a way to share that feels natural. It's an extension of how they’re already communicating."
Hinge wants to be a place for, as McLeod put it, "one-to-one, intimate communication." They're trying to position themselves as a place for finding serious relationship, and so far it seems to be working. They report they're currently growing 20 percent month over month and creating 15,000 dates a week.
It remains to be seen, however, whether vast amounts of single people are ready for their close-up.
Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.
