...this is called 'speed dating' or 'club 18-30' where a drink-related task is set and the interaction goes from there. I think they do meaningful walking holiday things for the more mature folks and participants get a reasonable chance of finding someone through this process.
Lucky punters might have to go to Ibiza as part of this ritual to meet the guy from five miles up the road and back in their home town they do not live their life on a daily basis like how they spent their holiday in Ibiza that time.
There may not be messaging online but there can be clumsy 'my friend fancies you' messaging not attempted since early teenage years.
In these organised events it is clear that everyone is there to find a partner, so there is no time spent chasing those that are not in the same 'available state', it is straight onto 'process'. I don't believe the numbers get better, if real world online organised dating was that good there would be more of it than there is, I think it peaked before everyone had smartphones.