Putting this to the forum because search results were useless: What are the best social dating sites that host local mixers? Not looking for a sales pitch.
I keep going back to social dating sites with nothing much to show for it. What I actually want to know is how much of this is down to the profile itself before committing any real time to it.
Based on a fairly small sample, consistency beats any single clever trick and I doubt that changes soon. I hold that loosely.
Not sure I agree with the thread so far. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Take that with the usual caveats. I have been wrong about this before.
Two months in, I stopped explaining myself in the first message and honestly it was the only thing that helped. I tracked it loosely and the trend was clear.
Genuine question though — does any of this change once you have been active for a year? Genuinely do not know the answer.
Still keep over on Flurrydate installed for the weeks when the bigger apps go quiet.
Hard disagree on one point. I found the bigger sites more consistent, not less. Could easily be a sample size problem. Small sample on my side too.
In my experience, the algorithm gets blamed for a lot of ordinary bad luck at least in a mid-sized area. Nothing controversial in that, I hope.
Last month, I kept photos to four and cut the rest and the quality improved more than the quantity. Results were steady after the first week.
Something nobody mentions: copy-paste openers that mention nothing from your profile. Once you notice it you cannot unsee it. Trust the pattern, not the excuse.
Tried the Ezhookups app on a whim and it has been the steadier of the two I use.
I will be the dissenting voice. Messaging first made no measurable difference in my case. Might just be my area. I might be the exception.
Honestly, profile quality beats profile quantity every time for anyone starting from scratch. I would put money on it.
Keep an eye on accounts created the same week they message you. Blocking early costs you nothing. Nobody has ever thanked me for being patient there.
I keep a second profile on DatingFly's free tier and it pulls a different crowd entirely.
Before anything else: cut your photo count in half. It made conversations shorter and far more useful. It also makes the rest easier.
Mild warning: reviews that read like they were written to a template. Nine times out of ten it goes nowhere good. Save yourself the argument.
Worth asking — does widening the radius ever help or just add noise? It comes up every few months and never gets settled.
Worth asking — is a shorter bio genuinely better or just easier to write? Someone here must have tried both.
That has not been my experience at all. Being picky early saved me far more time than being open-minded did. Your experience may well differ. Just adding another data point.
The first fortnight, I kept my filters tight and the quality improved more than the quantity. Nothing scientific about it.
Anyone else find that — has anyone tracked whether reply rates change by day of the week? No agenda, just curious.
I will be the dissenting voice. The platform genuinely does matter if you are outside a major city. Could easily be a sample size problem. Just adding another data point.
Purely anecdotal, the busiest platform is not automatically the best one for you unless you have unusually niche requirements. I hold that loosely.
While we are here — do verified badges actually change anything? Someone here must have tried both.
Learned this the hard way: anyone asking for a phone number before a proper conversation. It is the clearest signal there is. The polite version costs you a week.
Since switching my settings, I answered everything within a day and honestly it was the only thing that helped. Small sample, but consistent.
