It can be pretty irritating to be scrolling through Hinge and find yourself confronted by a face you know well.
A face, in fact, that you’re sure you’ve repeatedly said no to!
But Hinge aren’t kidding around when they say it’s the app made to be deleted. They’re on a mission to get you into a relationship, so maybe, just maybe, if they’re showing you Alexandra the reiki healer again, they know something you don’t about compatibility.
Or maybe she’s the bottom of the barrel option – you know you’ve been through everyone in a forty-mile radius twice so, grudgingly, you hit like on Alexandra, who has six pet rats, and you figure you can just go out for the date rather than over to hers, and you can probably keep the conversation away from reiki?
Who knows though? Maybe reiki will change your life. And actually, rats are almost as smart as dogs! You could teach them to fetch and stuff…
Or if you want to keep your standards sky high and reject rats and reiki (okay, I feel bad, it isn’t the rats’ fault! And I’m sure reiki has its plus points) you could just keep swiping – Hinge’s CEO predicted a big summer spike in users last year, and its popularity is only growing.
So there will be many more beautiful people to accidentally scroll past this year – and maybe even a few people to scroll past twice!
Does Hinge Show You The Same Person Twice?
So, is it just a glitch, or does Hinge show you the same person twice intentionally?
Well, it’s not a glitch. Hinge does show you the same people twice sometimes, on purpose. People you have disliked will come up again when you run out of new users in your area that match your preferences.
Hinge insists that this isn’t just a lazy way to fill up your feed!
Rather, they have evidence that people often change their minds about whether or not they like users when they see them again.
Hopefully, this means people are learning, growing, getting more comfortable with their desires, beginning to focus on what’s inside rather than outside…
More likely, though, you were swiping too fast last time, and even though Kirsty, a lawyer who lives three miles from you, looked absolutely lovely you sent her left in an x-tapping frenzy.
Why Does Hinge Keep Suggesting The Same Person?
If the same guy or gal is popping up every day, it’s all getting a bit Groundhog Day. But if we rewatch that seminal film closely, there’s a message there. Does Hinge have a message for us?
So why does Hinge keep suggesting the same person? If you see someone twice, then Hinge thinks you have high compatibility with that user. They might have even liked you already.
So if you’re seeing profiles in Discover you’ve already X’d, it’s because Hinge thinks everyone, or at least this one person, deserves a second chance.
Maybe they’ve got an A-grade conversation game on Hinge, and Hinge is pretty sure that if you only match, sparks will fly.
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Does Hinge Show You Someone You Already Liked?
Do you ever get Hinge deja-vu? Like, you’re sitting there swiping and you’re sure you’ve seen all these faces before. You’re sure you’ve read all these profiles before. In fact, you’ve liked these profiles before.
Oh no! Are you in a time loop movie? Well, at least you’ll have years to get really good at the flute or whatever. Maybe learn Japanese…
Calm it! The truth is, after a while, almost everyone on a dating app starts to look familiar. But they probably aren’t! At least, you haven’t liked them before.
So does Hinge show you people you have already liked? No. Once you like someone on Hinge they won’t show up again unless they reciprocate the like and you two match. Hinge also won’t show you anyone you’ve matched with previously even if one of you has unmatched.
The only way to get around this is to make a new profile on Hinge, which is kind of a weird amount of effort to go to, but I guess we’ve all been on the ‘delete the apps, get bored, redownload the apps’ merry-go-round in our time.Of course, if you think someone is making new profiles for nefarious reasons (like contacting you repeatedly or pretending to be someone they aren’t) then you should absolutely report them.
If I Dislike Someone On Hinge Will I See Them Again?
It can be really annoying when the same people keep popping up on dating apps. It’s like the damn thing won’t listen to you – Hinge, no means no!
Only, sometimes it doesn’t, in the dating-app swiping world. (In other worlds? No definitely means no!)
So yes. Hinge shows you people you have disliked because the app has data to suggest that we often change our minds.
Hmm, are you hungry? I’m hungry. I could really go for a hotdog right about now… wait, no, tacos! Yeah, I’m getting tacos after work.
What was I saying? Oh yeah. Hinge believes we change our minds, and that we sometimes get distracted and make swiping mistakes. I guess that must be true of some people. Not me though.
If I Dislike Someone On Hinge Will They See Me?
Usually, if you hit X on someone on Hinge they fly out of your brain before their Hinge profile picture is even off the screen.
Occasionally, though, you see someone on Hinge that you know or have interacted with before, and the question haunts you ‘If I dislike someone on Hinge, will they see me?’
Related: Can You Go Invisible On Hinge?
Well, the answer is yes. If you dislike someone on Hinge they will still see you. In fact, you may still see them, too, because Hinge does show you the same person twice, sometimes.
The app bets on human beings being as soft-willed as we are soft-fleshed – yes, I am imagining the Hinge algorithm as a big scary dating robot here.
You got a better idea for anthropomorphizing UX design? Here’s a bit about how the algorithm matches you, if you want to try and best me.
The algorithm believes that we often change our minds about users we have hit X on. And you know what? As usual, the algorithm is right, we often do.
How To Stop Seeing Someone On Hinge
Of course, if you want to permanently banish another user from your sight you can always ‘remove’ them.
Here’s how to stop someone from seeing you on Hinge, before matching:
Step 1) Tap the three dots at the top right of their profile.
Step 2) Hit “Remove”.
Step 3) Hit “No reason”.
Now you’ll never see that user again on Hinge, and Hinge won’t show your profile to them either.
This is basically like blocking them and it’s a good choice if you simply don’t want your cousin’s/professor’s/ex’s dating profile popping up in your feed anymore.
Unfortunately, ‘imagining this person getting lucky on Hinge burned my brain’ is not an option you can pick, so you’ll just have to mutter that to yourself as you go through the removal process.
So, basically, the only way to permanently get rid of another user on Hinge (and make sure you don’t show up for them) is by removing them, or, if you’re matched with them, unmatching them. On Hinge this works like a block.
How Hinge’s Algorithm Works
Algorithms have a lot of control over our lives, so it pays to take note of how they work. The Hinge algorithm slowly learns about your likes and dislikes based on how you interact with the app, and it also compares you to other users based on how many likes you get, and which users like you.
The app will even occasionally use the “We Met” feature to ask if you met one of your matches, to get additional feedback about your experiences and preferences.
It then shows you users that:
a) it thinks you’ll like, and
b) it thinks will like you back.
Thus increasing your chances of a match, a date, and ultimately deleting the app to live happily ever after.
It’s a big, bubbling pot of data, but don’t be put off. You can actually encourage the algorithm to favor you by making a few easy changes to how you use the app. Here’s what to do:
- Complete your profile, including your vitals, virtues, and dating preferences.
- Swipe slowly, and read through the profiles you see in Discover.
- Only like profiles you genuinely want to talk to or go on a date with.
- Don’t like every profile you come across.
- Make sure you have a great set of Hinge pictures and good prompt answers.
To be successful on Hinge, you don’t just need a strong profile. You also need to signal to the algorithm that you have good taste in other Hinge users.
If Someone Comes Up On Your Hinge Do You Come Up On Theirs?
So you’ve liked Alexandra. And now you’re reading about reiki, and it actually sounds pretty interesting. Work’s been stressful lately, maybe that’s the answer to all your problems!
Now you’re impatient for that match. Is she going to see you too?
So if someone comes up on your Hinge do you come up on theirs? Yes, Hinge shows you a profile, it’s very likely that they will see you too. That’s because Hinge’s algorithm works based on mutual compatibility.
So everyone you see in Discover is a potential match, because Hinge thinks they might like you too. It follows that Hinge has to show you to that user, too!
The only exception to this is Hinge’s Standouts, the special little feed of Hinge’s top profiles. If someone appears in your Standouts, there’s no guarantee you’ll appear in one of theirs.
Wrapping Up
Hinge is geared towards matching its users in serious relationships, so it has an algorithm that heavily favors compatibility.
That’s why hitting X on a user doesn’t cast them into the abyss. If Hinge really thinks you’re compatible, it will give you a second chance to like them. Basically, Hinge understands that human behavior isn’t always logical!
But Hinge can only work with what you give it. If you’ve got six blurry selfies taken with a fish-eye lens, then Hinge is going to think you’re only compatible with a few minnows. You’ll never be the catch of the day.
That’s why you should check out my free 6-Step Tinder Tune-Up. It says Tinder in the title, but it works as a pure profile upgrade for Hinge as well. I’ll help you tailor your photos to find the kind of match you’re looking for and upgrade your prompt answers so you get more likes.
So maybe don’t give in to reiki and rats just yet.
