J
I was thinking this morning about online interaction….
We are confused/disturbed sometimes about how we are treated by the opposite gender, but I find myself wondering if there are things we could do better to keep from giving someone the wrong idea or needlessly offending someone. Maybe the guys could give the ladies some pointers and the ladies could help the guys as well, since that’s sort of the point of this forum. While we know it’s impossible to get it right every time and will never be able to please everyone, I do think it’s important to spare someone’s feelings whenever possible, don’t you?
I usually have a message in my inbox indicating that I am not a fan of PMs, and, I normally won’t initiate a PM with men OR women (I’m hit on by women offline and online, even in christian chatrooms ). If a stranger PMs me, I normally won’t answer, unless it’s clearly a spiritual matter or prayer request. If a male friend PMs me, I will keep it polite, but not encourage them in a flirty way. If I’m flirty with someone in PM, I’m definitely interested, but I will not aggressively pursue a relationship with a guy unless he first clearly lets me know that’s what he has in mind.
To be honest, I pretty much do the same offline.
I often have concerns that, in an attempt not to hurt someone’s feelings, I may talk with them more than I should if I don’t want them to misunderstand my interest. How do you handle this? More directly? I’m usually not very direct unless I feel that a guy is being too aggressive, demanding or downright rude. Even then, I will usually just stop talking rather than say something unkind.
Is there something else I could be doing? Are some of these things offensive in some way?
What are your “guidelines”?
Help us!
We are confused/disturbed sometimes about how we are treated by the opposite gender, but I find myself wondering if there are things we could do better to keep from giving someone the wrong idea or needlessly offending someone. Maybe the guys could give the ladies some pointers and the ladies could help the guys as well, since that’s sort of the point of this forum. While we know it’s impossible to get it right every time and will never be able to please everyone, I do think it’s important to spare someone’s feelings whenever possible, don’t you?
I usually have a message in my inbox indicating that I am not a fan of PMs, and, I normally won’t initiate a PM with men OR women (I’m hit on by women offline and online, even in christian chatrooms ). If a stranger PMs me, I normally won’t answer, unless it’s clearly a spiritual matter or prayer request. If a male friend PMs me, I will keep it polite, but not encourage them in a flirty way. If I’m flirty with someone in PM, I’m definitely interested, but I will not aggressively pursue a relationship with a guy unless he first clearly lets me know that’s what he has in mind.
To be honest, I pretty much do the same offline.
I often have concerns that, in an attempt not to hurt someone’s feelings, I may talk with them more than I should if I don’t want them to misunderstand my interest. How do you handle this? More directly? I’m usually not very direct unless I feel that a guy is being too aggressive, demanding or downright rude. Even then, I will usually just stop talking rather than say something unkind.
Is there something else I could be doing? Are some of these things offensive in some way?
What are your “guidelines”?
Help us!