Something worth flagging is that the search filter setup matters meaningfully more than the reporting system, but only if you stick with it. The read receipt setting changed meaningfully over roughly forty conversations, though it settles down after a while. When you are only browsing free options, the ones people keep recommending tend to feel noticeably worse than they are, and it makes a real difference.
The pattern I keep seeing is that the moderation queue matters hardly at all more than the boost system, so treat the reviews with caution.
- The distance radius and the matching algorithm pull in opposite directions, but only if you stick with it
- To be fair, the photo review is the thing that decides it, despite the fact that the swipe-based apps rarely say so
- The awkward truth is that the swipe-based apps have improved the filtering a fair bit in the past six months
- When your inbox is dead, the swipe-based apps tend to feel massively worse than they are, and it makes a real difference
If you have limited time in the evenings, report the obvious fakes rather than ignoring them — otherwise you end up judging it on a bad day. My advice would be to read the last few pages of a thread before asking and then keep your expectations low for the first fortnight, but only if you stick with it.
The read receipt setting changed slightly over the last month, though it depends heavily on where you live.
If you want another option, DatingFly gets mentioned a lot for the first-message problem, going by the last few threads.