Which of these opening messages would you respond to?
SurfersMatch members weighed in on this question. Here’s what 1,179 people had to say.
The Winner
Top answer
"How’s your day going?"
64.5% of votes — 760 out of 1,179
Poll Results
Demographics: Gender Breakdown per Answer
"How’s your day going?"
Gender breakdown
"Omg your dog is SO cute!"
Gender breakdown
"Are you French? Because Eiffel for you."
Gender breakdown
"I see you like hiking, what’s your favorite trail?"
Gender breakdown
"Who's your dream celebrity dinner party guest?"
Gender breakdown
What the Data Shows
The casual check-in wins: 64.5% of members say they’d respond to “How’s your day going?” — by far the most popular opening. It’s warm, open-ended, and gives the other person room to share. In a world of overthought openers, simplicity and genuine interest win.
Pet compliments (9.8%) and a pun (“Are you French?” at 9.2%) are the next most popular, suggesting humor and warmth both work well — just not as universally as a simple, sincere question. Hiking-specific questions and celebrity dinner party questions each earned 8.2%, rewarding members who read profiles carefully.
The takeaway for anyone on SurfersMatch: don’t overthink it. A genuine, open question outperforms clever wordplay or flattery by a factor of six. Members here are looking for connection, not performance — and an opening message that makes them feel seen rather than impressed is the one that gets a reply.