Evangelizing to his 512,000 TikTok followers occasionally requires that dating coach Chad Franklin post the private communications of his clients, who pay upwards of $5,000 for his services.
In September, Franklin shared a DM conversation in which a woman implied she couldn’t afford an Uber with the text overlay “Don’t date POOR women!!!” That same month, he uploaded a video of a client’s successful text exchange on Hinge where they talked about the need to “flirt over some margaritas.” In the clip, Franklin can barely contain himself, noting that it was the type of tête-à-tête that gets his “dick hard”: “This is what men are looking for. We lead, you follow.”
Franklin posts under the alias @DefundSimping, and has made it his mission to help straight, career-driven guys in their “post-breakup, post-divorce” era undo their “simp” behavior, which he defines as putting women on a pedestal or giving them too much attention.
I reached out to the 30-year-old content creator because I wanted to talk about Hinge’s decision to start testing screenshot protection in India. The announcement set off a firestorm of reaction across social media last week, rekindling a debate around digital etiquette, privacy, and shame.
“Everyone who’s downloaded the app has seen the debauchery and the drama,” Franklin says, explaining that being online in 2026 simply means there is a chance you will become the day’s main character whether you intended to or not. “People are aware that they could be the next haha moment, but that doesn’t mean they deserve it.”
TikTokers, X accounts like @hingestrange, and other online creators have built entire brands out of screenshotting and sharing bizarre dating profile prompts, cringe pickup lines, or red flags found while swiping. But critics of the trend argue it’s a form of public humiliation that should end.
In response to news of Hinge revoking profile screenshotting ability in India, some responded with relief.
“People on here kinda turned being on a dating app into both an extension of the panopticon and a window into their own personal penchant for cruelty,” writer Tres Dean noted on X. “I actually think this might be the first ethical development in online dating in years if not ever.”
X user @randy_mossad added, “Better for a million cheaters to go unpunished than for one regular person looking for love to get humiliated by leaked chats.”
