Is "hi you" flirty?

"Hi you" is more about her effort than her feelings. It takes almost nothing to send, so it's a low-risk way to open a door. That makes it a decent sign she's at least curious, but not a strong signal of interest on its own. Look at how the match happened. If she swiped on you because of a photo or a specific line, the greeting is probably her way of saying she noticed. If she's been quiet in the app for a while or has lots of matches, it may be a generic opener she sends to everyone.

Read the timing. A greeting sent minutes after matching is a different thing from one that shows up a week later, after you already messaged and let it drop. The second case is more of a re-engagement attempt. It tells you she still wants a reply but may not be investing much. The first tells you she's taking the match seriously enough to write first. Neither is a verdict. Both just tell you how much weight to put on your next reply.

One kind of reply is warm and light. It returns the greeting and adds one small piece of personality. Its job is to match her energy without escalating. You can tell a draft is this kind when it's short, friendly, and doesn't ask her to justify anything. Leave out anything heavy, anything that comments on her looks, and any joke that needs context she hasn't given you yet.

A second kind points back to something real from her profile or your match, in a way she can easily follow. Its job is to show you actually looked at her and give her a clear thread to pull. You can tell it's this kind when it names one concrete detail and then asks a question about it. Leave out any reference so obscure she has to guess, and any compliment too big for two messages in.

A third kind is a plain, easygoing question about her day or her weekend, nothing tied to the profile. Its job is to move things into normal small talk without making the greeting feel like a big deal. Skip multi-part questions. One question is enough for the next message to be easy.

Reply within a few hours if you can, and pick a time you'd normally be texting anyway. A reply at 2am reads as either a lot of interest or a lot of loneliness, and neither is what you want from a first exchange. A reply the next afternoon is fine and reads as relaxed. Waiting three days looks like you were deciding whether to bother, so don't do that unless you truly were busy.

If she replies, keep the rhythm. Answer what she said, add one thing about yourself, and ask one question. That's usually enough for two or three exchanges. If she doesn't reply to your first message, wait a few days before trying once more with a lighter opener, something that doesn't ask her to recommit. If there's still silence, let it go. Two unanswered attempts is a clear enough answer, and chasing it turns a small moment into a hard one.