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Conversations die when they stop being able to go anywhere - usually because both people are asking small questions and neither is offering anything. It is rarely about chemistry this early.
Most stalled threads fail for structural reasons, and structure is fixable. Offer something with each message, be specific, and propose meeting while there is still energy.
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Every message that is only a question puts the work on them. Two or three of those in a row and it becomes an interview, which nobody continues voluntarily.
Offer something of your own with each question. It gives them a handle and changes the register from screening to talking.
Instead of 'How was your weekend?', try 'I spent Saturday failing to assemble a bookshelf - how was yours?' It is still a question, but now there is something to react to.
'What do you do for fun?' is answerable but generates nothing. 'You mentioned climbing - indoor or actual rock?' invites a real answer and shows you read the profile.
Specific messages also tell you something useful early. Someone who replies warmly to a detail from their own profile is engaged; someone who gives one word to a friendly, specific question is letting you know where they stand.
The interview, where every message is a new question on a new topic. The echo, where both people answer and add 'you?' until the topics run out. The long gap, where a reply takes a day, the next takes two, and soon neither person remembers what they were talking about.
None of these necessarily mean the other person lost interest. They mean the conversation was not giving either of you anything to build on.
Threads have a shelf life of about two to three days. The single most effective habit is proposing something small while the conversation still has energy, rather than after it flattens.
Keep it small and concrete: 'This has been fun - want to continue it over coffee on Thursday evening?' A specific day is easier to say yes to than 'sometime', and easier to decline politely, which takes pressure off both of you.
Some conversations die because the other person is busy, talking to several people, or less interested than the match suggested. If you offered something, were specific and proposed a meeting, and the thread still went quiet, that outcome was not yours to control.
One friendly follow-up after a few days is fine. A third message into silence rarely helps, so let it go and put the energy into the next conversation.