Believe it or not, 2022 marks the 10-year anniversary of Tinder. Yes, it would take a couple more years before Tinder and the many other dating apps that popped up in the wake of its success went fully mainstream, and even longer before we finally cleansed ourselves of the stigma that’s followed online dating since we did it on desktops. But whether we knew it or not, when Tinder was founded in 2012, it changed the way we date forever. 

Still, while a lot has changed since we first started swiping on our iPhone 3s a decade ago, plenty of things have stayed the same — including, regrettably, many of the cringeworthy dating app faux pas and missteps that just won’t seem to die. By now you should know that no one wants to see you holding a fish (unless you’re Tim McGraw) and that you shouldn’t catfish people. But take it from me, a person who has spent the vast majority of my adult life on dating apps, there are many, many more ways you can go wrong. 

While I would like to think we’ve all mastered the basics of not being an absolute monster on dating apps by now, the vast trove of social media accounts devoted exclusively to documenting poor (and largely male) dating app behavior suggests otherwise. Whether you’re a recently divorced newcomer to dating apps or you’ve been swiping for the last 10 years, there’s clearly still room for improvement, and when it comes to success on dating apps, what you don’t do is just as important as what you do. 

For your edification, I’ve graciously compiled this list of 22 things you should stop doing on dating apps in 2022. Maybe by 2032 our romantic lives will have been transformed yet again by an entirely new form of dating technology, but in the meantime, ditching these 22  habits will make the increasingly crowded online dating landscape a little more successful for you, and a little more habitable for the rest of us.

1. Pandemic small talk

No more opening with “So how’s the pandemic treating you?” or any related pandemic small talk. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been stuck in this thing for two years, and while I’m certainly not happy about it, “the new normal” ain’t new anymore. There is no longer anything remotely novel or interesting about pandemic life, and trying to use it as an icebreaker at this advanced stage of the game is about as original as opening with “Hey.” (More on that later.)

2. Hinge voice prompts

Last year, Hinge launched “voice prompts,” a new feature that allowed users to record themselves saying something in their profile. On paper, this seemed like a great idea. After all, for years dating app users have lamented the uniquely disappointing experience of falling for someone on an app only to discover they have a weird voice in person. But because humans are humans and the internet is …….

Source: https://www.insidehook.com/article/sex-and-dating/22-things-stop-doing-dating-apps-2022