Hinge Unveils New Guide to Curb Dating Distraction

Image: Hinge

Dating app Hinge wants people to connect with their dates instead of scrolling their phones, and so it has launched a new guide to help curb dating distraction.

According to Mashable, a whopping 78 percent of Hinge users say that they believe their date isn’t interested in them if they look at their phones during the date (even though a lot of dating app users admit to doing this themselves). Seventy-five percent say they are more hesitant to open up to a date when they are on their phone.

Hinge’s new Distraction Free Dating Guide was created by Logan Ury, Hinge’s director of relationship science, and Moe Ari Brown, the company’s love and connection expert, in collaboration with the Foundation for Social Connection.

The initiative is also in line with Hinge’s recent advocacy to help reduce social isolation and loneliness, which is a growing problem among young daters, particularly since the pandemic.  

"Many Americans, especially young adults, wrestle with the experience of loneliness, which has profound consequences on our health and well-being. We were excited to collaborate on this guide with Hinge and advance how daters across the world build meaningful and authentic connections," said Jillian Racoosin, Executive Director of the Foundation for Social Connection, in the announcement.

The problem is that loneliness and social isolation have compounded the problem of distraction. Many people reach for their phones at the first sign of discomfort instead of pushing through and engaging with someone new. But when you are on a date and pull your phone out, you are creating a barrier so the person you’re trying to connect with shuts down.

"MIT professor Sherry Turkle found that when your phone is out, the quality of the conversations goes down," Ury told Mashable. "People naturally tend to discuss more shallow topics because there's a fear that, at any moment, the phone will interrupt them."

Ury and Brown put together some advice for daters as well as 20 date ideas that will get people off their phones, such as taking a cooking class together, volunteering at a beach clean-up, or having a trivia night. Outings where you are doing activities together work best to keep both of you off your phones. It also creates more intimacy and engagement with each other.

"Face-to-face quality time helps us build intimacy with others, but figuring out how to get the most out of that time can be tough for daters. This guide will help our community focus on each other and have memorable first dates that lead to meaningful second dates,” said Josh Penny, Hinge’s Director of Social Impact, in the company’s release.

Find out more in the complete guide and to find out more about this dating service you can check out our review of the Hinge dating app.