You had that all-important first date and the romantic sparks simply didn’t fly.
The date may have been fun and the conversation may have been good.
However, no matter how hard you both tried, the romantic connection just didn’t happen.
By the end of the date, it was mutually agreed that the spark simply wasn’t there but you would both still like to stay friends.
You were both probably quite disappointed that the romantic sparks didn’t fly on that first date.
After all, the conversations between the both of you on the online dating site prior to meeting on that first date left you both filled with such hope.
Alas, such is online dating.
Unfortunately, chemistry that is shared between two romantic prospects on an online dating site doesn’t always transfer to chemistry when the both of you meet in real life.
You shouldn’t feel bad about this.
It happens to quite a few people who initially meet each other on an online dating site.
It doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you or that you are being too picky.
When the romantic spark isn’t there, it just isn’t.
The first major step in staying friends with this person is to ensure that the both of you truly want to be friends.
It has to be a mutual feeling.
This will not work if one of you is still hoping for romance.
It also won’t work if one or the both of you aren’t really interested in being friends and only agreed to it at the end of the first date just to be polite.
Again, in order for the both of you to have the best chance at staying friends, you both must be absolutely honest about the fact that you want to maintain a friendship with no ulterior motives.
Now, if the both of you have established that you both truly want to stay platonic friends and nothing more, the next step would be to avoid talking to each other about online dating.
Since the both of you initially met on an online dating site, it can be very tempting to do this, but you mustn’t.
If you were both to keep bringing up topics that are online dating-related, it would be difficult to move on from how things went between the both of you.
One or both of you may keep reliving that first date.
Some of your conversations around online dating may lead to complaining about the lack of compatible matches.
This could then cause one of you to reminisce about how good the both of you connected when you were communicating on the online dating site and before that first date.
This could ultimately prompt one of you to suggest trying it again to see if there was something that was missed.
This suggestion would indicate that one of you hasn’t moved on from having romantic inclinations towards the other.
This would make it impossible to develop a true platonic friendship with each other.
Instead of talking about online dating or anything related to dating for that matter, focus on talking about other topics that resonate with the both of you.
Stick to these platonic topics.
Keep your conversations lighthearted and fun.
If you meet on friend dates, avoid flirting or being too touchy with each other.
The longer you focus on doing this whenever the both of you communicate and interact with each other physically, the easier it will be to stay friends.
Staying friends can be a challenge after so many initial romantic aspirations.
However, if you are both willing to put in the work and be disciplined, you will have a good chance of succeeding.