You didn't have me at hello

One of the hardest parts of online dating is coming up with things to say to strangers. Before you send a generic “Hey, what’s up?” try to think of something more unique.

We learned that from Aziz Ansari months ago, but in case you were still starting your chats that way, there’s even more evidence as to why you should avoid it. According to a recent study by Hinge, an online dating app that relies heavily on matching you with the friends of your Facebook friends, specific prompts are more likely to increase your response rate.

For a month, Hinge fed users sample opening lines that they could copy with one click and then edit before sending to a match. Hinge’s in-house copy writers and data science and product team wrote the sample messages, Fein said; in response, Hinge measured whether these opening lines got responses and how quickly, but the app didn’t study the content of those responses.

Results varied by gender, age and location. Men, for example, were 98 per cent more likely to respond when a match sent “an assertive match,” such as an invitation to drinks; while women are 40 per cent more likely to respond to messages about food. (Which reminds me: In person, we’re more likely to be interested in you on a full stomach.)

Men have shorter attention spans than women. “If you don’t message a guy within six hours, the likelihood he’ll respond drops by 25 per cent,” the report found. Within that same time frame, women’s response rates dropped just five per cent.

Daters ages 18 to 23 were more likely to write back when fed conversation starters Hinge deemed “novel” (“you’re having your portrait painted — what’s your backdrop?”); those ages 24 to 28 preferred questions relating to lifestyle or activities, such as “Better adventure: rock climbing or scuba diving?” Daters ages 29 to 34 responded well to personal questions (“two truths and a lie; ready, set go!”); and those over 35 did well with pop culture prompts (“Katy Perry or Taylor Swift?”).

When examining certain cities, Hinge found that San Francisco is obsessed with youth. Conversation starters such as “What movie scared you the most when you were little?” and “What was the first CD you ever bought yourself ?” did much better there than elsewhere. L.A. daters liked talking about entertainment (no surprise there).

New York City daters wanted to escape reality (popular questions there were “How was your 2004?” and “Choose: adult treehouse or the ability to talk to animals?”); and 1990s references did well in Chicago. If you’re going to be straightforward, you might have better luck with that in Boston — “hey, what’s up?” did well there, as did “Please confirm you’re not one of those people who claps when the plane lands.”

But here’s my question: Isn’t it a turnoff when an opening line was obviously written by someone else? Try coming up with some great ones, all on your own.

THE IMAGE OF TRUDEAU SITTING FACE-TO-FACE

WITH GEOPOLITICAL BULLY VLADIMIR PUTIN

WAS ENOUGH TO LURE GIGGLES FROM

THE AUDIENCE.

— ROBYN URBACK