WhatsApp is not a red flag at all. Might be in the US, but the rest of the world uses it all the time.
No one here texts anymore, went obsolete years ago when WhatsApp entered the scene.
Everyone uses it to talk to friends and family, even organisations, therapists etc. use it.
Fact this isn't the case in the US doesn't make it a red flag.

WhatsApp is the number one social-messaging app in the world!! Hardly call that a red flag.
It's the most popular and most-used by 2 billion people across the globe.
Fact you Americans don't use it doesn't change that. Just means you are behind with not joining the rest of the world, for whatever reason.

To the rest of the world it's a red flag to NOT have WhatsApp. If someone wants to text cos they don't have WhatsApp alarm bells go off!
And it's so weird -and impractical- that it's a deal-breaker. Don't want someone who doesn't get with the times. Plus, WhatsApp is cheaper. Everyone has quite a lot of internet data per month, if not unlimited, whereas there is a limited nr of texts per month. Utterly old-fashioned and expensive.
Hell, my 80 yr old mother and 83 yr old stepmother use WhatsApp, as do many pensioners.
Been like that for about a decade now!!

Most men are knuckle-dragging Neanderthals that can't carry on a conversation.
All they have to do is ask what are your interests?
What do you like to do?
What are your hobbies?
Do you have kids?
Do you have a big family?
The list goes on and on but a lot of men can't figure that out.

It's not that certain apps are a red flag. It's asking to go off-site after only a few messages.

It's akin to meeting someone in a public place and them asking you to go somewhere more private, or for your phone number and address after a five minute conversation.

I forgot what this topic is about but would anybody happen to know what time the game is on?

some people expect you to share your watsapp after just a few helloz. watsapp is personal, am not about to share it with someone i don't know yet

your totally right and thanks for explaining it. i get shocked when i read about people not having watsapp etc.i didn't know its like that in the US.

It isn't easy and many men don't know what to say so you have to try make it easier for them.
But you do that once or twice and if they still don't pick up on it I pull the plug on the connection. Delete & move on.
There's no point continuing when the conversation is basically non-existent or doesn't flow.

In your case... you may want to update your profile as the way it is it won't help you in your search. If a guy now finds your profile, it's pretty useless as is which could have great guys moving on.
I'm not a man but I don't put effort in someone with a useless profile either.

And get a better profile photo. You need one of your face with a smile and the B&W once don't really work well and don't do you justice.

He did say that about WhatsApp hence my post.

As for the going off-site thing... totally agree!!

I didn't know that either. I found out about that here, haha.
And it could very well be there are Americans that use it, maybe in the areas of large cities like NYC and Washington etc. But don't know for sure as I'm in western Europe myself.
And in my country not having WhatsApp is about as weird as not having a front-door or not having tapwater. It'd immediately put you in the "weird & avoid" zone.
From your reaction I gather it's the same where you live.

WhatsApp was founded by Americans. People in the US do use it, especially if they have loved ones who live in different countries. I communicate with my daughters and Mark with it all the time. It's just not used as prevalently in the US as other countries.

After living in a few different countries, I've noticed that a lot of countries do a pay-as-you-go top-off kind of phone plan, or have an inexpensive month-to-month plan that can end any time you don't top up. Most of those plans (in the countries I've lived in, anyway) do not allow you to call or text long-distance. So apps like WhatsApp are very important when you need to call or text someone in other countries.

In the US, we have long-term phone plans (mine were always 2 year contracts) that often have unlimited data and calling. So it's easy to just call or text anyone. If you travel, you can contact your mobile provider and pay to add an international component for as long as you're gone and not have to buy a SIM card (most phones in the US are locked if they are part of a mobile contract anyway).

WhatsApp is very important where I am now. Everyone uses it. Even my school has whole-staff WhatsApp groups where they send out important announcements. Each class has a parent WhatsApp group. Most businesses allow you to communicate with them via WhatsApp; I make all my appointments via WhatsApp. I think it's a great app.

That said, if someone on Mingle was chatting me up and wanted to move straight to WhatsApp without getting to know me first, I would indeed see that as a red flag. The red flag isn't WhatsApp itsef--it's moving too quickly.

It happens other way round too. There’s men like me who love to blether and chat; but women come back with short answers and tail off too. If you want to talk a while - try me! Lol

Hi Bonnie!
WhatsApp was founded by Americans.... clearly doesn't mean Americans use it! I learnt on here no one (on Mingle) does. You do but you're different, not your typical American due to your many experiences with other cultures & countries, and sheer necessity.

we have long-term phone plans (mine were always 2 year contracts) that often have unlimited data and calling. .... It's the same over here. Here phones aren't locked. Last time I came across that was 20-21 years ago, when the mobile phone thing was still pretty new, around the time of my divorce hence me remembering a timeframe.

Isn't is amazing that people in Kazachstan do use it?
I can imagine with you and Mark it's very important means of communication!
I don't have family abroad anymore (my girl lived in the US for 5 yrs) but life without WhatsApp would basically place you outside everything, the whole of society. It's part of contemporary life, of communicating, staying in touch etc.
In that sense it's no longer a choice. Like it's not really an option / choice to not have a phone, whether landline or mobile.

To go back to the original subject...
All dating coaches tell you to come up with some good things to say and then ask in order to help the man out.
Men often don't know what to say, how to get a conversation going, can feel insecure etc. etc.
If you then don't help the conversation along you quickly remain stuck at the "Hi, how was your day" level of boring crap.

It isn't really difficult to navigate these waters, it just takes some creative thinking which comes with a wee bit of 'training' and simply relaxing so you yourself aren't all nervous and tense.

Women then tend to ask, "Why the hell do I have to do the work?" The answer is, "Because you're the one that wants to get somewhere in dating!" So it's an investment in yourself.
Being good/better at conversing is a great skill in all aspects of life, so why not practise it?!

You could for instance answer the "How was your day" question in a positive way if at all possible, but then add something else to it, could be totally unrelated, and then ask him about that. So if you'd say something about a movie or book, ask if he's watched a great movie/read a good book.
That gets a convo flowing, plus his reply gives insight in him.

If he stays stuck at "okay", "good", "Dunno", you say goodbye and move on.

And for any man reading this... you can do the exact same thing!

We may have learnt how to behave politely in society in real life, no one ever taught us how to do this online, certainly not in online dating!
So you have to become an auto-didact and teach yourself.
Or... the alternative... buy scripts from a dating coach to help you out and to get into the groove of a new way of communicating!
Fact that dating coaches actually made these scripts and sell them tells you that almost everyone struggles with this!!

so true it's like pulling teeth
most women do not want to chat if they're so busy that they can't reply then get off the site you need to set aside time to chat to find the right person . then you get some they ask to go to off-site apps to show nude pics they assume all men are simps.
if the conversation starts man asks how are you today ? thinking there looking for someone they would respond with I'mm good blah blah blah you have starting point but if their response is oh not too good. as soon as you see that. it's going to be if you can send money for food or medicine you know there only want money or a bigger simp.
or you get likes and there here in the same country from somewhere I have lived so know it well ask where about in the place are you this place or that place thinking if you have something in common but no there in a different country and full of crap

and it is still a scam only today meta was funded for selling WhatsApp member's info to 3rd parties google hangouts also a bad site so many scammers asked to go there
Skype is free as well as FB messenger you can see who your chatting to see their profile to see if they're real or if their posts are yrs old you can see fake so easy im one of the people that will never use phone apps like WhatsApp

sorry no not true most aske to go other site as this one has to be refreshed all the time you ask us to take a pic of us doing something we would not do to prove we are real when you can pic a real profile buy the content and a fake one by lack of but most people are genuinely looking for a real life partner that we are willing to try and after a bit of conversation you work out there scammers or completely fake nothing worse that looking for a partner im a man so im only looking for a real female woman and honest i get men who are confused that what to have a relationship with another man that is not what i wanted and im sure it happens to woman looking for a man if a woman pretends to be a man well you get the point you find out of site who they are you don't have cam and guys cant post pics unless the woman does first so there are lots of limitations on this site there facts you saying red flag is crap sorry if this offends you but if your admin maybe you can do something to fix the problems on this site

Allowing people on FB is something I'd never do. It'd give them access to my inner circle. I don't allow anyone I don't really know on my FB. I'd certainly not want some dude I may or may not end up dating having access to that, reading & posting & replying on my FB page!

If you have the problems you describe in your other post you best find another dating site. This is an international free site which means a lot of scammers that are hoping to get money out of Westerners that people in poor countries always regard as being rich.
I never come across any of the stuff you describe on the dating site I'm on, which is a national site and quite well reputed.
You got to shop around for good dating sites in order to find one that suits you and your needs.
Meaning if you have the experiences you describe you're on the wrong site.
Nevertheless, you did go off-site otherwise you wouldn't know all that. That was your choice! So maybe you enjoy the naked photos after all. Why else go off-site?
If a man even asks me that I don't do it.
And believe me, it's not "women do this", men do this just the same. I'm guesstimated the scammers/bots adept to the gender of the one they're sending their stuff to.

Keep the subject limited to sports and technical, you will have no problem. Like the distance between earth and mars, etc.

Finally you changed profile pic, nice one.

Thank you
But I am one of the few that change their profile pic on a very regular basis :)