I am not sure about this because it feels like starting as friends will most likely end with awkwardness if rejected. And if never been friends you can start to get to know each other through dating or a talking phase where both know they aren’t just friends kind of easing the awkwardness in the future.
What do you think?
P.S.
I also read another post and someone said
“When you tell a girl you are romantically interested in them it fundamentally changes how they view every interaction with you.
You essentially make them feel like every time they interact positively with you that they are condoning those feelings, and if they don’t reciprocate they obviously don’t want to do that.”
What are your thoughts on that?