How to send the first message on a dating app
And reading it, I always feel rather rebuked. It’s like your parents sending you to your room for being sullen, saying: “Don’t come downstairs unless you’re going to put a smile on your face!” Or teachers telling you to be quiet, “unless you’ve got something useful to contribute!”
It’s all a bit stern-which isn’t a great tone to take when you’re trying to woo someone. When Julia Roberts walks into the Notting Hill bookstore, you don’t see Hugh Grant snarling: “Don’t touch the books if you’re not going to buy them!” Just as Patrick Swayze doesn’t spoil the pottery scene in Ghost by snapping at Demi Moore: “Don’t get the clay out if you’re not going to concentrate on what you’re doing!”
Of course, it’s perfectly reasonable to want a match to lead to messaging-and from there, to frisson-fuelled dating, and a lovely relationship involving lazy Sundays in bed with Bucks Fizz, Eggs Benedict, warm bodies and cool sheets.
Surely that’s what we all want (or maybe some of that’s just me). But assuming everyone on dating apps is looking for love, lust, and a plus-one for weddings, why would anyone be matching if they have no intention of taking it any further?
