24 Dating App Red Flags That Are An Immediate Swipe Left, According To Women
We recently asked the women of our BuzzFeed Community to share which dating app "icks" are a complete turnoff for them when it comes to matching with men.
Here are some of their responses:
1."When the only thing in their bio is 'Ask me.' The amount of effort they put into their profile is a direct reflection of the effort they’ll put into a relationship."
—Anonymous, 42, New Mexico
2."I’m not (insert age here), I’m (insert age here). My birthday got posted wrong somehow."
"'I entered it wrong' — so you forgot your own DOB?"
3."Any mention of alpha/beta males, or being a 'nice guy.' If you have to tell people you're a nice guy, you might want to consider that you might not be."
4."Any dude who says they are 'apolitical' (in addition to 'conservative') gets an immediate swipe left. To me, 'apolitical' is just another way of saying 'things are fine for me, and I don't care about anyone else.'"
5."If your first picture is of you in the driver's seat of your car, 99% of the time, the rest of the pictures that follow are also taken in your car. This usually indicates that you're not actually single and your partner doesn't know you have a profile because you had to take all your pictures by yourself out in your car."
6."'Looking for like-minded/open-minded people.' Open-minded to what???? Like-minded about what???? It's always from the vaguest, most generic profiles."
7."I don't know why, but I’ve seen guys say they’re very into fitness or the gym and that someone they look for has to be into fitness. That just feels very weird to me."
8."When every picture is a selfie. Like do you not have any friends? Immediate red flag."
9."Fishing or hunting pics. Get a real hobby other than killing animals."
10."Photos of any kids. Nope. They think it sounds better when they say, 'It’s not my kid, it’s my niece or nephew,” but that’s somehow worse to me?? Why are you putting them on your dating profile??"
11."'If that matters.' I find it icky when height is added to a profile in general, but adding the 'if that matters' always comes across as petulant to me. Guys, it’s completely reasonable to choose not to share that information. I equate it with asking a woman how much she weighs. It is rude and inappropriate, and truly horrible to be treated as an accessory to fit a certain aesthetic."
12."I hate a lack of conversation at all. 'Sup?' is not a conversation, bro."
13."Asking/hinting at nudes. Absolutely not. Let's meet first and form a connection. It makes me think that all they want is some sort of sexual pleasure from me even when I make it very clear I'm not looking for that."
14."When their bio doesn't match their about me. For example, I've seen some guys put, like, 5'10" in their about me, but then in their bio, it says 6'2". Like, how tall are you?!?!?"
15."He's a 10 but on Hinge, he tacked a 'hehe' onto the end of his message, and I unmatched him. 'Haha' is fine, but 'hehe'...I don't know, I just can't do it."
16."When they use their limited bio space to talk about how much they hate women. I see a lot of 'You’re probably not worth my time,' and, 'You girls won't give nice guys a chance,' and so on."
17."'Not looking for a penpal.' I’ve used Tinder for one-night stands but I have to feel safe before meeting up, I’m not trying to trick you into a relationship, FFS."
18."Big lists of what they *don't* want in a partner with no indication of (a. what they *do* want or (b. what they personally are like."
19."Any bios that include 'devil's advocate.'"
20."When they have their Snapchat/Instagram in their bio."
21."Any mention of sex, even if it's a 'joke,' is a massive red flag to me. If that's one of the first things you think to mention when introducing yourself, our priorities are very different. A friend once complained to me that he never got any messages/replies and asked me to look at his profile. It was full of innuendos, a couple of not offensive, but rather tasteless references, and 'LOL' at the end of every sentence. I pointed this out, but he got defensive and said that if a woman didn't find stuff like that funny, she wouldn't be the right one for him anyway. He never did get any replies and is still single."
22."Usually, if a guy has 'love a girl who can cook' in his bio, it means either he can’t or won’t cook himself. It can also be a red flag that there may be other household chores he won’t do, but he’ll certainly expect his girlfriend to do them for him because those are 'women’s work.' Nothing more pathetic than a man who can’t make his own breakfast."
23."I always swipe left on guys who say they’re 'fluent in sarcasm.' Sarcasm is not always high-brow humor. Most of the time, it’s being mean at someone else’s expense masquerading as a joke."
24."If someone's profile mentions that they 'don’t want any drama,' THEY are always the drama."
Do you have any other dating app red flags that are an immediate ick? Let us know in the comments!
Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
