WHAT YOU MUST KNOW WHEN CHATTING!

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📍During chatting, it is really improper for you to address someone you’re unfamiliar with as “My love”, “My darling” “Baby”, etc. 



- You don’t know them, they’re not your friend or acquaintance, so you should NOT begin a chat with “hello my love”. Or “hello beautiful Angel”. 



- At least from what I know, a mature and sensible person will not start his sentence with “hello my love”. How is the person your lover? Do you know them before? 



- Starting a message with “hi honey” or “hi beautiful angel” is very off-putting, at least for me. 

Most times I don’t even respond to such messages in the first place. 



📍When you chat someone, don’t just say “hi” and wait for them to reply. 


People get many of such “hi” in their Dms, so try to make yours stand out. 


If you don’t have anything to say you can simply leave a compliment, instead of just hi. 


You can also find a topic to chat about. It could be about their post or something they shared. Share your thoughts about that. Instead of saying hi and hi and hi. 


For example, say:


- “Hi, I’m Progress, I have been a friend here on Fb, or iG, (or “I just added you on here”) “ etc, “I find you (or your content) interesting…” 


or “I’m chatting you because of this and this…”: 


Many hi go unreplied because people don’t even have anything to say. So why initiate a chat then? 



📍 Don’t let your first request be their WhatsApp/phone number!


If you’re chatting them on Messenger for example, what exactly do you need their WhatsApp number for? Because WhatsApp is also a chat platform as is Messenger. 🤷🏾‍♀️ 


Except you have become very acquainted with them, leave WhatsApp number out of the conversation. One thing is to get someone’s number, but you can’t force them to pick your calls or respond to your chat. 


Your focus should be on establishing a relationship, not getting their phone number!



📍 Be mindful of the kind of emojis you use when chatting someone you barely know!


Emojis like ❤️, 🙄, 😡, 😘, are supposed to be reserved for people within your bubble (in my opinion), not people you’re still trying to know. 


More so, emojis are interpreted differently by people. So be careful not to offend people or over express yourself by your use of emojis. 



📍 Avoid cliché questions like “how was your night”! 


You have no business with the person’s night!


More so, you already know that the autopilot response to that question is “fine”, so just go straight the point. I personally find this question boring!



📍 Dear Gen Zs, the era of shorthand has passed! 


Avoid shortening words or misspelling words when chatting with someone, especially someone you are not acquainted with! 


It makes you look unserious!



📍 Don’t just call someone you don’t know on a video call out of the blues! 


You need to respect peoples privacy and understand that they might be busy! 


If you need to call someone, ensure you have arranged that with them, and that they have agreed. 


Kindly ask them in an initial chat:

- Is it okay if I call you? 

- Is this a good time for a call? If not, what time works best for you? 


And if they turn it down, kindly respect their decision and carry on with the chat, if you like. 


P.S You really don’t have to call someone if you don’t have to. If you’re struggling to type, I recommend sending a voice note. 


I’ll stop here for now! 👍🏾


Feel free to add yours!


*****

I am a freelance writer. I write academic essays, university applications, SOPs, articles, birthday notes, proofreading, etc. Contact me for any writing gigs.✍️


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