Have you ever wondered why online dating leads to wonderful relationships, romance, and adventure? Only very occasionally will you hear something go wrong. If you’re interested in how to play it safe and have fun at the same time, read some dating tips to help you get started on your dating quest:
go slow. It is best if you take things slowly so that you can easily build trust. Take one step at a time starting with exchanging emails, exchanging recent photos, and chatting. Listen to your intuition first, and if you feel uncomfortable talking to the person, stop.
remain anonymous at first. Once you start to build trust in the other person and vice versa, it may be time to reveal more about yourself. But be sure not to give out your full name, address, or any contact information right away. It’s also best to use a couple of cool screen names and make sure to look at what other people use to identify themselves.
Protect your email. Many relationships start with the exchange of emails because a particular email can reveal more about a person than just their email address. So make sure your email information is set to private, like a digital signature or your full name, for example. You can test what personal data will be sent by sending an email by sending a test message to yourself. Also, remember to create an email account, especially for your online dating, and definitely don’t use your real name in your email address. Always keep your private and business email addresses to yourself.
Install an instant messaging program. Ideally, both AOL/Netscape and Yahoo are good instant messaging programs. You can easily download Yahoo Messenger and AOL on their respective sites. If you’re chatting, it’s best if you get a microphone for your computer so you can chat and talk through the computer instead of just chatting on the phone.
choose an online dating site. Once you have chosen the dating site you like, start writing a profile. It is recommended to go to a dating site where you have already decided what to write or say about yourself.
ask for a photo. Whether you value the person’s personality or looks, it’s still good to request a photo of your potential date. If the person keeps making excuses when you ask them to send you a photo, then think about whether you want to continue the conversation with the person. It’s still good to know how well the person he’s talking to described himself. Be sure to ask for more than one photo and when the photo was taken. Of course, meeting is still the best way to get to know a person, so you may not be sure about your date until then. Also, show him some recent photos of yourself: one close-up and one full-length. But if you are a woman, it is better to send this when the man has sent the first one to be sure.
use the phone. Once you are comfortable with your online date, you can give out your phone number. This way, you can gauge your potential date’s social skills, not just in emails or instant messages, but over the phone as well. You can use a cell phone if you have one, or a pay phone if you don’t want to use your home number. But if you decide to use your home number, you should get caller ID or a service like Privacy Manager to protect yourself and your privacy.
meet in public. Select a meeting place where there are a lot of people. Before you meet, make sure you know the location, how to get home, what time the last train or bus is, and keep a taxi number in the area in case you’re late or there is a change of plans.
Bring or tell a friend. It is much safer if you bring a friend with you on your first date. If things go well, then you should have an arrangement with your friend to live early. You can meet your friend after your appointment or let them know how the appointment went or you can meet your friend afterwards. Make sure you have a cell phone that you can use and where you can be contacted in an emergency. However, if your friend can’t go with you, always tell someone where, when, and who you are meeting. If you are traveling, it is best to leave a person with all the necessary information, such as the address of the hotel and the phone number of that hotel. If possible, call them after your appointment.
Stay in your own hotel. When traveling to meet your potential date, don’t be persuaded to stay home. Get a hotel and rent a car, if you can. So that when things don’t go as planned, you can have your own place to stay. Also, avoid meeting your date at the airport, as this will reveal where you’ll be staying. If you follow all these dating tips, you will surely never go wrong. Keep in mind that no matter how much you love getting to know your potential date, their safety should remain your number one priority.