Master Grazia’s life skills

Justin Mcleod, founder and CEO at Hinge

The biggest mistake people make with their dating profile is that they add a bunch of selfies. Selfies are nice but what’s really important is showing your interests. When you’re putting a photo up, think about how someone could open a conversation about that – does it give them an in?

Be selective with your likes and, when you do like someone, add a unique message to make it special and help you stand out, showing you’re interested in that person.

I think a lot of people talk about dating burnout – the biggest source of this is these endless conversations where people don’t ask each other out and that leads to friction and the conversation dies. The quicker that you move offline into a date, the less opportunity there is for the interest to fizzle out. If a date is going to happen, it’s usually in the first 20 messages.

Once you meet up in person, most people sense pretty quickly whether you’re interested or not. It’s more efficient to go and see someone as soon as possible for a short date. Figure out if you want to continue dating and, if not, move on.

For a first date it’s good to do something casual that allows you to meet up, chat for a little bit and see if there’s chemistry. Leave it for the second date to try something more interesting and less generic.

Put as much of yourself out there as you feel comfortable with. Having a lot of info up front means that if either of you discovers a deal-breaker, you don’t waste more time.

Try to be a bit more vulnerable, show a goofier side of yourself and shy away from that filtered cool version of yourself on social media. That version may get more likes, but it’s probably going to lead to superficial dates.