Out-of-sync replies define mobile communication – a boon for those not looking to commit, but a bane for those searching for something serious.Īccording to a September 2020 Rakuten survey on the reasons Singaporeans use mobile dating apps, about half cited convenience, as conversations are easy to start and stop as and when they please.īoredom is another factor for 35 per cent of users – which may explain why so many seem uninterested in taking things further. Late replies, draggy conversations and ghosting are unfortunately par for the course on dating apps. However, not everyone manages to reach the date stage, when signs of faltering connection can show early. Now that restrictions on dining have been lifted again, maybe it’s time to let that conversation come to a head and go for that date. After all, a pre- pandemic report by Tinder warns that 95 per cent of matches that do meet are most likely do it between two to seven days, with small variance across countries. Perhaps we should eliminate the awkwardness of text conversations by taking a leap and asking to meet in person.

Others fear revealing more personal (and interesting) information too early on. Some of us are bad at texting or are simply nervous. Maybe we can cut our potential dates some slack. the weather.īut maybe we only remember the poor experiences. I’ve lost count of the conversations that pretty much ended with “oh, that’s interesting”, after I shared about the more intriguing stuff at work and school a tad too excitedly with another user on Tinder, like interviewing a k im zua (joss paper) shop owner for a school project.Ī close friend also shared her eyeroll-worthy conversation, essentially a week’s worth of job complaints, rants, and.

If I had a dollar from every conversation that faded off into silence, like ellipses that trail off into the depths of the wild, I’ll be very rich. Segueing into the other party’s experiences and passions can help you gain a deeper understanding of the person you’re talking to. While talking about one’s education and work is perfectly fine, there’s more to close -ended and short answers. There are only that few questions you can ask before it resembles a job interview. Textbook introductions and conversations revolving around school life and careers are safe and unoffensive, which gently eases us into motion.īut these methods don’t steer the conversational wheels for you. With the lack of explicit rules, we tend to fall back on supposedly fool-proof, formulaic methods. We may apply this rather rigid way of thinking to our approach to meeting new people, even through technology – despite possibilities being endless. From strict school rules to implicit career hierarchies, the institutions we grow up in have enculturated us to act in tried-and-tested ways, citing them as yielding consistently good results. It doesn’t sound great, but we’re creatures of conformity in Singapore. There’s a nexus of reasons, from social features unique to Singapore to individual, dating fatigue – all of them coming together to spur the cog of monotony in the dating arena. As a formerly frequent user of Tinder and OKCupid, with friends still in the dating app game, I’ve had my fair share of experiences and stories.

Typical tinder conversations