So I've tried quite a bit of online dating, in the end I wasn't that satisfied. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it doesn't work, because it does, but it didn't work for me.
This comes down to 2 things.
1. In pretty much all instances they didn't meet my expectations when I actually met them IRL. I'm not talking physical, but their online persona felt too different from irl, and that connection I felt online, just wasn't there.
2. I've found it's much more introverted people, now mind you I used proper datingsites, and most women just wanted to really get to know you before they met up, so perhaps something more quickly would fit me better, I just didn't like the style of things like Tinder, so I stayed away from it.
In the end I just really like to get to know people without the thought of dating each other, get to know the 'real' person, not some fabricated version that people put up when they think there might be more.
I met my gf 5,5 years ago through my work, and I got to know her a little bit without there being any intentions of romance, so yeah.
So my advice would be to always think about how long you want to interact (through text) before you meet each other, because it can save you a lot of time. Oh and it's perfectly fine for it to not be it, just consider it as a fun night out, I've met a ton of lot of nice women, in fact I only disliked 2 dates out of all of them.