Dating and friendship apps have been on the rise, with apps like Bumble, Tinder, Grindr and Her hitting the scenes to help connect strangers to people like them in their own city. The most recent app to hit the markets, however, looks to flip the model of pairing people by shared interests on its head.
Hater, created by Brendan Alper, is a new dating app that matches you up to prospective mates based in your shared dislikes, whether it be TV shows, foods or certain romantic behaviors like dimming the lights during sex.
The app works like OkCupid, asking you for your stance on a variety of topics, from ethical questions to lifestyle habits to political opinions. How do you feel about Donald Trump? Avocados? The Game of Thrones series? All the questions are selected by the Hater team, and the app does not include questions about any race, gender, class or other group to avoid fostering bigoted beliefs, Alper said.
Alper said he created the dating app in an effort to bring something unique to the marketplace that might have a strong appeal. “We knew that if we didn’t have an idea that could really resonate with people and catch on fire, then we we’re screwed. You either need to be viral or you need to have a lot of money, and we definitely didn’t have a lot of money,” he said.
Alper said his app has revealed a lot about the political stances of his users, including what Trump and Clinton supporters do and don’t have in common. “What are the things that Trump supporters love, and what are the things that Hillary supporters love? The conclusion, the thing that was universally loved – pretty much the only thing – was guacamole. Other than that, there’s not a ton of similarities,” Alper said.
Alper said he was inspired to create the app after reading a study that found people were brought closer together more by shared dislikes than shared likes. Although currently only available in English and for iOS, the company is working on producing an Android app as well as publishing the app in other languages.
So far, more than 200,000 users have signed up for the service across the United States and internationally. The app is currently one of the fastest growing on the iTunes App store.
