Online Dating – 10 Rules Everyone Should Know

If you are considering the world of online dating there are a few things you need to know before you get started:

1.    Decide what you’re looking for – do you want to just surf and chat online?  Do you want to meet someone to hang out with at weekends, or are you trying to find a lasting relationship?  Once you know what you want make it clear in your profile and you won’t be wasting your time or anyone else’s.

2.    Find the right dating site – there is a huge choice of dating sites available and you will probably find that someone you know has tried one of them, if not more.  Ask your friends if they can recommend a site and if not, check out some of the reviews online before deciding where to register.

3.    Write your profile – keep it clear, simple and try to be creative so that potential dates can see some of your personality and always include a photo.  Profiles with photos get more responses than those without, and if possible use a full length picture of yourself.

4.    Don’t lie – no matter how tempting it is don’t lie about yourself or exaggerate the truth.  If you do this you’ll get caught out in the end and you could throw away what could have been a good relationship if only you’d told the truth from the start.

5.    Don’t believe everything you read – it’s generally true that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is!  Whilst you might have avoided the temptation to lie others might not, so make sure you take the time to get to know someone before you consider meeting.  This will give you chance to discover any lies before you get too involved.

6.    Be yourself in chatrooms – it’s very easy for things to get ahead of themselves in a chat room environment, in a flirtatious way and in an aggressive way, so just remember that you are dealing with people’s feelings and if it’s not something you would say to someone’s face then don’t say it.  Ideally be polite, friendly, have fun, but leave the room with your head held high!

7.    Don’t limit yourself to free dating sites – whilst free dating sites can offer a great deal it sometimes says more if a person is prepared to invest a little money in finding the right relationship.  By all means sign up to free sites, but don’t automatically rule out sites that you pay for; you may miss out on someone who would have been willing to go out on a limb for you.

8.    Don’t try and chat to everyone – you may find lots of profiles that interest you but try and make sure that you stick to getting to know one or two people that you really feel could be compatible, rather than trying to keep up with lots of people who in all honestly probably wouldn’t be right for you in the long run.

9.    Take your time – don’t rush to arrange that first face-to-face meeting.  There is plenty of time to get to know each other and you will probably find it more relaxing to meet face-to-face when you know more about each other.  Take time to talk online, understand what makes each other tick and consider the types of things you might like to do together.  Then, if you’re both happy to go ahead, arrange a meeting.  Don’t pressure or be pressured!

10.    Stay safe – this is the most important rule of online dating.  It’s last on the list so that it stays in your mind when you finish reading the article.  Be careful with your personal information like where you work, your full name, address and phone numbers, until you are very comfortable.  When you meet up keep to a public place, take your own transport so you can leave if you feel uncomfortable and if you can find something appropriate why not join a group for an activity so that it isn’t just the two of you when you first meet?  This will also take some of the pressure off the date and help you stay more relaxed.  Look after yourself!