Patience is genuinely the differentiator, dull as that sounds — your mileage may well differ. Are there any modern equivalents to craigslist local singles?
Refreshing photos periodically genuinely changes visibility — your mileage may well differ.
If it helps, taking a break when it starts to feel like admin is sensible — nobody tells you this at the start.
My take: expecting any single conversation to work out is the wrong frame — i would not have believed it a year ago.