Making friends and meeting new people in general can be tough especially for college freshmen. The first two weeks of college feel almost like a fever dream. You are meeting tons of people, hearing different names and the dorms they live in, and it can be hard to keep track or maintain those relationships. So how do you tell someone, “let’s be friends” without straight up saying those words? I’ve got a few tips for you.
1. Ask for and follow their socials.
You may find it awkward asking for someone’s Snapchat or Instagram, but that’s the way people communicate nowadays and people will forget about you if they don’t see you on their feed or Snapchat stories. So after talking with someone for a little and you feel a lull coming, go ahead and ask for their Snapchat. Now you are at that level of friendship where you can reach out and make a plan to see each other again.
2. Ask questions about themselves.
People love to talk about themselves, no matter who they are. So some questions you could ask that are pretty basic are; where are you from, where are you living this year, what classes are you taking, etc. You could also ask some more personal questions like if they have any siblings and their relationship with them. Hopefully, if they are also interested in you, they will ask those questions back and try building a relationship through your similarities.
3. Don’t be overly nice.
This tip seems like the complete opposite of what you should be doing but I promise there is a reason behind it. Obviously, you should be nice to any new people you meet but there is a line. Being overly nice means always agreeing with what the other person says and giving unnecessary compliments, this can lead to becoming friends with a Regina George type person. If you don’t add anything interesting to the conversation, the person you are talking to won’t think of you as a future friend but more like a minion. To have a friendship with someone you need to add to the conversation and challenge the other so that later when they think about the conversation you guys had, they will think of you as more than just a nice person.
