Why You Should Start Talking to Strangers
There is credible research to prove that talking to strangers can boost positivity and make every day happier for you.
More often than not, people are comfortable doing their own thing; interacting with the same set of people, hanging out with a closed group of friends. Why? Because there is an inert fear that talking to some one new or hanging out with some one new could go all wrong.
Talking to strangers
“Humans are social animals to the extent that having more and stronger friends and family connections is linked with a healthier life”- Epley, author of the book “Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Feel, Believe and Want.
The popular belief is that interacting with a stranger is likely to be less pleasant than talking to a friend or sitting in silence. Contrary to expectations, people are actually happier after a conversation with a stranger.
Start with your phone, then take it offline.
One cannot deny that apps have made lives simpler. There are tons of apps on the market today which cater to chatting with new people, meeting them offline and making new friends. Why do 500 million people log in to these apps every day. Do they get something that we don’t? We asked a few people who use online apps and strike conversations with new people every day.
Many of them were single and were looking to meet new people with the idea of finding “the one”. However, the quest is hardly a short one. In this journey of finding someone to date, they ended up making lot of conversations with new people. The conversations were about every day life, work, interests. Apps which told them what they had in common were a boon as there no awkward silence at the beginning of the chat. They always had something to talk about.
“There was a young graduate from a rural town who would talk every day about his work and ask about mine. On match days, we would talk about Cricket and Football. I wouldn’t go too far to say we are friends but it felt good to engage in these simple conversations. No one was forcing us to and neither of us were annoying each other”, says one active user of these apps.
Women have been on this apps too but don’t stick around too long because they get too much attention and inappropriate messages quite often. There have been apps which give all the control to women where only they can send chat requests. The problem however has been finding the right people to talk to.
“I once found a girl on one app who had the exact taste in Books. For a few moments, I just couldn’t believe it. I thought she was faking it. I even asked her to name other books she has read. I had read them too. It was crazy. I remember calling up my friend at 1 am in the night to talk about this. Such was the excitement”, a 23 year old girl from Bangalore exclaimed. She adds that it rarely happens but it’s worth being on these apps just to wait for these amazing moments. “There was no other way I was going to meet or know her. Even if I did meet her at some social gathering, it’s highly unlikely that our first conversation would start with Books. Here Books were a great conversation starter and beginning of (what I think will be) a great friendship”, she adds.
Once they build considerable trust (and interest) online, they often start at events of common interest, like a book reading session or a game of Football. Not a bad start to a new friendship, isn’t it?
So here’s the mantra: talking to strangers is going to turn out great, more often than not. It’s going to make your day better. It’s going to add a pinch of positivity to your life. If you are not comfortable doing it offline yet, start online and slowly take it offline.
