Using your phone is the worst thing you could do on a first date

Jamie BallardData Journalist
May 22, 2019, 2:00 PM GMT+0

A quarter of men say one of the worst things their date could do is take pictures of the food or drinks to post to social media.

The next time you go on a first date, put away your phone.

Fiddling with your phone is the worst dating habit across the board, according to new data from YouGov. Both genders say that texting or being on your phone is the most off-putting first date behavior (men by 69% and women by 70%.)

Profile pictures are pretty important, too: 52% of men and 43% of women say that using intentionally misleading photos on a dating profile counts as one of the most egregious dating mistakes.

Many men (25%) and women (31%) both tend to agree that chewing food too loudly makes for a tough date. But agreement amongst the sexes seems to end there.

Women are significantly more likely than men to call out monopolizing the conversation (30% vs 21% of men) and not offering to pay the bill (25% vs 5%) as first date don’ts.

A quarter of men say taking pictures of food/drinks to post to social media is unacceptable, while 15% of women say the same.

There are some notable differences between generations, too.

Members of all surveyed generations say that a date being on their phone is among the worst behaviors, but Baby Boomers (78%) are much more likely than either Millennials (62%) or Gen Xers (65%) to rank it in their top three.

Meanwhile, Millennials (29%) are more likely than members of Gen X (21%) to be annoyed by their date monopolizing the conversation.

Regardless of age or gender, If your date is a loud chewer who is on their phone the entire time, it’s safe to say there won’t be a second date.

Phones play a big role in rejection, too.

One-third (33%) of Americans say that if they were not interested in a second date and the other party was, they would send a text or message to let them know.

About one-quarter (26%) say they would call the person to reject them, while 13% say they would simply stop replying to the person’s calls or messages until they got the hint (often called “ghosting”). A similar number (12%) say they would meet up in person. Women (37%) are more likely than men (29%) to say they would send a text, while men (15%) are more likely than women (9%) to say they would meet up in person.

When it comes to being rejected for a second date themselves, a plurality (38%) of Americans say they’d prefer to get the news through text or a message. Roughly three in ten (31%) would want the other person to call them to let them know, while 11% would like to meet up in person. Just 7% say they would want the person to “ghost” them (stop replying to their messages).

See full results here.

Methodology: Nationally representative sample of 1,246 US adults, conducted online April 30 - May 1, 2019.

Related: Men are more than twice as likely as women to orgasm every time they have sex

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Image: Getty