--- title: Match Singles in America: Texting, Facebook Dating Taboos description: A Match.com national survey reveals the biggest digital turn offs for men and women canonical: https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-04T16:18:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:27.561Z og:title: These Texting and Social Media Habits Might Accidentally Torpedo Your Love Life og:description: Match.com's survey shows singles' biggest turnoffs og:url: https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt444387d174e9d8f0/698770293c1639bcf7450c6f/1280-cellphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: 1280-cellphone og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Texting and Social Media Habits Might Accidentally Torpedo Your Love Life twitter:description: Match.com's survey shows singles' biggest turnoffs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt444387d174e9d8f0/698770293c1639bcf7450c6f/1280-cellphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Texting and Social Media Habits Could Sabotage Your Love Life > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=438b64e8-6a61-4486-972b-f8190280bcc2&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The 6 Most Useful iPhone Tricks You Should Know [Watch (HLS stream): The 6 Most Useful iPhone Tricks You Should Know](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zJWidSGQ.m3u8) (1:02)  _Published 2016-01-27_ by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Feb 4, 2015 4:18 PM UTC  by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Feb 4, 2015 4:18 PM UTC Here’s some pleasant pre-Valentine’s Day news: You might be torpedoing potential relationships and not even know it. Match.com’s new Singles in America Survey uncovered a host of seemingly innocuous digital behaviors that the study’s sampling of 5,675 single adults see as the relationship equivalent of leaving the toilet seat up. (Those surveyed were a nationally representative group and not all Match.com users.) “We are swimming around in this amorphous soup of emerging rules and taboos and nobody knows exactly what’s going on,” Dr. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist who helmed the survey, tells _TIME_. The digital faux pas range from incompatible texting habits to hashtag addictions. And while you might guess a few of these relationship deal breakers (70% of singles want their suitors to keep their phones off the table during dates) others are less inherent. These are a few of the most common turn-offs to look out for so you don’t get discarded before you make it to drinks. (And some are worth considering whether you’re dating or not…) **You’re Facebook-ing All Wrong** Singles said their top social media turn-offs include * Emotionally dramatic posts: 73% (65% male, 78% female) * Excessive selfies: 57% (46% male, 65% female) * When you ask a current date to de-friend an ex: 55% (49% male, 59% female) **Your Texting Habits Are Questionable** Men said their top three texting turn-offs included * Too many typos and improper grammar: 36% * Responding with short answers like “k” and “cool”: 33% * Using ALL CAPS: 30% And 47% of single men also don’t like getting texted at work. Women hated when potential partners: * Have too many typos and incorrect grammar: 54% * Ask too many personal questions: 37% * Respond with short answers: 37% * Use ALL CAPS: 28% ### PHOTOS: The Rise of Mobile Phones from 1916 to Today  1916 A German field telephone station in the Aisne department of northern France during World War I. Paul Thompson—FPG/Getty Images  1970 French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in a scene from the film 'Point de Chute' (aka 'Falling Point'). Keystone/Holton/Getty Images  1980 An early mobile phone during the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London. Kypros/Getty Images  1983 Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colorado, places a call on an FCC-approved radio frequency while driving to work. Lyn Alweis—Denver Post/Getty Images  1986 THE A-TEAM "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" Episode 5\. (l-r) Eddie Velez as Frankie Santana, Robert Vaughn as General Hunt Stockwell, George Peppard as John 'Hannibal' Smith. Bill Dow—NBC/Getty Images  1992 Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talks on a cell phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25. Mark Lennihan—AP  1993 Whoopi Goldberg during ShoWest in Las Vegas. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  1997 A farmer with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and talking on a mobile Phone, in Delhi. India Today Group/Getty Images  2001 A woman watches smoke pour out of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on September 11. Nicholas Goldberg—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  2011 A rebel militiaman speaks on his mobile phone after capturing territory from government troops on March 25 in Ben Jawat, Libya. John Moore—Getty Images  2011 A youth films the aftermath of tear gas police fired at protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23 in Cairo. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty Images  2012 Audience members take pictures of President Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, Florida. Marc Serota—Getty Images  2014 A teenager takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a walk around St. Georges Market in Belfast. The Queen has apparently voiced her dismay that when she carries out engagements she is greeted by a sea of mobile phones. Peter Macdiarmid—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP **No, I Will Not Favorite That Instagram** Men said their biggest Insta turn offs were: * Using too many hashtags: 35% * More specifically, too many #trending hashtags like #TBT, #WCW, #MCM: 25% * Pictures of kids and babies: 24% (Editors note: Good riddance baby haters) * Inspiring quotes/sayings: 22% Single women said their biggest turn offs were: * Pictures showing off their body: 45% * Too many hashtags in a caption: 41% * Gym and workout pictures: 34% * Trending hashtags: 27% * Selfies: 26% * Party pictures: 25% All these new dating pitfalls might seem disheartening, but Fisher sees a silver lining: “The beauty in this is we can make new rules,” she says. “Everything is so free-wheeling. It is kind of exciting.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/"},"headline":"These Texting and Social Media Habits Could Sabotage Your Love Life","datePublished":"2015-02-04T16:18:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:43:27.561Z","description":"A Match.com national survey reveals the biggest digital turn offs for men and women","url":"https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/","keywords":["Living","Newsfeed","Dating","relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt444387d174e9d8f0/698770293c1639bcf7450c6f/1280-cellphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt444387d174e9d8f0/698770293c1639bcf7450c6f/1280-cellphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1280-cellphone","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/","name":"These Texting and Social Media Habits Could Sabotage Your Love Life"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 6 Most Useful iPhone Tricks You Should Know","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zJWidSGQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-27T15:44:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zJWidSGQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/","duration":"PT1M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3694908/match-com-dating-survey-texting-valentines-day/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```