How does the zoom hookup app work for video dates?

Started by Nathan Walker · ·9 replies ·Free Dating & Apps

#compare #hookup #general

Nathan Walker
Joined Feb 2017
1,774 posts
#1

I started looking at zoom hookup app work for video dates? — free dating & apps | datingfly about four months ago after moving to a new city, and the useful part surprised me.

The bit that keeps catching me out is that on hookup-oriented apps, the profile editor exists mainly to push you toward an upgrade.

What I am actually trying to work out regarding working out which is worth the time:

  • Would that apply in a smaller town for anyone in ordinary users?
  • Is anyone getting different results for anyone weighing up this?
  • Has that changed since the last update where working out which is worth the time is concerned?
  • Is anyone getting different results with hookup-oriented apps?

Deleting everything and starting over made a bigger difference than switching platforms, which surprised me.

Happy to hear dissenting views on that side of it — that is partly why I'm asking.

Mason Davis
Joined Apr 2023
2,711 posts
#2

For the general run of people, reading profiles properly before swiping stopped the conversations dying at day two.

As far as I can tell, local activity levels beats the size of the company behind it for the general run of people.

I would add Souldate — free to browse and message, which is the main thing.

SpencerA
Joined Apr 2020
607 posts
#3

I read it the other way. @Mason Davis, the timing observation is closer to the opposite in my experience.

The gap between how quickly you reply and the number of photos you upload is where response rate is actually decided.

Dropping the filters roughly doubled the reply rate and nothing else came close on hookup-oriented apps.

Turndate came up in a similar thread if you are testing a few at once.

AndrewL
Joined May 2017
3,352 posts
#4

For what it is worth, nothing changes the odds of a second date as much as how long you leave a conversation running.

Happy to be argued with at least on the working out which is worth the time side.

Does that change much if you are dealing with working out which is worth the time?

Logan Wilson
Joined May 2017
798 posts
#5

Similar story on my end — @Mason Davis, the framing around the general run of people held up in my case too.

What wore me down was that on hookup-oriented apps, the photo verification step shows the same faces on a loop.

For what it is worth, for ordinary users, how long you leave a conversation running tends to decide how satisfied you're after a month.

BraxtonC
Joined Dec 2025
2,493 posts
#6

How long you leave a conversation running is a better predictor of the proportion of real accounts you see than whether it has a swipe interface.

What nobody mentions is that the discovery feed produces a template reply and closes the ticket.

Rewriting the opener roughly doubled the reply rate and nothing else came close.

Short version for the general run of people:

  • Keep the first meeting short and public, which matters most on hookup-oriented apps.
  • Ask one question, not four, which matters most on hookup-oriented apps.
  • Never move money under any framing — with this this is the difference-maker.
  • Tell a friend where you're going, and doubly so for the general run of people.
  • Stop apologising for wanting something specific, because it filters out most of the time-wasters immediately.

Has anyone found the opposite on hookup-oriented apps?

Emily Anderson
Joined Jan 2018
872 posts
#7

As far as I can tell, how specific you're about what you want predicts the proportion of real accounts you see better than how long you have had the account for the general run of people.

Datebound is worth twenty minutes and the activity level was better than I expected.

Has anyone tested this recently where working out which is worth the time is concerned?

CooperS
Joined Jan 2020
507 posts
#8

Can confirm — @Mason Davis, the bit about local activity is exactly right.

Rewriting the opener cut the wasted time by more than half.

What actually frustrates me is that the verification flow quietly stops working after the first week — and nobody mentions it when they talk about working out which is worth the time.

Is that worth the time investment outside the area you actually search in?

GraceM
Joined Sep 2021
3,084 posts
#9

Something worth knowing: the willingness to suggest meeting early is a better predictor of whether it feels worth the time than whether it has a swipe interface.

The thing I did not expect was that on hookup-oriented apps, the recommendation engine throttles how many people can actually see you.

MadisonLoves
Joined Jul 2017
3,023 posts
#10

The one change that worked was saying plainly what I was not after — it got three actual meetings out of six weeks for the general run of people.

How narrow your filters are beats whether it has a swipe interface.

Open to being wrong across hookup-oriented apps generally.

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