My experience with dating apps as a millennial is, I’m sure, fairly typical. Have I deleted and re-downloaded my Hinge approx 75,834 times? Sure. Do I openly talk about my disdain for the apps and how I doubt they’ll ever help me to find love? Absolutely.
But here’s the thing: I also recognize them as a bit of a necessary evil. Besides, the proof’s there: I’ve met my last three partners on Hinge, and have heard plenty of success stories from friends and peers. Knowing this, I thought this year I’d invest some time into optimizing my profile (and attitude) as much as possible. And what could help more than a dedicated Hinge coach?
Genny Diehl (otherwise known as @DatingCoachDiehl on TikTok and Instagram) is a dating coach that specializes in early-stage dating—most commonly via the apps. She has amassed over 200,000 followers across her social platforms and has a dedicated client base. She proudly writes in her Instagram bio that her “client wins,” include 300-plus relationships and 3,000-plus dates. She’s been doing this for a long time and knows her stuff.
Her Hinge profile consultations (she charges $250 for this type of session) begin with a general chat about what the client is looking for: something casual or more long-term, their recent romantic history, and how they perceive the apps. She then gets more specific, assessing the profile in front of her and making tweaks that are in line with the client’s dating motives and who they’re hoping to meet.
“My process is basically speed-running a first date with every client then reverse engineering the cool bits onto a Hinge profile,” she tells SELF. She says that in a session, she is looking to determine first “their general vibe and dating intentions” before asking: “Do I see that same energy on their profile?”
I spoke with Diehl to discover the best ways to optimize my profile and, more importantly, my approach to using the apps. Here’s what I learned.
1. Photos should be reordered for the best viewer experience.
Photos, as we know, are one of (if not the) most important parts of a profile because they’re what someone sees first. You make a split-second decision based on initial photos, before moving on to the meaningful stuff.
Diehl liked the pictures I had chosen, because they had good variety. “Your photos should be dynamic in composition to show that you have a life/friends, and you should include at least one photo which clearly shows your face and one showing your full body,” she tells me, acknowledging mine covered these bases.
