When you dive into the world of online dating, there are a few things to learn about making friends and the friend zone:
- Let’s just be friends. If you went on a first date with someone and after the date y’all decided to just be friends, that is a friend you’ll never hear from.
- If you don’t enjoy talking to them in the app, you won’t enjoy talking to them in real life. What give you red flags beforehand will make for an interesting first date. And that’s probably your last date.
If you enjoy talking to them via technology, don’t assume you’ll enjoy talking to them in real life. I remember a guy from Grindr and I coordinated a date for a Sunday afternoon, and I had such high hopes. He was communicative and the conversation flowed well with our overlapping interests. As we hung out, I was more captivated by the people taking engagement photos and finding the man who lost his credit card at our same spot. We had to be friends.- No expectations. The people you talk to with no expectations, but are genuine with, can actually be friends. I’ve befriended someone who moved here after me and since we live close to each other, it is easy to hang out and go to places together.
- Pop. Fizzle. You may hang out with someone, and things go very well platonically. Yet sometimes it just fizzles and then feels forced. That’s okay. Sometimes people are meant to be in your life for a short amount of time, sometimes forever, and sometimes there just has to be a pause and play later. That’s friendship.
Bonus: If we previously discussed going on a short walk and dinner, and instead we take a walk in Piedmont Park on a hot afternoon with champagne out of water bottle, Triskets and a small cheese, we may just be friends.
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I hope you enjoyed this post! Be bold and comment or interact with me on Twitter (@ATouchofBold) or Instagram (ATouchofBold).
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Jarryd Boyd, Life + Relationships Coach 