I was worried about getting matches on dating apps; now I have them yet can't get myself to message back
it's just you hear so many horror stories about it all. both about the apps themselves and just from people's bad relationships in general. it's a huge life change to go from single to actively going on dates [or whatever the term is], i feel like, because you're being emotionally vulnerable, which is important / challenging, and committing to a lasting thing ostensibly as well. and i'd have to make sure my apartment is cleaner in all the specific neat little ways.
i mean i want to message back but every time it's like i stress myself out and overanalzye what they said and what i should say and i can't even enjoy it -- does anyone enjoy that part?
As someone who also struggled with this I'd say that just a simple "hi" will most likely already do. The one person I matched with on a dating platform (my current partner) said I was the only one that just simply said hi instead of trying some cheesy pickup line (or immediately talking about sex).
As mentioned above, I struggled with joining an online dating platform for a long time and when I did it took me a month of active swiping before I finally got a match. I was really nervous but I acted a bit more confident than I was (at first at least, before opening up later during our first date) and we've now been together for over 5 years.
You got lucky. Opening with "hi" may be slightly better than a cheesy pickup line but most people won't reply to someone putting 0 work into the conversation. You're giving them nothing to reply with besides another "hi"
Just open something relevant to their profile that's not alluding to sex and keep it short/casual