The Hater app defies a common convention of online matchmaking tools by asking not what users like, but rather what they loathe the most. Here in Baltimore, the company finds the most common things users can’t stand are misplaced keys, bad parking jobs and that gut-wrenching “Two Girls, One Cup” video from 10 years ago.
Six weeks since its launch, 350,000 users around the world have already downloaded Hater, according to data by the company. Charm City alone has about 2,000 users.
Unsurprisingly, the app’s user base is very young: 35 percent are 18 to 21 years old, 28 percent are 22 to 25 years old and 14 percent are 26 to 29 years old. Fifty-four percent of them are male, while 46 percent are female.
Beyond the above top three, other common gripes include the phrase “cash me outside” from a viral clip of Dr. Phil (no. 4), “the 1%” (no. 6), “snitches” (no. 9) and “Taylor Swift as a person” (no. 11). Another timely one: “Pinching people not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day” (no. 20).
Hater CEO Brendan Alper said in an interview that he was surprised by how well the app has captured “the soul” of each city it’s reached. Baltimore, for example, comes off as “hardworking,” “no frills” and “authentic,” he said.
While tradition holds that people should come together based on their shared loves, Alper says some of those tastes are often very common and thus not as effective for forging a bond. For example, he notes many users may love the beach, sports, music, and good weather, but not everyone shares a mutual distaste for Harry Potter or the Super Bowl.
Scientific studies back this theory, he says. A 2006 study by researchers from two universities found participants felt closer to one another when they shared negative attitudes about a made-up character than when they had mutual positive feelings. The study concluded participants “consistently underestimated the intimacy-promoting properties of shared negative attitudes about others.”
With that in mind, here’s the full list of Baltimore daters’ most-hated people, places and things, according to Hater:
- Misplacing your keys
- Bad parking jobs
- Two Girls One Cup
- “Cash me outside”
- Picky eaters
- The 1%
- Musicians who lip sync
- Being sick
- Snitches
- People who use Snapchat filters for profile pictures
- Taylor Swift as a person
- Reading the last page of a book first
- People who talk during movies
- When the DJ plays your favorite song for only 15 seconds
- Pebbles in my shoe
- Mullets
- Divorce
- “Dancing with the Stars”
- People who claim they don’t masturbate
- Pinching people not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day
