Lexicon ·
Rose and Standouts
noun phrase, two features of one app
- Stated meaning
- A premium like that puts you at the top of someone's queue, and a daily feed of the profiles getting the most attention, which can be liked only with one.
- Operating meaning
- A toll on the profiles most in demand, payable in a token the app hands out once a week and sells the rest of the time.
- Origin
- Introduced together by the dating app Hinge in December 2020, in a redesign that made the first the only way into the second.
Hinge introduced both in a redesign in December 2020 (opens in a new window). Standouts was a daily feed of profiles set apart from the rest, and a Rose was the way to like one. Roses, the company said, “will be seen before likes, and they are twice as likely to lead to a date.” Each member got 1 free Rose a week. More were for sale at launch (opens in a new window), at $3.99 each or 6 for $19.99.
The help pages keep the terms. Standouts (opens in a new window) is “a feed of profiles catching the most attention on Hinge, tailored to your preferences and recent activity,” and in it “you can only send Roses instead of Likes.” A Rose appears at the top (opens in a new window) of the recipient’s Likes You screen. The free one does not accumulate, and the page states the policy in its own words: “Use it or lose it!” Roses that are purchased do not expire.
Under load, the pair is a queue with a priority lane, drawn around the profiles the queue is longest for. The app measures which profiles are catching attention, gathers them on one shelf, and sets the price of approaching them at a token it rations. The free Rose lapses weekly, so it is spent. The purchased ones keep, so they are stocked. The attention that puts a profile on the shelf is the same attention a Rose is sold to get past, and each Rose sent adds to it.