Dating app Hinge is getting political.
Ever since it became known 2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg met his husband on the platform, Hinge has gotten a boost in activity. The app is now taking that political attention to launch a partnership with Rock the Vote, a political nonprofit organization aimed at “building the political power of young people” through voter registration and issue-based awareness campaigns.
From Wednesday—the first day of the Democratic presidential primary debates—to Friday, Hinge will donate $1 to Rock the Vote for each “like” on its Rock the Vote Instagram post, up to a total of $50,000.
Hinge has 160,000 Instagram followers, but the app’s posts currently receive anywhere from a couple thousand to 20,000 “likes” (although some videos have upwards of 55,000 views). This means achieving the maximum donation will require quite a few more double-taps than usual.
As a dating app “designed to be deleted,” Hinge said it hopes promoting political awareness will encourage users to participate in the 2020 election and maybe even meet a politically-compatible match in real life.
“Everything we do at Hinge is to help our members get out on a great first date. After finding that the majority of our members would like to date someone who is politically active, we couldn’t think of a better partner to inspire political activism than Rock The Vote,” said a Hinge spokesperson. “Hopefully, this partnership will increase both voter turnout and Hinge dates in the future.”
According to the app, 83% of Hinge members want to date someone who is politically active, yet nearly half have skipped voting in a general election—an occurrence Rock the Vote aims to minimize.
The organization was founded in 1990 in response to the censorship of hip-hop and rap artists. Over the following 29 years, Rock the Vote has used pop culture and technology to motivate the youth into political action. Aside from registering voters, Rock the Vote addresses a massive range of issues, including gun control, climate change, the student debt crisis, immigration reform, and mass incarceration.
