Every type of Leeds student you’ll meet on Hinge

Don’t worry, I’ve used up all my likes today too!

2 years ago

Dating apps are fascinating places, especially as a student. Which other app will show you a first year rugby lad, a Leeds Arts baddie and a 25-year-old dad of two in the same few minutes?

Now, we can all agree that Tinder can become a bit tiring at times, there’s only so many men with tattoo sleeves of lions and clocks that we can handle, which is why I’ve found my new obsession is Hinge.

If you’re in a happy relationship, firstly it must be nice and secondly, you won’t get to explore the absolute untethered chaos that is the Hinge scene in Leeds.

Created in 2011, Hinge uses prompts to illustrate your profile and encourage conversation between users, and with this here is a list of eight stereotypical Leeds students that you will definitely encounter and who will definitely keep you swiping (good luck this swiping season!)

The gap yah student

It goes without saying: you can definitely expect the “best travel story” prompt on this profile, which will most likely include a story containing the words “tequila”, “strippers” or “beach”. We get it, you got to see the world while the rest of us were stuck in our first-year halls crying into our laptops whilst trying to join a seminar.

These Hinge profiles will feature plenty of shirtless/bikini pics to show off the tan they got while hopping round Eastern Asia, and bonus points if you have one of you drinking out of a coconut. Yes, the pictures of beautiful sunsets in Bali on your profile are really nice but do they compare to a Hyde Park sunset? I don’t think so!

The prospective Love Islander

This one goes out to everyone on Fiat 500 Twitter who has taken to the dating scene. These profiles will base their personalities on going “out out” four times a week (the “out out” in question being Pryzm). This Hinge user loves a bottomless brunch and will be armed with a Pornstar Martini in at least one photo.

What to expect on this profile: there’s going to be a photo in front of the angel wings at Dirty Martini, the prompts will always be a bit generic, but will probably have their Insta tagged and will definitely feature a bedroom photoshoot captioned “me during fashion week” (the outfit in questions will be from PLT). No hate on this type of Hinge user but we need to spice it up a bit.

The Master’s student

This one was a bit of a shocking revelation for me when downloading dating apps. If you’re an undergrad, you’ll understand the struggle of being hungover in Eddie B while a master’s student sits next to you in a suit complete with a briefcase. Masters’ students are the grown-ups of Leeds. While the rest of us are here to live, laugh, love, these people are out here writing research and that.

There will be an obligatory graduation pic in front of the Great Hall on this profile and this stereotype loves a photoshoot by the Bacon sculpture on campus (still haven’t worked out what it’s actually called). While you don’t have to worry about running into this Hinge user at Beaverworks, they still serve as a brutal reminder that I too am an adult every time I open the app.

The voice note addict

When Hinge added this function to the app last year, they definitely knew what they were doing. Usually accompanied by a prompt, users now have the option to vocally explain why you should swipe right. Speaking from experience, there are definitely some who should have this feature turned off. The student population of Leeds definitely give it their all for this one.

The Otley run-er

I’m convinced that this type of Hinge user does not own normal clothes. While it might not be obvious, dressing up for the Otley run offers the students of Leeds a creative opportunity for them to express themselves via fashion, and we’ve defo seen some looks.

The most popular Otley run fits that people love to bring to their dating profiles usually include: Mario and Luigi, a prisoner, something that cost less than £10 on Amazon like a banana costume, and bonus points if they did the Otley run for St Paddy’s day.

My personal favourite part of this type of profile on Hinge is looking at the background to try and work out how far along they’ve got. This Leeds Hinge user is never the most original, but definitely has a bit of flare going on (but for the love of god, please just wear a pair of jeans one day!)

The fruity don

I’m just going to assume you’re a fresher if you advertise that you go to Fruity on your dating profile. You can picture it now: a Fruity goer’s profile will look relatively normal until you spot one of the inflatables in the background and the PTSD of Stylus comes flooding back.

The overall impression that you get from a Leeds student who puts their Fruity pics on their dating profile is that they love getting sweaty and will always be holding a VK. This Hinge profile will mostly reference how much they love a night out and a drink and it’s definitely not a foreign concept for this Hinge user to have a tasteful hungover pic captioned, “Mondays am I right?”

The edgy southerner

“Rah, I’ve run out of likes today”. It wouldn’t be a piece on Leeds student stereotypes without this genre of Hyde Park resident. This student is most likely decked out in head-to-toe Urban Outfitters or, of course, a Jaded London co-ord, and yes, if it were acceptable they would probably upcycle their empty pouch of Amber Leaf into a Y2L pair of earrings.

There will definitely be a throwback to the summer at Woodhouse Moor on this profile with other sprinklings of Brudenell and RPP on there too. This Effy Stonem wannabe/Beaverworks babe also definitely doesn’t want to put her hometown on her Hinge profile either, because let’s face it, it’s probably Surrey.