Finally, Here's The Official Answer On Who Should Text First After A Date

I remember reading all of these old dating rules in teen magazines about what you should and shouldn't do. They made me nervous — I was clueless about how to flirt the "right" way. These magazines served as my holy grails for how to approach dating. While I didn't actually put any of that knowledge into practice until sporadic moments in high school and more often in college, one of the main "What do I do?!" moments comes after the date: Who should text first after a date?

Some people might say that men should text first (assuming there is a man in the picture) after a date, because of chivalry and tradition. Here's your PSA that that is so not the case.

If you're interested in someone, make that clear. Life is too short to play games with people you're dating (note to self — practice what you preach). So if you had a great time on the date and want to see that person again, send 'em a text to get the message across. Literally.

"If you want to see someone again, text within a week otherwise they could misconstrue your silence as disinterest," Diana Dorell, relationship expert, told Elite Daily.

Playing coy in waiting for them to text you could lead to silence for several days because they could be doing the same thing in return. There is not one specific gender that is automatically burdened with deciding whether or not the dating process continues. Both people who went on the date should feel some sense of obligation to make their intentions clear: that you want to hang out and see them again.

And if you don't get a response immediately, don't run for the hills.

"Would you be concerned that a friend didn't text you after one day if you knew your message wasn't serious?" Dorell says. "Relax! Focus on you. If you're meant to connect, you will." Hm, relaxing. What's that? Never heard of her.

Think of it like this: You had fun hanging out with this person on your date, and you want to have more experiences with them. Earnestly making that abundantly clear is only going to benefit you. Pretending like you have better things to do than text them (while you're actually waiting for them to reach out) isn't cool! Showing emotions is cool. And if they don't want to see you again after you text them first, well you likely saved yourself from wondering, and even better, saved yourself time.

So next time you go on a date and you're debating whether or not to shoot over a quick "Thanks for last night, had a great time," text, think of Nike and just do it. You got this.

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