Strange world of love

Relaunch series: where do we fit in

When we first launched, Hitch was a cool idea that everyone loved. In its earliest, most basic form we found people were returning to the app to hitch their friends multiple times, even though it was a manual process. We realised we were onto something special. There are hundreds of apps out there — so why were people coming back to Hitch?

Online dating generally works in two ways:

1. Apps that show all the single people in your area, or

2. Websites that make matches based on mutual interests

Does being matched with someone who also ‘liked’ Eastenders on Facebook in 2007 guarantee love? No. Will you fall in love with someone just because they happen to pass you by on the street? No. Finding someone special has been turned into mindless swiping and split-second decisions.

This means there is way too much choice and people take the apps less seriously. There’s a reason the internet has exploded with parody accounts like Bye Felipe. Yes, some people are lucky enough to find love online, but it’s getting much harder. The screen between you removes the idea of you as a real-life person, so creeps get braver and more offensive. They’ll probably never meet you anyway, so why bother putting in the effort? The next potential girl is only a swipe away, and maybe she actually will want to be spanked like ‘a disobedient avocado’ (thanks tinder nightmares!).

Love does not come as a result of having the exact same interests, or through living a couple of blocks away.

We know a couple who would have never been matched by a computer. She’s an artist — creative, expressive and unconventional. He’s decisive, ordered and likes to plan things. They are total opposites and yet they make two perfect halves of a whole. They met through friends.

People keep coming back to Hitch because being set up by a friend feels safer and more natural. Friends really know you. They’ve seen you through thick and thin. They know you’d prefer a sporty blonde to an academic brunette. Once you’ve been introduced, conversation flows more naturally and the likelihood of being hit with a nightmareish pick-up line is drastically reduced. It’s way more likely your sense of humour will be similar, plus you’ve got a ready made set of friends to double date with!

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