New to the Online Dating Game? Here are the Tips You Need to Know!
Meet Your Perfect Match
It's no surprise that online dating has replaced chance meetings and personal ads in newspapers -- no tool is more convenient or more versatile than an online dating service. Looking for a casual relationship? Why not browse some profiles of people from your area? Are you ready to settle down with Mr. or Ms. Right? Put your trust in a professional matchmaking service that boasts hundreds of successful matches. But before you send your profile into the ether, consider some important online dating tips, including what you can expect and what you need to look out for when you start dating online.
About Online Dating Services
There are different types of dating services, so it's a good idea to clarify your dating goals before you dive into the Internet dating world. Are you looking for casual dating with few long-term expectations? A general online dating service or a social network service may be the best format for you. If you're interested in forging a serious relationship, look into services that are geared toward romantic matchmaking based on compatibility, like eHarmony.com or Chemistry.com.
The best dating service for you will depend on what you hope to get out of it, but also what you're willing to put into it. Matchmaking sites will require you to provide a very detailed profile and will work to find you a compatible match. This means that you can save quite a bit of time and effort, though you're giving the site full control over the matching. Personals sites will require less detailed profiles, and you'll need to do the footwork, browsing through profiles and evaluating potential matches on your own. Another type of service is the event site, which is organized around various mixers and sporting events that let you meet people in a casual setting and pursue a date if you're interested.
Online Dating Advice to Keep you Safe
While online dating is relatively safe, it does have its risks and can quickly spiral into dangerous situations. Avoid those pitfalls from the start by proceeding cautiously: don't give out phone numbers, e-mail addresses, specific work details or other sensitive information online. You don't have the help of body language in your communication, so read things carefully and ask as many questions as you can to find out as much about the person as you can. It's easy for people to lie on a dating website, but it can be difficult to keep up that lie when questions are coming from all angles.
When you're keeping up a correspondence, whether it's by online chat or an anonymous phone service, pay close attention to problematic habits and behaviors. If your date seems to get angry, impolite, impatient or controlling, you may be getting yourself into a troublesome situation. Also, it's important to resist a false sense of security as you get to know someone -- a good sense of their character and the website's promise to conduct a background check are simply not enough to warrant your unconditional trust. You should avoid free online dating services to decrease your chances of meeting undesirable characters, but still, beware of red flags and if you do decide to meet, meet in a public place.
