Gone are the days when you must talk to any potential love matches via snail mail or wiat for them to call. Today, it’s easy to meet people from all around the globe due to the internet, which also allows us to chat online to people for free or low cost via a variety of apps or maybe a chat line. Now that we are mostly keeping things to texting or chat lines, there is a whole new protocol of how to interact with potential dates online. Whether you’re new to online chat or just want to find out how to better communicate with people via text, these are some tips that can help you!
- Keep messages to soundbite lengths
In today’s fast paced world, people are always on the go. They don’t have time to read long paragraphs and diatribes. Keep your messages to short 1-2 sentence lines that keep the conversation going and encourage discussion. If using a chat line, save your long stories for later!
2. Give others a chance to reply
As previously mentioned, people are busy. Even if you can see that someone has read your message, give them some time to reply. It’s reasonable to wait a whole day for someone to get back to you. People have work, families and other responsibilities that might be more pressing than texting a potential match, but they will get back to you eventually. The worst thing you can do is get mad at someone who doesn’t reply within 5 minutes. Chat line users should make sure to pause to let the other person talk!
3. Make sure your replies directly address their messages
Even if you have an idea of how you want the conversation to go, make sure you’re reading what the other person is saying and responding to their messages before you put your own agenda into the texting conversation.
4. Avoid all caps, too many emoticons, etc.
Too many exclamation points can make you seem too excited and too many emoticons can make you seem silly. Keep your use of these text assists to a minimum so that they make a point when you actually do use them for their intended purpose.
5. Keep it real!
This is the most important dating advice, no matter what the medium. Be honest and display your true self whether you’re talking to someone face to face, via text message or online chat.
