Before you meet up with your Hinge match, it’s important to do some digging to ensure you aren’t about to get drinks with a walking red flag. Typically, this means googling their first name or college or any other information you’ve gleaned from their profile to see what comes up.

You should investigate even further to learn about the true inner workings of your date's mind, and the easiest way to do so is, at least based on TikTok, to see who they follow on Instagram. Since not everyone appears to notice or care that this list is frequently public if their account is, scrolling through their following list is similar to peeking inside their diary. And no, this isn’t creepy behavior.

Looking someone up is the best way to see if they’re a real person and not lying about their job, age, and other important details and it also serves as a mini background check. So let this be your sign that it actually is a good idea to look at someone’s IG following and all it reveals.

All it takes is a few scrolls through your date’s Instagram following list, and just like that you’ll have a sneak peek into their music and movie taste, social life, and even the niche hobbies they might not openly mention.

As you scroll further, you’ll start to form an idea of who they could be as a person and whether or not your values and interests might align. This is especially true if you stumble upon the political pages they follow, any unique brands they support, and the genre of celebrities they’ve decided to stan.

That said, it’s also completely fine to cancel a date based on the vibe you get from someone’s online presence. If something feels like a red flag or a dealbreaker, it’s likely because it is.