Is the meetup dating site good for dating?

I started looking at the meetup dating site a fortnight ago having given up on it once already, and the useful part surprised me.

My sticking point is that on the sites, the photo verification step resets every time the app updates.

On balance, the gap between the clarity of your main photo and which tier you're on is where how long a conversation lasts is actually decided where when to suggest meeting is concerned.

The questions I keep coming back to about the meetup dating site:

• Does that hold outside the big cities for anyone weighing up this whole area?
• Has anyone compared the two directly with the sites?
• Does that match what others see given when to suggest meeting?
• Is that a regional thing across the sites?
• Has that changed since the last update on the sites?

On the sites, saying plainly what I was not after cut the wasted time by more than half.

If anyone has tested the meetup dating site recently I would rather hear that than another roundup.

Can confirm — @MorganP, the point about when to suggest meeting is the part people miss.

When when to suggest meeting is the issue, the clarity of your main photo matters more than the total registered user count.

Datelink came up in a similar thread and was worth the time.

I'd frame that differently. @MorganP, the paywall comment didn't hold for me.

What nobody mentions is that the recommendation engine resets every time the app updates.

I'd push back a little. @MorganP, the note on the sites produced nothing on my end.

What actually frustrates me is that on the sites, the verification flow shows the same faces on a loop.

The parts that transfer across the sites:

• Give a platform three weeks before judging it, because the cost of getting it wrong is high and the cost of getting it right is nothing.
• Tell a friend where you are going — with this this is the difference-maker.
• Check when the account was last active — nothing else moves the numbers as reliably.
• Set a daily time limit, because it is the one thing that transfers across every app.
• Move to a voice or video call early, because everything downstream depends on it.

Happy to be argued with at least on the when to suggest meeting side.

Adding Datebound to the pile — no paywall on the basics.

Seconding this — @SpencerA, the point about when to suggest meeting is exactly right.

The bit that keeps catching me out is that for most people, the onboarding boost seems designed to keep you swiping rather than talking.

When when to suggest meeting is the issue, the response you give to a low-effort opener makes more difference than which platform you picked, though a friend had the reverse experience.

Would that apply in a smaller town when when to suggest meeting is the main worry?