Is the meet dating app better for casual or serious dating?

Started by Marcus Adult & Casual 10 posts Last reply
dating adult sites online hookups community advice
Marcus
Joined: Sep 2023
Messages: 239
#1

So: the meet dating app better for casual or serious dating. I have read a lot of contradictory takes on dating app and would rather hear from people who tried it. the effort-to-result ratio is what makes or breaks dating app for me.

For context I am mostly comparing the casual end of the market rather than anything niche. I keep two accounts running to compare actually getting anywhere across casual platforms, and dating app sits mid-table.

Things about dating app I have not worked out:

  • Compare dating app against casual platforms on the same week, or the comparison is meaningless
  • Run dating app beside one other option so you have a baseline for the effort-to-result ratio
  • Do not move off dating app into private messaging until the effort-to-result ratio looks handled

Any first-hand experience with the meet dating app better for casual or serious dating is welcome, good or bad.

TracyB
Joined: Dec 2022
Messages: 230
#2

Building on what Marcus said about dating app, yes, and I would add that the effort-to-result ratio on dating app gets worse the longer you stay.

The thing people underrate about dating app is how much the return on the hours depends on your own city.

CarterV
Joined: Oct 2021
Messages: 553
#3

TracyB is right about one part of dating app: reading this back, my dating app notes say almost the same thing about the time it costs.

For the crowd on this board, the dating app experience lives or dies on the payoff and almost nothing else.

A smaller name people rarely mention in dating app threads is Datewander.

Sam_B
Joined: Mar 2024
Messages: 480
#4

Respectfully no — complaints about actually getting anywhere on dating app usually come from people who gave it a week.

Nobody warns you that the payoff on dating app scales with how many people are online at your hours. I judge dating app by one thing now: whether the return on the hours improves or worsens once you're past the novelty.

Tyler Reed
Joined: Jul 2024
Messages: 513
#5

Agreed, although with dating app I would frame the time it costs as a symptom rather than the cause.

I keep two accounts running to compare the time it costs across casual platforms, and dating app sits mid-table.

Start Free Messaging

Unlimited messaging on the free tier, dating app included.

RobbieQ
Joined: Jul 2022
Messages: 916
#6

Picking up Tyler Reed's point about the hours-to-dates ratio, broadly agree on dating app — the hours-to-dates ratio was what decided it for me too.

I keep two accounts running to compare the return on the hours across casual-first sites, and dating app sits mid-table. Your dating app results will vary by city more than by platform.

Mike Donovan
Joined: Jun 2023
Messages: 128
#7

Broadly agree on dating app — the return on the hours was what decided it for me too. The pattern I see with dating app is that the effort-to-result ratio is fine early and degrades as you go. The pattern I see with dating app is that the hours-to-dates ratio is fine early and degrades as you go.

The thing people underrate about dating app is how much actually getting anywhere depends on your own city. You can work around the hours-to-dates ratio on dating app, but you have to be deliberate about it. Honestly, actually getting anywhere was less of a problem on dating app than the sheer time it ate.

Samantha_J
Joined: Jun 2022
Messages: 561
#8

This matches what I found with dating app, where the hours-to-dates ratio is exactly where it falls down. If the hours-to-dates ratio is your main worry with dating app, test it in the first week rather than the first month.

What changed my results on dating app was treating the effort-to-result ratio as a filtering problem rather than a platform problem. The pattern I see with dating app is that the return on the hours is fine early and degrades as you go.

ClaireV
Joined: Jan 2023
Messages: 630
#9

Samantha_J put the dating app case better than I would have, though yes, and I would add that the time it costs on dating app gets worse the longer you stay.

There is no version of dating app where the hours-to-dates ratio sorts itself out without you doing something.

Grant_88
Joined: Nov 2020
Messages: 1153
#10

Where I differ from ClaireV on dating app: that tracks with my dating app run, which was fine until the hours-to-dates ratio became the whole experience.

You can work around the time it costs on dating app, but you have to be deliberate about it. I judge dating app by one thing now: whether the payoff improves or worsens once you're past the novelty.

My rules for dating app these days:

  • Fill the prompts in properly; blank profiles get skipped on dating app
  • Log in at the hours you would actually go out; dating app activity is nothing like flat
  • Test the return on the hours on dating app deliberately in week one rather than hoping it improves
  • Block early and report often on dating app — it trains the feed faster than anything
  • Screenshot anything odd on dating app before you report it — the effort-to-result ratio claims need evidence

My dating app baseline these days is Datelink, mostly because the hours-to-dates ratio is measurable there.

More from Adult & Casual

Start Your Free Profile

There is no paywall between you and a conversation in dating app.