There’s nothing worse than spending an hour or two swiping left or right, to be left with ghosts on your potential partner list. The guy or girl who pretended to fancy you enough to make your match, but hasn’t quite mastered the ability to send even the most basic introduction. Hey, we’d even be happy with ‘Hello’. But the harsh reality is that every now and again you’re left with a string of mute matches and you’re sitting in on date night cursing the strong, silent type. Dating app Hinge scours your Facebook network for a date, but they’re forcing you to face-up to your online etiquette. They have two new rules to cut out the time-wasters:

1. If no one messages each other within 24 hours of matching, the match will disappear.
2. Once you start messaging, you have 14 days to chat, exchange numbers and take the conversation off Hinge before the match disappears

The deadline on your dating game might just be the kick you need to change your run of luck in the romance department. The app’s creators believe the proof is already in the pudding – with the trial run accounting for a 50% increase in number exchanges. Not only do the app’s new rules force you to face up to your feelings, the immediate contact could seal that connection. According to Hinge, if you don’t send a message almost instantly, the levels of attraction start dropping instantly. After six hours, the likelihood of men replying dropped by 25%, for women it dropped only 5%. But if you find that you keep matching and fail to make it past your immediate small talk round, it might be time to analyse your small-talk game. Don't say we didn't warn you.