Online Dating, Beware of the Digital Body Language

We all know how much body language matters in life, especially to understand what the person in front of us feels about us. But now that a large part of our relationships are born and developed partly online? So let’s talk about DBL, digital body language, to help you master online dating.

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What exactly is digital body language? Again, it’s a non-verbal element, the subtext.

These are emojis, punctuation, message length, and response time.

In other words, all subtle clues that suggest whether a person is interested or not.

Digital body language, however, is not always easy to interpret.

We asked the experts at Hinge, the dating app designed to be deleted quickly, how to do it.

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How to Interpret Digital Body Language

Digital body language is a very important aspect in dating because if interpreted correctly, it can reveal a lot about the intentions of a potential partner.

What are the Signals to Keep an Eye On?

The most popular successful and promising signals from a Hinge survey are who starts the conversation and the consistency of the messages (both at 76%). They are followed by response time (68%), message tone (66%), message length (33%), and emojis used (11%).

Considering that 69% of respondents claim to analyze digital body language to determine if they want to take the next step and go out with a partner, it is clear that being more responsive and avoiding leaving a conversation hanging is important in the search for love.

4 Tips for Using DBL when Online Dating

To interpret others’ digital body language, and to be sure to communicate what we really want to communicate, here are the tips from Logan Ury, Director of Relationship Science at Hinge:

“Don’t take a lack of message for lack of interest for granted. Sure, it can be a sign of what someone feels for you, but it’s not always the case. Instead, pay attention to the actions and intentions behind the words.

Clarify expectations from the beginning. Don’t be afraid to ask your match how often they want to stay in touch between dates if you enjoy texting. If you don’t like texting, advise the potential partner not to read too much into your way of writing.

If you’d like to hear from your match more often, try positive reinforcement. When someone sends you a message, let them know how much you enjoyed receiving it.

Less is more. Let them know that you’ve noticed they don’t like sending messages, but that you would appreciate hearing from them even briefly, for example with a message saying “thinking of you” or a meme that reminds them of you, just to make you feel like you’re on their mind.”

This article first appeared on Grazia.it