Dating in the modern era is very difficult as it often includes a lot of online, over-the-phone, and social media interactions.
To connect with people online, we have to send them friend requests, but having a request go unanswered can be very embarrassing. Knowing when to send a friend request and when to let it go is very important in making new friends or dating new people.
If you aren’t sure what the etiquette is with sending a friend request, we are here to help!
Here’s the Timeline for Guys Accepting Friend Requests:
Guys on Facebook often and are interested in you might accept your request within a few days. Guys who are not on Facebook or aren’t interested in you may never accept or take weeks to accept. Depending on your connection and their use of the app, it can vary.
How Long do Guys Normally Wait to Accept Friend Requests?
Depending on the guy, accepting your friend request may be the first thing on their mind, or they may not see it right away.
Not everyone is on Facebook all the time, so unless you told him to watch out for your request, it might take a few days for him to accept your request.
If he knows you are sending it beforehand, he probably will accept it right away! Maybe even with you sitting next to him at the bar or wherever you met him.
Don’t be offended if your guy takes a while to answer your friend request. Facebook is outdated for a lot of people. He may not see the request and therefore not accept it.
Instead, he may take a few days to check the app. Once he sees your request, he should accept it!
If, however, he doesn’t accept it, there may be a few reasons why.
Why is He Not Accepting my Friend Request?
You won’t always be successful in sending friend requests to people either for romantic, friendly, or professional reasons.
But if the guy you like hasn’t accepted your friend request yet, don’t panic! It may just be that he hasn’t seen it yet.
If your guy doesn’t accept your request right away, there may be a few reasons why not:
He’s Not that Interested:
If your friend request goes unaccepted, he may not be as interested in you as you thought.
Depending on when, where, or how you met, sending a request right away may put them off. Whether you intended to strike up a romantic attachment or maybe even a friendly or professional one, it may have been too soon to be presumptive.
It is often important to ask the person first if they would like to connect with you through social media and then send them the request.
He Isn’t on Facebook:
Almost everyone has had a Facebook account at one point or another.
However, Facebook is very outdated for some people. This means that it is likely that the guy you are interested in doesn’t have a Facebook account anymore.
You may find his actual profile on Facebook, but that is not to say that he uses it daily or at all anymore.
Check and see when the last time he posted to Facebook. If it was recently, then he may just be ignoring your request. If it was a while ago, he probably doesn’t use the application very often and will not see your request.
He Doesn’t know your Intentions:
It is always important to ask someone to connect with them online before trying to.
If you didn’t ask his permission, he may not know why you contacted him and may be uncomfortable. If that is the case, he most likely will not accept your request.
That isn’t to say that he isn’t interested in you or doesn’t want to get to know you, but he may be uncomfortable with how forward you are being.
For example, if you’ve met under professional circumstances and you were looking to connect with him about a job, friending him on Facebook is probably not the way to go about it.
However, if you are looking for a date and made that clear to him when you met in person, he is probably more likely to accept your request.
Is it Okay to Send Friend Requests to Guys you just Met?
Sending friend requests to new acquaintances is usually how people connect quickly with strangers online.
Many people implement this modern dating tactic when they meet someone they like at the bar, but they didn’t get their phone number.
However, many guys can mistake your intentions for Facebook stalking, obsession, or uncomfortable behavior. It is always important to ask permission to connect online before doing it out of the blue.
However, if you two had a good interaction in person, it might be good to find them online to continue the connection. Especially if neither of you got each other’s phone number and you don’t want to let this opportunity pass.
Just make sure that you are careful about how you approach a person. You don’t want to accidentally make a connection with somebody dangerous.
You also don’t want to make the guy you like uncomfortable by friending them on Facebook out of the blue.
How Long Should you Leave a Friend Request on Facebook?
If the guy hasn’t accepted your friend request over the course of a month, it is probably time to let that person go.
Either they don’t have a Facebook, and they won’t see a request ever, or they’re not interested in you, and they’re trying to let you down easy by ignoring your request.
If, however, your friend request goes unanswered for only a week, give it some time. A week is not a very long time as it usually means they are busy, haven’t checked Facebook yet, or just haven’t gotten around to it.
It may be that they just haven’t seen it yet. They may also be nervous or want to learn more about you and are looking at your profile to get a good idea of who you are before they accept.
We all like to imagine that cute guys are just waiting for our request, but most likely, they have a busy life that they need to focus on right now.
Once more, if you get their permission to connect online, they should accept your request faster than a week.
Can you Tell if Someone Doesn’t Accept your Friend Request?
You can check out your “sent requests” on Facebook and see what requests you have that are pending.
Go to “Friend Requests” on Facebook to find them. There you will see who has requested to be your friend and who you have sent requests to.
However, you can’t tell if someone has deleted your request or has seen it and ignored it. Instead, you will see that they haven’t accepted it yet.
How to Approach Someone About Sending a Friend Request:
To avoid the embarrassment of sending someone a friend request and having it go unanswered, it’s very important to get permission first.
Very often, people who meet for the first time at a bar or a public outing will attempt to connect online or give each other their phone numbers. They will often do this right away next to each other with their phones.
If this happens to you, you know that you have permission and that the person is excited about receiving your friend request.
However, if you missed a connection with someone by neglecting to get their phone number or to connect online right away, sending a request is only appropriate if you know that the two of you enjoyed each other’s company and that they will not be uncomfortable receiving a friend request from you.
If you attempt to send a friend request to somebody whom you barely know and who may not be interested in you, you may make them uncomfortable, and you may embarrass yourself in the process.
That’s why it’s very important not to Facebook stalk people you barely know and only send requests to people you trust or have an interest in you.
Just judge the situation as carefully as possible and don’t accidentally make someone uncomfortable or friend request someone who may not be a good person.