I don't believe in expecting the man to initiate, but based on my experience on Bumble, it's the same outcome after you allow them to speak. ๐ So in a way, I like that Bumble disconnects the match if there's no convo.
A conversation is a two-way street. If you find that you are initiating more or if he's not holding up his end of the convo (ie not asking open-ended questions), he maybe layan only. There's a limit to how long I'd play this game before I stop initiating.
I'm older (F40+) and going through dating apps is a whole waste of time. It's mostly scammers looking for lonely older women to scam, and dudes who don't bother filling out their bios. Very hard to find anyone who would last more than a couple of days of "hi" and "how ru" back and forth.
The best match I ever had was in Singapore, while I was in the departure lounge at Changi. He started out strong, and the banter was great and we did exchange Telegram handles. But he stopped making effort to develop any conversations, and when I tried, he gave short answers that told me nothing about him. Now you'd think he wasn't interested but he was the one who initiates. Eventually I stopped replying to the uninspiring "hi".
My toxic trait is that if I'm busy, I ignore non-urgent or low-effort attempts to engage.
Sounds like fun. If they don't specify what kind of mask to wear, get the weirdest one you can find.