I don't understand women on dating sites. Let me broaden that out- I don't understand women.
If I "like" a person on a dating site, it means I'm interested in her. I may follow it up with a message to express a little more. But at base, it means I'm interested. Now, if that person replied to me expressing interest of her own, that's in line with my goals, so I'm glad, right? I'm going to respond positively. So, when I send one of these "likes", I'm hoping for a response.
What I don't understand is when someone sends one and then does nothing. Doesn't even read a message I sent. I can't figure this out. Was it a mistake? If it was, she could block me, or at least say, "I hit the wrong button, sorry."
And I don't understand the phenomenon of "gradual ghosting", when someone slowly cuts back the number of messages they exchange after a really positive start, like a great first date, until finally she just isn't communicating at all. Why not be straightforward and say, "I don't think there's a spark there, let's not meet again," instead of letting hope linger in the other party? Are females that afraid of confrontation? Why isn't there a straight answer from anybody in this world?
Where can I find a woman who's basically like a guy, only with different equipment?
It's such a stupid cycle. I'm using women as the default because that's what OP complains about, but it goes both ways.
Women ghost men (and the other way around) for fear of a bad response
Therefore, men give less to each interaction, they're just going to get ghosted anyway.
Women (and men) then come to complain about the lack of good people out there, and how all their messages are just "Hi!" or "Hey there!" instead of a paragraphs-long diatribe on the intricacies or their personality gained through a thorough reading of their profile.
Cycle, repeat.
Actions, meet consequences.
Some people are very insistent and stubborn and are hard to take a negative for answer. Maybe you are not like that but all that bunch makes some women to be cautious and decide the stagnation rather than confrontation.
I think that is the problem with virtual contacts. It's easier to stop responding and not have to worry about confrontations. How many times do you see people who want to break off a relationship through texting or e-mail. Maybe with all the sexual harassment news lately women especially are worried about a bad response.