Hi5 Review

Hi5 might seem like a dinosaur, but with over 50 million users, it is by no way extinct. Way back in the dawn of time, somewhere about 2004 BF (before Facebook), a site was born called hi5. It defined the parameters for all giants that emerged from the darkness to bring social networking into the light of modern life.

The Internet version of the saber tooth tiger claimed the early noughties. Like a crocodile, it adapted to environmental changes and grew from a rudimentary social network forum to a gaming platform. Hi5 got its act together Transformer style and remained not only standing but a contender. Kudos.

Like some classic rock bands, this site has redefined itself again and again until Tagged if(we) scooped it up in 2011 and took it back to its social network roots. If (we) is owned by The Meet Group responsible for developing Meet Me! And Lovoo. It may not top the charts with all the newer and more flashy sites, but with over 100 million users to date, hi5 isn’t a fossil yet.

Today Hi5 is not really mainstream when it comes to dating, and their gaming has been reduced to one “Pets” game. This game is almost a fantasy football league, except it uses member profiles as the team. Users can “own,” “buy,” or “sell” other members and outdo each other in ranking status.

Users can chat with other members online for free as long as the member’s profile is not in private mode. This free chat feature is really a find when so many social sites necessitate premium monthly memberships to even get to “hello.” Hi5 has a diverse portfolio offering a variety of features such as friendship networks, group chats, and access to events.

Hi5 is not really a dating site per say, but many of its free social networking features can be used to that end. This site cannot really be pigeonholed into any dedicated focus and remains a web pony with more than one trick.

When Was Hi5 Founded?

Hi5 was founded in 2003 and achieved the status of being the second-largest social network site under Myspace in 2007. This site was purchased by the Meet group in 2011 under the banner of if(we).

Who Founded Hi5?

This site was founded by an American of Indian descent, Ramu Yalamanchi, a California based computer scientist and entrepreneur.

Registration & Profile

The registration is a quick and easy process and can be achieved through either Facebook or Google accounts. Hi5 will import most of your information once you have provided a valid email address.

Standard questions then apply, such as age, city, gender, and birth date. You will receive an email notification to activate your profile. You will also have the option of importing your email or Facebook contacts and bring your buddies with you.

Find your sexiest duck face profile pic and get mingling. Hi5 basic search function will allow you to start chatting immediately if someone catches your eye. You can fill out an “about me” section, but beware this will be visible to all active users if you are in public mode, so do not put anything out there you would not want your Nana to see.

Communication/Matches

It is easy to start mingling on Hi5, and most users are open to chat if that is their inclination. The more popular users may be out of your league, so you will need to pay for their company. Users can browse for potential ex-partners on the “Pets” game or apply a basic search filter by age, gender, and location.

You have the option of status updates, much like you find on Facebook, which will be shared with your friends on site. This includes photographs to lure that Romeo to your virtual balcony. You may send someone a “Flirt’ Request” so that they have a heads up that you are on the prowl, not out to find a buddy.

How about joining the “Flirt” section of Hi5 where singles are on the make? You can check out their photos and send messages. Maybe after a virtual chat, you can take your crush out in real-time?

How To Search For People On Hi5?

Member search provides a page of active and recently active user profiles from which to choose. Simply tap the “Add friend” tab and “message.” If they do not think you are a tool, they will engage in chat. Easy.

Fancy a game of match roulette? The “Meet Me” game will provide you with a reel of potential likes you can like or pass in a Tinder-style setup. They receive a “Likes You” list with your profile on it, and if you guys match, you can start getting it on.

Choose a forum or a group that is into the same stuff as you, such as gaming, and you can add friends from there. Once you have something in common, it is easy to move from a chat buddy to something more intimate.

How To Delete Your Hi5 Account?

Deleting your Hi5 account is simple. Select “Account” from website navigation bar, then “Settings.” Click on “Cancel Account” section and choose “Cancel your Account” link and follow the prompts. Lastly, select “Yes, I want to cancel my account” type in your password and tap “Cancel Account”.

Membership Structure

Hi5 has a large and diverse user-base with its core demographics based in Central and South America. Most site members are in the 18-35-year-old bracket, and hi5 boasts an impressive 50 million users across the globe. That is over 200 countries on one site. Impressive.

This site caters to a staggering 50 different languages, including Spanish, Chinese Italian, German, and French. With 40 million unique views and visitors per month, you can really cast your net wide to land your big prize.

Hi5 male to female ratio is pretty even, which is great for the US users because most of the US demographic use this site for dating and hookups (note the more suggestive photos.)

Sexual Preference

Just browsing the first ten “Romance and Relationships” groups, we came across a Dominatrix site with 80 members and a Lesbian site with over nine hundred members. In fact, scrolling through only 20 online groups, the ratio of heterosexual groups was the lowest. It seems that hi5 caters to a wide variety of sexual preferences. We even came across a group for bipolar sapiosexuals, which was quite a surprise. So, Hi5 will satisfy anyone’s sexual kinks, even if those kinks have to with one’s intellectual qualities.

Race And ethnicity

One of the key drawcards of Hi5 is its sheer diversity of membership. There are representatives of all colors and creeds. We even came across a black transsexual woman’s forum of over 5000 members. So, once again — whoever you are looking for on hi5, the odds are always in a user’s favor.

Religious Orientation

Community groups on hi5 represent a utopian vision of an integrated world. Christians, Rastafari, and Muslims groups are listed side by side.

Pricing Policies

What’s really awesome about this site is that you can use its available features comfortably without paying a cent. You can use “Gold” as your online currency, and it can be used to buy gifts or pets. Pets are valued according to their popularity, and their value increases each time they are bought and sold. You can earn “Gold” by maintaining a strong, active presence on this site and by various other promotional ways. Otherwise, you may buy “Gold” for:

• 400,000 Gold for $199.99 USD
• 200,000 Gold for $99.99 USD
• 75,000 Gold for $49.99 USD
• 25,000 Gold for $19.99 USD
• 10,000 Gold for $9.99 USD
• 2,500 Gold for $4.99 USD

Free Membership

• Free account registration
• Free user search
• Free messaging
• Make use of friends list to add friends
• Buy pets in the pet game.

Paid Membership

• “Likes You” list
• Find out who “likes” you in Meet Me
• Find out who views your profile
• Access to popular members
• Access hottest users on Hi5
• Read messages
• Check if sent messages are read
• Gain access to new users before others do
• Email support

Premium membership fees:

• 1 month $9.99/month
• 3 months $6.99/month billed at $20.97
• 6 months $4.99/month billed at $29.94

How To Cancel Your Hi5 Paid Subscription?

If your Premium membership was bought on Hi5 website, you will need to login to http://www.hi5.com/account_info.html. Select “Subscriptions and Payments” tab, click “Cancel your subscription,” and “Cancel Premium.” This must be done three days prior to your next automatic payment.

If your payment was made through Google Play or the App Store, users must follow cancellation policies provided by their respective sellers.

Is Hi5 Safe?

Hi5 uses industry-standard security measures to prevent the loss, misuse, and alteration of user information. They also follow standard third-party protocols regarding user information. The site provides a board that informs users of measures to keep themselves secure online. There have been incidents of phishing via friend requests on the Hi5 platform.

Users are asked to provide their member name and password to access the “Friend” and thus provide your passwords to the people running the scam. It’s best to never provide you user information unless you are certain that the link is secure.

Hi5 claims that credit card transactions are processed using the same secure encryption used by leading banks. The card information is stored, processed, and submitted securely on a PCI-Compliant network.

Quality Of Profiles

Hi5 is not predominantly a dating site per se, even though they have features that can be used to this end. This results in the profiles not being really all that flushed out in comparison to other online dating sites. You have the basic bio stats that reveal generic info, such as your age and gender. You can refine the details a bit by adding extra info such as body type, hair, and eye color.

Then there is a nifty little add on a list where you can specify your tastes in music, books, movies, and your best features and sigh your dreams. This can let other users get to know you better before engaging and puts forward a more individualized reflection of yourself.

You have a small area in the “About Me” section of your profile where you have a chance to describe your interests and what you are seeking in a partner.

You can customize your profile by choosing various designs and backgrounds known as “skins” to help you stand out from other users. The profile is hardly exhaustive when it comes to dating profiles, but it is enough to get the chats going so the magic can begin.

You have the option of making your profile private or public, but keep in mind that once your profile is out there, it is public domain, so take care of what information you provide.

Website Design And Usability

The website looks as if it were sent out to space twenty years ago in a time capsule and reopened as is in 2020. Wow, one could use the site as one of those apes to man illustrations for the evolution of the Internet. It is conservative and laid out in blocks in unimaginative repetitions of square on square.

Annoying pop-ups block the bottom third of the screen, and the far-left panel shows ads for shoes and other annoying stuff. The constant barrage of ads is distracting and over the top. The navigation is a bit circuitous and clunky, but like an old car that doesn’t start up well, once it is up and running, it gets you from point A to point B.

How Does Hi5 Work?

Hi5 shares many features with iconic social networking platforms, such as Facebook and Myspace. Users can post status updates to their friends and upload and share photographs and other media. Not primarily a dating site, hi5 can function comfortably as one. It also provides forums and groups to join and share user interests.

Hi5 App

Hi5 has a Google Play rating of an impressive 4,4 stars from over 124,000 reviews and was most recently updated in May 2020. The app has a much more modern user interface in comparison to the desktop version. Its layout is functional and easy to navigate and has the option of a “Live” tab, which allows users to create and partake of live user videos.

Alternatives Of Hi5

Badoo is also a social media platform that is good for people seeking friendship and casual dates. Badoo’s user demographic is predominantly people in their teens, and this service boasts high user activity.

Shagle is a video chat site that allows you to connect with users in over 70 countries worldwide and even has an on-site translation tool to help people communicate. They provide a free online chat app that connects you to users around the world instantly.

Chatrandom also has a user base distributed throughout the world and offers group chats with a wide variety of people. No more boring profile pics to swipe your life away. Here you can choose to have an instant cam to cam chat from thousands of active users online.

Conclusion

Okay, hi5 might not be a looker, and it most certainly gets a left swipe in the hot or not game. Yet let’s give this site some street cred for not only being a pioneer of online social networking but also for still standing its ground amongst all the flashy newbies.

Hi5’s reach is awesome and provides free services to people who may not be able to afford the prices on the newer sites. There are hardly any more sites left that don’t coerce you into buying memberships or tokens to enjoy any real benefit from their features.

This site is remarkable just by the sheer diversity of users and interests coexisting together harmoniously on one platform. If only the world could be more like this. The framework of this site can be used for a variety of purposes, and a user is not pigeonholed from the get-go.

A common complaint that Hi5 has not really kept up with the times is not a persuasive argument. After almost two decades online (100 years in a digital age), this site should not have to be playing catch up with new wannabe sites. Would you like to see your granny in hot pants and a halter top? Your grandpa in skinny jeans and a muscle top? (hope your answer is negative, but if it isn’t, there is a group just right for you in here, we are sure!) Bottom line, hi5 might not be for everyone, but it is worth checking out. The only thing users really risk is their spare time.

Contact Information

• Company: The Meet Group Inc.
• Address: 100 Union Square Drive,
• New Hope, PA 18938.
• Phone: n/a
• Email: [email protected]

Isabelle Mason

MS, RD & Writer

I feel like my calling is to help people. For many years I have been improving skills as a professional coach and all of my clients has taken a step forward and changed their life for the better. 19 happy married couples are proof of this!

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