Typing, Last Seen, and the Dots: How Gen Z’s are decoding the virtual body language

Gen Z daters are showing themselves to be masters of interpreting non–verbal cues, even online. According to a recent survey by Indian dating app QuackQuack, which sampled 7,500 daters aged 18–26, there has been a dramatic change: an astonishing 43 percent feel virtual body language is the new essential part of dating. Crossed legs or direct stares are a thing of the past; Gen Z daters are reading between the lines of their conversations.

Unmasking Virtual Cues: Gen Z’s guide to interpreting online dating body language

The research, with participants from various professional groups in metros and suburbs, shed light on how, for 5 out of 7 Indian daters, knowing their match entails scrutinising response speed, emoji selection, uppercase versus lowercase writing, getting punctuation right and even the duration for which they are left on read.

One very interesting finding from the survey is that the humble full stop carries major import. Two out of five female daters said that the way a conversation ends tells you a lot. Ending with a full stop tends to suggest a sorted and decisive person, whereas ellipses (.) imply someone in the process of exploration, possibly looser about the relationship. Sweta from Delhi picked up on this tendency, finding that individuals who “leave both you and the sentence hanging” tend to be in an exploring state.

In general, punctuation is a large tell for 21 percent of daters. Precise punctuation can indicate seriousness and an earnest attempt to impress, while sloppy grammar could suggest a rush job because of multiple concurrent conversations. These daters were quick to demarcate this as an ‘online dating hunch’ and not a hard-and-fast rule.

Emojis, too, serve as an emotional barometer. 36 percent of male daters from metros prefer moderate emoji use; too many can seem juvenile, too few impersonal. Dhruv from Mumbai explained that thoughtful emoji use shows an effort to convey tone clearly, indicating genuine interest.

The ‘Last Seen’ status is also under scrutiny by 19 percent of daters. Simran, a Bengaluru architect, called being online but not responding “haunting” — a virtual equivalent of being ignored face-to-face. Such virtual body language is a warning sign for most.

Also, more than 34 percent of daters over 20 in Tier 1 and 2 cities admitted to a combination of nervousness and elation when noticing the ‘Typing’ indicator. A longer typing pause tends to be seen as honest interest and ‘sweet anxiety’, indicative of the match’s interest in the conversation.