Why does Hinge have an ethnicity preference?

Hinge is built on creating love and meaningful connections for everyone. After receiving frequent requests from users of minority groups – including Black people searching for Black Love, a complex topic of love and healing stemming from generations of injustice and South Asian communities seeking someone with the same traditional values – we created the ethnicity preference option to support people of color looking to find a partner with shared cultural experiences and background.

Users from minority groups are often forced to be surrounded by the majority and removing the preference option would disempower them on their dating journey. If the partner they’re looking for doesn’t fall into the majority of users they’re seeing, their dating app experience is disheartening as they spend more time searching for someone who shares similar values and experiences. At Hinge, we want users to spend less time in the app and more time focused on fostering meaningful connections.

All parts of our company –  including our diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, employee resource groups, and community team – closely monitor the impact of the preference options to ensure every user has an inclusive experience, including reviewing qualitative and quantitative data. We have a zero-tolerance policy for racism or any other form of hateful discrimination. We will continue to listen to our community on how to best support each person with their dating experience.