Why Don't Convo Starters Show Up on Some Hinge Profiles?

Hinge leaves some content out on purpose. Its help center says you may not see tips on selfies or group photos, on voice, video or poll prompts, or on anything related to sensitive topics. The feature also only runs in some countries, and it goes away for anyone who has switched it off. A page built mostly from that kind of content will show few tips, and the same goes for women looking at your own profile.

Hinge's help page lists the gaps plainly. You may not see Convo Starters on:

• selfies or group photos
• voice prompts, video prompts or poll prompts
• prompts or photos related to sensitive topics or terms

It says this is intentional. Some content encourages conversation, and other content may be left out to keep people safe and respect their privacy.

So when you tap the heart on a bathroom mirror selfie and no ideas appear, that is by design. The same goes for a group shot at a wedding, or a voice prompt.

The type of content is not the only filter.

Convo Starters only appear in the regions where Hinge offers them. Hinge's announcement names the U.S. and the UK.

Your own settings count. If you have opted out, Hinge says you will not see tips on other daters' photos and prompts that you like or match with.

Her settings count too. If she has opted out, Hinge stops generating tips on her photos and prompts.

Placement matters as well. In Discover, tips only show after you tap the heart, and only under select photos or prompts, not every one. In a fresh chat, the tips near the message bar only show if you both have the feature on, and they go away once either of you sends the first message.

Here is the useful part for a man building his own profile. Hinge's stated reason for the gaps is safety and privacy. But the list overlaps heavily with content that gives a stranger little to talk about anyway.

A selfie shows your face and nothing else. A group photo makes her work out which one is you. Neither hands her a story to ask about.

If your set leans on selfies and group shots, women who like your page get fewer tips drawn from it. More to the point, they have less to say to you with or without tips. The aim of a dating profile is not to fit in. It is to show her who you are clearly enough that she has something to react to.

The photos that start conversations show you doing something. Cooking for friends, standing on a summit, holding a fish you are clearly too proud of, playing a gig to a room of twelve people. Each one hands her a question.

Hinge's own advice on getting more likes lines up with this. Its help center says photos that show your interests, candid photos, and photos with friends or pets tend to get more likes. It says selfies, especially bathroom and mirror selfies, tend to get fewer.

So keep one photo with friends if you like, as long as it is obvious which one is you. Build the rest of the set around things you actually do.

Written prompts are where tips have the most to work with, and where a woman does too. An answer with a specific place, a strong opinion or a small story in it gives her something to ask about. "I love to travel" gives her nothing.

Picture what a comment on each of your answers would look like. If you cannot imagine one, rewrite it. "My most irrational fear is geese, and I have a story" is an invitation. "Spiders, I guess" is a dead end.

Voice, video and poll prompts are still worth having. Hinge may just not build tips on them. Use them for what they do well, like letting her hear your voice, and keep strong written answers alongside them.

If you see no tips on a woman's page, check the likely causes: the photo type, the prompt type, your settings, her settings and your country. None of that stops you writing a good comment yourself.

And if you want women to have plenty to say when they like your page, give them specific photos and specific prompt answers. Build the kind of page a tip could be written from, even on the days there is no tip at all.