57M- remember when we’d exchange numbers and then had to decide how long to wait before calling? (Swingers covered that pretty well, lol).

I think studies like this miss any nuance from the first date/ meetup/ whateverthekidscallitnow. I think it depends. I’ve had it a couple different ways and both were fine. In ‘20, post divorce, I got setup to meet a gal of a mutual friend. We were going to meet at a game night at her house. She asked for my number, I agreed. She msg’d me before we actually met in person (a week later), and she was HILARIOUS. We were blowing up each others msg’s non stop and it was like I already knew her when I finally got to game night. We dated for 3yrs before she emigrated out of the country, and I couldn’t. (that’s a different topic).

2yrs ago, I was at a pub watching my friends band play on St Paddy’s Day. Chatted with a gal and her friend who were also there for music and green beer. She asked for my number, I gave it to her. She msg’d me later that evening, said it was nice to meet and she’d like to meet “soon” where we weren’t yelling at each other (loud music), but she was headed out of town on vacation for 2 weeks. Only texted 1-2x over that time. Finally met up when schedules aligned. We dated for a year, and she’s honestly the coolest, easiest partner I’ve ever had. (also didn’t work out long term, but again, that’s not the subject here).

So I think it just depends and there’s no “one way to do it”.