Friday, December 11, 2009

The Do's and Dont's Of Online Dating

By Dorthy Weatherbush

Online dating is catching on as a phenomenon more and more. Lots of people are taking advantage of the convenient opportunity to meet potential partners online. It seems to be an easy process and has been yielding great results. Sites like eHarmony.com claim to be matching people successfully; so much so that quite a big number of their users end up happily married to their soul mate. With the success of online dating, more and more people are beginning to sign up.

Online dating is a real and viable opportunity now and it is for everybody. There is, however, a catch: You have to learn how to effectively interact with people online, how to make yourself appealing for other people out there who are also seeking a relationship. There are plenty of people who keep asking themselves why they can't get dates online, despite being attractive, successful, and personable. The problem is that they are engaging in behaviors that turn off potential online dates, and they're not even aware that they're doing it.

With that in mind, the following are some tips to help online dating work for you.

Tip 1 - Always use and up-to-date photo. It's never fair to lie about the way you look or to portray yourself as something you're not. If you are going to find someone who is going to love you then they are going to love you just the way you are. In addition, if you are going to date someone, they are going to eventually have to see what you look like. So save yourself time and hassle and put a good, recent picture of yourself. Be sure that they picture is a good representation of what you look like (note: it should reflect you in a good but realistic light).

Tip 2 - Be completely honest. Honesty is the foundation for any good relationship so it's a good idea to be honest from the beginning. All the details that you post on a profile on any dating website are meant to help you weed out people that won't be a good match for you. There is no need for you to reveal everything about yourself online, but the information that is recommended to be given away should be filled out correctly. You namely want to be honest about your likes and dislikes and your personality so that you can attract a person who finds those qualities attractive.

Tip 3 - Never ignore your emails and messages. Nothing cools a would-be date's ardor like getting a distinctive sense of indifference from the target of their affection. If you're genuinely interested in meeting someone online, put yourself out there and be willing to communicate with people. Respond to emails and messages promptly; at the very least, it's the polite thing to do.

Tip 4 - Try to take things slowly. Once you do get a date with someone, try to take things slowly. Unlike traditional dating, you don't have any references for the person and not a lot of background information. So make sure that you take your time to get to know the person you are dating and keep things friendly for a while until you can decipher whether the person is strange or not.

If you can follow these dos and don'ts of online dating, then you are sure to have success. Just remember, online dating is not the same as traditional dating; you can't use the same rules use with traditional dating.

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