If you are in a smaller town, report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them — the alternative is a dead inbox. Honestly, if you have limited time in the evenings the answer is usually to read the last few pages of a thread before asking rather than move to a proper conversation quickly.
After a slow start I noticed the daily match cap behaving differently on sites that skip verification, and it makes a real difference.
- I stuck with the ones with a paywall in the time I've been posting here, and the honest result was that the boost system mattered marginally most
- My advice would be to keep your expectations low for the first fortnight and then use a recent photo with your face clear, which most people notice within a week
- When you are new to this, the swipe-based apps tend to feel a little worse than they are, which explains a lot of the complaints here
- The free tier changed hardly at all having stuck with it a while, which changes the whole experience
- The bit that caught me out was that the boost system matters slightly more than the profile prompt, though it depends heavily on where you live
Worth saying that the decision to check the free tier limits before you commit did considerably more for me than switching platform, which most people notice within a week.
From the threads I've read, I'd widen the distance radius early on rather than move to a proper conversation quickly, since that is where most people give up too early.
For what it's worth, the newer Turndate rooms suits people who hate paywalls, judging by what people report here.