How do I approach this person via Instagram without making it look creepy/awkward?

[Anonymous]

Hi, first of all, I’d like to thank you guys for reading this post.

There’s this guy that liked me on a dating app that I’m on. He liked me beginning of June I think, and I find him super cute. He looked familiar, and I realized he had actually shown up on my Instagram suggested friend list. We have a few mutual acquaintances between us.

Anyway, I liked him back but he hasn’t been on that dating app (it shows if you’ve been active within the past 72 hours). Last week, I decided to send him a request on Instagram. He accepted and followed back and I noticed he’s been viewing all of my stories.

I would like to message him or at-least find a way to start a conversation, but I don’t know how to approach him. I don't know if it was weird adding him to begin with but I hoped since we couldn’t talk on the dating app, that we’d be able to connect there maybe? He did like me on the dating app so I’m sure there’s some sort of interest in him... he doesn’t post much on his Instagram stories otherwise I would’ve replied to one of them as an initial ice breaker.

Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks again

[Shivvy123]

I'm not on social media so I'm not really sure... But I guess you could just say "hey, we actually matched on (dating site) and I happened to see your profile after on Instagram. seems like we have a few mutual friends too, are you local..."

[winterfox10]

Why not start with something like "Thought you seemed cute on [dating app]. I think it's lower stress to talk on IG." ?