The Daily Gamecock

Opinion: Hater conquers love

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default opinion

40 percent of Americans use dating apps, and 20 percent of current, lasting relationships started with an online encounter. In the college dating scene, dating apps are of ever-increasing importance, and in the world of Tinder clones some apps struggle to stand out among the rest.

Hater is a dating app that was released last February. It mimics other dating apps in the typical “swipe left/right” format with a location feature. Like Tinder, it’s designed to help you find a hookup or a long-term partner. 

However, Hater’s distinct feature is its “love or hate” tab, where users can swipe in four directions on different topics or ideas, ranging from hairstyles to types of dogs to winking. The app retains the information and builds a profile for you based on your responses and matches you to others on a percentage system.

What are the implications of this? For one, instead of just an individually filled out quiz like eHarmony or a short bio like Tinder, Hater continually builds up your profile with likes and dislikes. This means that instead of creating, and maybe altering, a persona online, users have to answer relatable questions before coming into contact with others. The similarity between their responses and yours appears as a percentage below their name.

Relatability is Hater’s strong suit. All of the “hate or not hate” questions are mundane, and I think this makes them more personal. It’s easy on Tinder or anywhere else to be tempted to put up a front or try to be something you are not. Statistics show that more than half of people on apps have profiles that are less than honest in reflection of reality. 

Answering questions on an app that would normally only come up in a dorm room at 3 a.m. seems more genuine than posting year-old photos and opens both users to an avenue of mutual understanding and conversation.

Overall, I think Hater has a strong concept. Taking Tinder’s model seems almost cliché in the market of dating apps, but the twist Hater puts on the formula is unique and adds to the platform.


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