COME-ON! DON’T BE THAT GUY
Worst date-app lines
These cross the pick-up line. Dropping a one-liner on a prospective date might seem enticing, but it can often prove a romance repellent.
A recent survey of single people revealed the 30 worst messages to send a potential match — with “send pics” and the eggplant emoji ranking as the top turnoffs.
“It’s clear from the research that first impressions are so important, and so many people waste this on an awful opening messaging on a dating app which ends the spark before it’s even started,” said Marco van der Woude, cofounder of the dating app Breeze, which conducted the study, which was first reported by Yahoo News. Accordingly, he said he humanized Breeze by “removing the chat function and instead encouraging in-person meetups.”
Of the 2,000 British singles surveyed, 45% deemed “send pics” as the rudest bit of banter, followed by the eggplant emoji — a digital stand-in for a penis — with 44%.
Sexually suggestive messages were also extremely off-putting
Coming in third, fourth and fifth place were: “Hey, sexy, what’s your number?” (40%), “Do you like bad boys/girls?” “(38%) and replying “Without me?” when they say they’re going to shower (38%).
30 biggest put-offs
The full list of the digital dating deterrents includes:
1. Send pics — 45%
2. Eggplant emoji — 44%
3. Hey sexy, what’s your number? — 40%
4. Do you like bad boys/girls? — 38%
5. Without me? (When you say you’re going to take a shower) — 38%
6. You’re so HAWT — 34%
7. Ur so sexy — 34%
8. Phwoarr — 34%
9. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? — 34%
10. I think my Spotify is broken. You’re not listed in the hottest singles — 34%
11. What u wearing? — 33%
12. Does your mate on your profile pic have IG? – 32%
13. DTF? — 30%
14. Imagine what our children will look like — 29%
15. Heyyyyyy — 28%
16. I have serious co-dependency issues — 28%
17. Why are you single? — 27%
18. Tell me why I should go on a date with you? — 24%
19. You up? — 24%
20. Morning beautiful — 24%
21. Yours or mine? — 23%
22. Wassup? — 23%
23. You’re the girl/boy of my dreams — 23%
24. Can I add you on Insta/ Snapchat? — 22%
25. I could get lost in your eyes. — 20%
26. Wyd? — 19%
27. You’re the boy/girl of my dreams — 19%
28. Thanks for not unmatching me — 18%
29. Fire emoji — 16%
30. Dancer emojis — 16%
Game, set, mismatch
The survey also found that digital dating can get quite tiresome.
A majority of respondents (56%) deemed messaging hard work while 40% said they were bored with it. A staggering 89% of daters said a dull opening line can end a conversation before it starts, while three dull texts could make them lose interest entirely.
Less is more when it comes to messaging a romantic prospect.
Three-quarters of respondents lost interest in someone who messaged too much, while 63% wished they could skip the virtual chat and meet in person.
Another recent poll, by DatingAdvice.com, found 90% of US daters ages 18 to 27 prefer to meet dates at offline.