The INSIDER Summary:
- A study from the dating app Hinge shows that double-texting can increase a date's likelihood to respond.
- The key is to wait four hours before the second text.
- Sending a second text even a week later increased the likelihood of a response.
A watched phone never rings.
That's what it can seem like, anyway, when you're waiting on someone you've gone on a date with to reply to your text. And while it's always tempting to send a second text while sitting in unanswered text purgatory, double-texting is pretty widely regarded as a lame thing to do.
But, new data put out by the dating app Hinge this week shows that a double-text can actually be an effective way to get an answer from people: it's just all about the timing.
The dating app, which chooses potential matches based on your Facebook friends, scanned the data from 300,000 US-based conversations using its app. Hinge found that the sweet spot for a double-text was about four hours; any sooner and you decreased the likelihood of a response back, but around that time, the chance of a response increased. Surprisingly, a double-text around four hours actually proved to be more effective over a 24-hour period than not double-texting.
The benefits of double-texting goes even further, according to Hinge's data. If you wait an agonizing week and then give in and send a double-text then, your odds of the other person responding go from a 0.39% chance to a 12% chance.
This data seems to make sense when you think about it. How many times have you been arms-deep in making dinner, out with friends or just plain not paying attention and missed a person's text? Sometimes a little nudge may be all that's needed.
While Hinge's team says it can't confirm if this double-texting data applies off of their dating app, it seems like enough reason to throw caution to the wind and give the conversation one more try.
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