This is important, as Gen Z—whom numerous studies found value DEI—make up 56% of Hinge’s users, while 15% are LGBTQ+ daters. “If we’re a product in service of Gen Z, we need to stand with Gen Z,” said Jantos.
Inclusion is part of the company culture but also informs the relationships represented in its marketing, as well as its product design. For instance, anew feature, Match Note, gives daters the option to privately share key details about themselves with matches before starting a conversation.
Match Note was inspired by focus groups with transgender daters. In conversations with the organization TransTech Social, Hinge learned that some trans, nonbinary, and queer daters want a way to share important personal topics, such as gender identity or boundaries with physical intimacy, without including them on profiles or repeating them in every chat.
The development of Match Note demonstrates “how we include audiences who are underrepresented in our design and product innovation,” Jantos said.
Tackling loneliness
Hinge knows it has big issues to address as Gen Z experiences higher levels of loneliness and isolation compared to older generations, according to studies like this 2025 Pew Research Center survey.
Factors such as the rise of tech and social platforms—people are spending 1,000 fewer hours in person with each other than they were a decade ago, per a 2023 report from the U.S. Surgeon General—are fueling the loneliness epidemic.
“The way people are feeling more generally because of the macro perspective is resulting in us not feeling so confident in how we’re engaging and where we’re engaging,” Jantos said. “At Hinge, we have to do work to help people feel more confident and ready to meet in person.”
To address this issue, Hinge has made loneliness the focus of its social impact program, One More Hour, which last year granted $1 million in funding to social groups across the U.S. that aim to foster community among young people. It has also created dating guides, shares tips on the app and online, and has launched features like Your Turn Limits, a notification that reminds users when it’s their turn to respond in a conversation with a match. Hinge plans to expand the One More Hour into the U.K. this year.
Perhaps paradoxically, “We’ve proven over time that helping people get off the dating app is actually the secret to our growth,” she said. “When you focus exclusively on users’ outcomes for any digital product you build, your product will succeed.”
