A bit of a weird question, I know, but I feel I need this spelled out.
When a person sits down and logs onto an app like Tinder, what exactly, more or less step by step, does Tinder expect them to do? For instance, what specifically do they put on their profiles, how do they decide when to swipe left or right, how do they manage their messages, etc.? Basically, up to the point that you've had an IRL date and another communication method takes over.
If context is needed: I have tried using a few dating apps (Zoosk and OKCupid) over the last several months and have not managed to get anything off the ground. I can't help but wonder if there's something that most people know about using these apps that I don't - I do have autism, and also don't have much normal dating experience since I grew up in a controlling religion, so there's probably something that most people pick up that I haven't.
EDIT: To clarify, I'm primarily looking for a long term relationship, though I'd be fine ending up with short term relationships or platonic friends. I am not looking to find one-night stands (and I do suspect that may be my problem, that these apps are indeed designed to find one night stands and only claim to find long term relationships in order to appear palatable to moral guardians). Regardless, I have gotten none of these things at all.
EDIT 2: Reflecting on it further, I think I should say what my problem is, as I believe it explains why I think I may have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the app developers intend, as opposed to simply not having good luck with the app or any of the other usual problems people have. My problem is that, in the months that I have used these apps, despite getting some likes and messages, I have never once felt inclined to swipe "yes" on any profile I have come across. Simply, nothing has been there that unambiguously says to me "yes, I want to meet this person". Of course, I kinda feel bad doing this, since for some people I'm wondering if I'm being too judgmental by turning them down, especially considering as I'll never run into them again, and I fear that I may go through my entire dating pool like that when there may be some people I would actually come to have a good time with if I "wasn't so picky". But that feeling never overpowers my unease in saying yes, so what ends up happening is either a profile gets swiped "no", or it just sits there, unswiped - and on most platforms, that ends any time you spend with the dating app, since you have to make a swipe decision before getting to see the next person.
I guess the core of my question probably boils down to whether or not I should be r-selecting or K-selecting my "yes" swipes (i.e. should I be "yes" swiping anyone who seems remotely interesting, or should I save my "yes" swipes for someone who unambiguously is what I'm looking for), though I reckon that would be educated by what the dating app developers intend or how the process generally works.