New Data Reveals Which Online Dating Opening Lines Actually Work (and Which Don’t)
Online dating sucks: This, we know. But in the year 2015 (and presumably, beyond), it’s become somewhat of a necessity for those of us who tend to prioritize work, sleep, and other aspects of our lives over, say, arranged marriages—but still want to find a partner in crime.
So, in an effort to clear up some of the miscommunication that so often clouds the online dating experience, the fine people at Hinge—a dating app that connects singles through their extensive Facebook networks—conducted a massive, in-depth survey to find out what sort of initial messages actually inspire replies.
Explained Karen Fein, Hinge’s VP of Marketing, when the findings were released Thursday morning, “Everyday, the Hinge team is asked if we know the secret to starting a great conversation that will actually lead somewhere. Frankly, we didn’t! Since it’s our mission to help users move beyond the swipe, to connect over something interesting and to ultimately meet up—we decided to find out.”
In order to do that, Hinge created an in-app experiment which gave users the option to use pre-created opening lines on their matches—and then recorded data on how many responses they received. Then, the data was refined and categorized to give more in-depth info about who, exactly, was responding—including their gender, age, and location across America.
It’s a interesting look into what dating is like around the country—and how you can help improve your odds of connecting with the right person for you.
Some of Hinge’s most fascinating findings, below.
Hinge discovered trends in messaging patterns after collecting data from 8 million “impressions” from its app users.
No matter how hard you wish they would, people just aren’t responding to quickie initial messages like “hey, what’s up?” Higher engagement messages, like, “Sunday priorities: exercise, sleep, or aggressive mimosas?” are much more likely to get a reply.
Successful opening lines varied greatly by region. Those on the West Coast and Midwest like questions about nostalgia and pop culture, Bostonians are all about getting right to the point, and daters in New York and D.C. prefer to get a bit silly.
As for how gender plays a role in messaging, guys like being asked out, and women like talking about food. (Sounds about right!)
Ladies, if you want to meet up with your match, tell him right away: Men who don’t receive a message from women within the first six hours of connecting on the app are 25% more likely to disappear into the online dating oblivion.
Age also plays a role in which openers work for which people. Young folks like talking about school and hangover cures (big surprise!), 20-somethings prefer adventuring, those in their early-30s are down to get personal, and pop culture wins big in the 35-plus age range.
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