Dating apps have become the sort of bread and butter of dating, especially since there are tons of apps that have more advanced and personalized technology. Tons of people use their dating apps like any other social media apps: using them often to attract new followers. Or in the case of dating apps, attracting love.
Dating apps are so pervasive that it’s become kind of complicated to talk to strangers in real life. Going to a bar alone can be a pretty isolating experience, because everyone seems to be hanging out with someone the met on Tinder or (gasp!) real life friends.
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According to experts, it’s a shame that people are no longer as adept and comfortable with meeting people in real life, where you have perks such as eye contact and physical hints that tell you a lot about the person you’re talking to, giving you much more information than what you could ever get from someone you’ve been texting with. The Cut interviewed Aime Harwick, a marriage and family therapist, who gathered the following set of tips that will help you meet real living people. We all need that sometimes.
Don’t Use Your Phone
Try to avoid texting, checking emails, and scrolling through you social media apps.
Says Harwick:
We tend to check our social-media platforms several times a day, often looking at text messages, and checking emails. If we spend even a fraction of that time actually getting out physically into different environments, we would have a much greater chance to meet new friends or potential partners.
Harwick also expresses the importance of making eye contact, which will give you social cues as to whether or not to approach someone. By throwing a simple “hello” at them or making a comment, you can find yourself talking and meeting people you’d never meet in another circumstance.
Get Referrals From FriendsÂ
Ask your friends to introduce you to their friends, eliminating a dozen awkward steps in the process. If you share a friend with a potential partner, it’s likely that you’ll also share some common interests.
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You’ll also both be much more open to getting to know each other if you know that you have a friend in common. This common friend could also make for tons of conversation topics and funny stories.
Visit Different Places
According to Harwick, going to different bars and hanging out in different places will introduce you to more opportunities to meet platonic or romantic partners.
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By switching things up, you’ll encounter different sorts of people and you’ll get much more comfortable with interacting with others outside of your comfort zone. Try broadening your horizons, you’ve got nothing to lose.
