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Tom and Chelsea have been dating for about a year. They just moved in together about three weeks ago. They say they never would have met if not for a new app that some are calling the safer version of online dating.
The Hinge app is heating up and taking over the dating scene by storm.
Founder Justin McLoud hopes that it will someday be the only place where millennials will find dates and start relationships.
Hinge has some similarities to Facebook, and for good reason.
It was started with $20 million in venture capital from some of the same people who invested in Facebook early on.
Here's how it works: Visible profiles include those that are friends of friends of yours on Facebook. You can choose to like them and be matched up with them. It's up to you if you guys start talking, or even to decide to take it one step further and go out on date.
Hinge is responsible for 50,000 dates a week and 3,000 relationships a week. They've gone global with success stories in the UK, India, Canada, and Australia.
So what is the advantage of hinge?
"It's not tough getting a date, it’s tough getting a quality date. It’s hard when you go out, especially to any kind of bar or restaurant with friends because you end up just talking to each other or you’re on your phone the whole time," Chelsea said.
She was on Hinge three weeks before Tom reached out to her.
Tom explained why he felt the need to resort to the app instead of just asking a girl out.
“One of the things that’s nice is you have a common friend through Facebook, and so if you want you can actually ask that person to tell you a little bit about the person before you reach out to them,” he said.
But is there a stigma to dating someone through an app? They don't think so, "Now it's really common. No stigma to it."
Although McLoud credits Hinge for a ton of successful relationships, he met his girlfriend the old fashioned way, "I'm with my college girlfriend. I started the app after I thought she and I were over. And then turns out we weren't over."