SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man said he was left completely baffled after a woman he matched with on a dating app decided to turn their conversation into what he described as an “audition.”
Posting the story on the r/sgdatingscene and r/dating forums on Thursday (Mar 12), the man shared that after matching with the woman on Hinge, their chat took an unexpected turn almost immediately.
According to him, she sent a message that sounded less like flirting and more like a talent show challenge.
“Give me your best joke and you have three tries,” she wrote. “Or else I’ll unmatch you.”
Naturally, the man was not impressed.
He said the demand struck him as rather ridiculous, especially coming from someone who, in his view, was hardly in a position to be issuing ultimatums. “First of all, you’re not that pretty to say stuff like this,” he wrote.
Secondly, he pointed out what he felt was the obvious reality of the situation. “You’re on the app like me, so be humble.”
And thirdly, he made it clear that he had not signed up for a televised comedy competition.
“It’s a dating app, not some X Factor [nonsense],” he wrote. “If you want someone funny, then be funny yourself. I’m not a clown handing out free laughs, for heaven’s sake.”
Still sounding thoroughly exasperated, the man then addressed other men who might be navigating the same digital circus.
“To all the guys, I know you’re tired,” he wrote. “You will probably lower your dignity and lick their shoes just to talk to her and hopefully meet her afterwards to try your shot but please take care of yourself and be better.”
“Don’t let them kick you around like this. You deserve better for yourself. You deserve someone who loves you and respects you. Let’s all not entertain these kinds of stupid messages from the opposite gender and let them get humble,” he added.
“I’ve seen guys act like this on the apps.”
In the comments, one user said the post author’s story reminded them of women who demand, “Give me your best pickup lines. Like, bruh…the only pickup I do in real life is pick up the trash.”
Another user shared that dating app matches these days can be “quite trashy.” “I matched with a guy, the convo was going well, and we even planned to meet in a few weeks. But with no rhyme or reason, he unmatched, and the convo was deleted.”
A third commenter wrote, “As a woman too, I’ve seen guys act like this on the apps: ‘Keep me interested from the get-go or I unmatch.’ Uh, with all due respect, sir, you ain’t that good looking or interesting enough to demand strangers entertain you.”
A fourth user, meanwhile, defended the woman in the story. They said, “Could be… she didn’t know a good way to open or didn’t know how to banter. If I were to get a message like that, I’d play along and give the worst, corniest jokes possible. I’d treat her ‘else I’ll unmatch you’ as a playful tease.”
They added, “If you treat people you don’t know but are interested in dating as bad faith actors, then you’re just going to sabotage yourself. What’s the worst thing that could happen? She unmatches you and you have an amusing story to tell.”
In other news, a 54-year-old man has captured the attention of many online after sharing the unusually varied path his working life has taken.
Over the course of nearly four decades, he has held 13 different jobs, moving through industries that ranged from fast food and factory work to offshore engineering, diving instruction, and international sales.
Read more: From KFC worker to dive instructor: Singapore man recounts 13 jobs over four decades
