Life
Is Sending A Follow-Up Text A Turn-Off On Dating Apps?
When it comes to dating apps, is double-texting a bad idea? Let's say you're on an app and you match with someone who really catches your attention. From your initial take on their profile, they're cute, they have a quirky sense of humor, and they happen to like a bunch of things you do. You think, this person could be your soul mate! Since waiting around for someone to make a move isn't your style, you message them with a perfectly crafted opener designed to get the ball rolling. But no response.
Since it's a dating app, most people you know would probably tell you to just move on, the person's clearly not interested. But for some reason, you still are. So what do you do in this situation? Should you try again or don't even bother?
"Why not?" Michelle G, matchmaker, dating coach, and CEO of MG International tells Bustle. "We live in a world where there is constant noise and get distracted easily. The dating landscape has changed and it's no longer about old school rules. If you're interested in someone and they didn't respond the first time, send them another text. If they don't respond after that—move on!"
Luckily, data scientists at Hinge has the answer. Their research team recently conducted a study that analyzed over 300,000 conversations over the span of two weeks to discover whether sending a follow-up text to an initial opening message would lead to positive results or not. Typically if someone doesn't respond to your opener within a reasonable amount of time, it's safe to assume they're probably not interested. But according to Hinge's data, that's not necessarily the case. Here's what they found:
Sending That Follow-Up Text Can Work In Your Favor
"Based on Hinge's data, people should definitely send a double text when using a dating app," Molly Fedick, Editor-in-Chief of Hinge's IRL blog tells Bustle. "If you do, you'll get a response one out of three times, versus one in 500 if no second message was sent. Those are great odds, so if you're on the fence, our advice is to forget conventional wisdom and double text away."
According to Hinge, people who sent a second message were more likely to get a response. But only if the second message was sent over three hours and 52 minutes after the first message. So timing is everything in this case. People were more likely to respond to the second message than not after some time has passed.
Your Chances Of Getting A Response After A Follow-Up Is Still Better Than Not Sending One At All
If you decide to wait a week, that works too. According to Hinge, you have a one in three chance of receiving a response after sending a second message than you will if you don't. In fact, if you decide you're not going to follow-up after a week's time, you have a one in 500 chance that the person is going to message you back.
My take is, if you want to send a follow-up text, send a follow-up text. I feel like many of us tend to get so caught up in what we should be doing, when we should be doing it, and what the other person will think of us if we do something a certain way that it makes dating so much more stressful than it really should be. As this data shows, it's better to just take a chance anyway.
