These are beyond the boundaries of flirting.
It may seem tempting to throw a few wisecracks at your date, but it can often get in the way of love.
A recent survey of singles revealed the 30 worst messages sent to potential matches, with “send a picture” and the eggplant emoji being the most offensive.
“The research clearly shows that first impressions are incredibly important, but too many people waste them on poor opening lines on dating apps that kill the spark before it even starts,” said Marco van der Woude, co-founder of Breeze, the dating app that conducted the study, according to Yahoo News. He explained that to achieve this, he “removed the chat feature and instead encouraged face-to-face meetings,” making Breeze more human.
Of the 2,000 British singles surveyed, 45% thought “sending a picture” was the rudest joke, followed by the eggplant emoji at 45% (probably because it’s a digital substitute for a penis).
Sexually suggestive messages were also highly offensive, the survey showed. Ranking third, fourth and fifth were: “Hey, hottie, what’s your number?” (40%), “Do you like bad boys/girls?” (38%), and responding “without me?” when they say they’re taking a shower (38%).
“You’re so sexy” and “You’re so hot” ranked fifth and sixth respectively, with 34% of respondents believing these sentences were fatal weaknesses in a conversation.
Likewise, 34 percent of respondents took issue with the British expression “phwoarr,” which is used to express sexual attraction to someone.
Contrary to what pickup artists might claim, surveys show that making cheesy one-liners is a surefire way to stay single.
A third of respondents (34%) also balked at the lyrics of the eighth and ninth spots: “Does it hurt when you fall from heaven?” and “I think my Spotify is broken. You’re not listed on the Hottest Singles chart.”
Here is a full list of digital dating barriers:
1. Send pictures – 45%
2. Eggplant emoji – 44%
3. Hey, hottie, 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 too sexy – 34%
7. You’re Sexy – 34%
8. Phwoarr – 34%
9. Does it hurt to fall from heaven? – 34%
10. I think my Spotify is broken. You are not listed in the hottest singles chart – 34%
11. What are you wearing? – 33%
12. Do the friends in your profile picture have Instagram? – 32%
13. DTF? – 30%
14. Imagine what our children will be like – 29%
15. Heyyyyy – 28%
16. I have serious dependency issues – 28%
17. Why are you single? – 27%
18. Tell me why I should date you? – 24%
19. Are you awake? – 24%
20. Good morning — 24%
21. Yours or mine? – 23%
22. Wassap? – 23%
23. You are 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. Wide? – 19%
27. You are the one of my dreams – 19%
28. Thank you for not unmatching me – 18%
29. Fire emoji — 16%
30. Dancer emoji – 16%
Of course, that wasn’t the only thing revealed by the survey, which also found that online dating discussions can be pretty dull.
A whopping 56% of respondents found texting a chore, while 40% said they were annoyed by it.
In the meantime, those looking to escape the singles zone would be wise to lock down a romantic partner.
A whopping 89% of respondents said a boring opening line would force them to end a conversation as quickly as possible, and just three boring text messages would cause them to completely lose interest.
Generally speaking, less is more when it comes to messaging your romantic partner.
Three quarters (76%) of respondents admitted they’ve lost interest in someone they messaged too much, while 63% wish they could skip the virtual chat and meet up straight away.
This trend seems somewhat ironic given the younger generation’s fascination/addiction to technology; however, even internet-addicted Gen Zers seem tired of trying to swipe their way out of being single.
A recent study found that 90.24% of American daters aged 18 to 27 prefer to date “at social gatherings, bookstores, local clubs or classes, and other offline events and venues.”