10 Tips for Online Dating Safety
October 22, 2009 | 10 Comments
The internet has changed the world of dating both good and bad. Finding romance is now easier than ever. That’s the good news. The bad news, of course, is that with ease also comes an increase in falling prey to dangerous situations. However, the dangers can be lessened or avoided by following some basic safety tips. Here are 10 such safety tips which can help make your online dating experience fun, positive and, above all, safe.
1) Stick with reputable online dating services. Don’t go with a service you’ve never heard of just because it’s free or cheap. Check to see how well they screen their potential members. A dating service which screens their members is often safer than those which don’t.
2) Set up an email account that you use only for dating services or chatting online such as Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail. Never use your personal or work email for online dating.
3) Until you really get to know the person, never divulge personal information that will make it possible for someone to locate you.
4) You should immediately cease communication with people who seem obsessed with acquiring personal information about you.
5) Be aware when talking to any potential date of the following danger signs: getting angry for no apparent reason; possessiveness; elusiveness in answering direct questions; inconsistencies in information about themselves; disrespectful remarks; request for any financial information from you. These could all be potential red flags.
6) Take it slow before you agree to meet the other person. Have several conversations on the phone with the potential date so you can detect any of the above warning signs before you agree to meet face to face. If the other person tries to push you into a meeting too quickly, you might consider moving on.
7) Don’t give your home phone number at first. When calling the person either call from a pay phone away from your neighborhood or block your number when calling.
When agreeing to meet for the first time, agree to meet in a public place with plenty of people around. Never invite a stranger into your home or to pick you up from your home. Always tell a friend or family member of your first meeting plans. You may also ask someone to call you while you’re on your first meeting/date to check up on you.
9) Limit the amount of alcohol you have on your first face-to-face meeting. Alcohol can lower your inhibitions and alter your judgment. In addition, no matter what you’re drinking, don’t ever leave your drink unattended during the date.
10) Trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right about the person or situation, end the communication or date immediately. You owe no one an explanation when it concerns your safety.
You may think all the above precautions take all the fun out of online dating. However, there’s nothing fun about getting tangled up with a dangerous person. Following basic safety precautions just helps insure that the wonderful person you’re seeking is the wonderful person you end up with.
Shari Hearn
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/10-tips-for-online-dating-safety-125672.html
Find Out What Are the Tips to Secure Your Online Dating?
October 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Online personals and dating can be a very fun venue towards meeting that special someone. However, one’s safety should still be the top priority. Did you know that most online dating services do not pre-screen their users? This means that they cannot ensure that the people you meet through their sites are safe enough to be dealt with. So, this makes you call the shots when it comes to screening them.
Here are a few tips to make online dating less risky and more fun:
1. Anonymity Breeds Safety, For Awhile
Giving your real email address, personal web site URL, last name, phone number, place of work, home address, or any other information that identifies you in your profile or first few emails that you exchange with other members makes you an easy victim. Turn off your signature file, or make sure that it does not have any identifying information, when sending emails to a member through your own email.
2. Photo Perfect Request
To give an idea of the person’s look, thus make you a tad safer, request for a picture. A scanned photo won’t cost so much, so no excuse can be given for not doing it.
3. Lean on Common Sense
Trusting your online acquaintances easily can make you easy bait. If your gut feel tells you that someone is lying, there’s a big chance that you are right. Look for someone that deserves your trust. Online intimacy is very dangerous. Don’t indulge yourself in such endeavor at the click of a mouse. Logical thinking will save you a lot of trouble.
4. Call First, Don’t Drool Just Yet
A person’s skills when it comes to communicating can be easily gauged through a phone call. Though it might cost you some moolah, it is worth it to make sure you don’t fall for someone who is anti-social. However, to make things a lot safer, use a cell phone or a pay phone instead of using your land line. Unless you are absolutely comfortable with the person you are calling, don’t give your home phone number at once.
5. Delay the Meeting
It is advisable to take your time and get to know the person as much as possible first before saying yes to a face to face meeting. If he seems to be only spouting or keying saccharine words that you want to hear, the person on the other end might have a questionable honesty. Don’t feel like you are obligated to meet anyone, you still have the last say on whether you are ready to meet the person or not. You are free to change your mind if anything feels not right.
6. Psychoanalyze or End up with a Psycho
You should pay attention to any signs of intense frustration, anger or any displays of aggressive behavior. If the person is trying to control or pressure you, stop the communication. Here are the other alarming manifestations of bad behavior that will make you aware that you are in danger.
- giving dubious info about appearance, age, interests, profession, marital status, etc.
- Refusal to converse with you over the phone when you have already established online intimacy
- Consistently not giving any direct answers to direct questions, etc.
- Overly agreeing to your every statement
- asking you to provide travel arrangements
7. Offline Meeting
Before meeting your online friend, tell someone reliable where you will go and when you will return. Leaving your date’s name and phone number is a good idea. Bring your mobile phone. Don’t allow your date to pick you up at home. Have your own transportation and meet somewhere public. During the date, don’t leave your drink unattended. After the date, leave on your own too.
To make online dating work, it is imperative that you exercise caution. Have ample time to get to know the other person, don’t rush yourself or allow anyone to rush you into doing anything. It’s better to be safe and dateless for a while than sorry.
Francis Lua
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/find-out-what-are-the-tips-to-secure-your-online-dating-86778.html
Dating World Online: Tips To Find Your Dream Date
October 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
It seems like everyone is talking about on-line dating these days. Everyone has either a wonderful success story or the worst horror story in the world. If you are new to the world of Internet dating, you may be put off by the horror stories. However, the online dating world can also be a wonderful place to meet new people-even that “special someone.” The only difference between “real” dating and on-line dating is the Internet.
In our new technological world, many people are turning to the Internet and online dating services (such as Match.com or eHarmony.com) to not only find romance, but also social networking or just making new friends. These services are revolutionizing the online dating world.
The numbers of people who are participating in online dating services are on the rise. A recent study showed that approximately 1 out of 5 Americans have or do now participate in some form of an online dating service. The anonymity that the online dating world provides can be appealing. After all, participants of online dating services don’t have to meet the individuals they communicate with in person until they’ve achieved some level of trust and comfort with the other person. In the end, a participant in the online dating world always has the choice to meet or not to meet.
All online dating services require subscribers to create an online profile. Some profiles are more indepth than others, some services have their members fill out surveys and personality profiles. All services require some personal information from its members, including interests and hobbies and what the subscriber is looking for. The wonderful thing about these profiles is that a subscriber has a wonderful chance to express themselves and their personality.
The subscribers are then matched with, or can search for, fellow subscribers who match their descriptions. Then it is up to the subscribers to pursue a connection with the other subscribers.
This way of self-advertising through online dating doesn’t differ much from a traditional personal ad. Subscribers can relay basic personal information, interests, quotes, a picture, and contact email. Any interested fellow subscriber can then contact that person.
However, a lot of online dating services are now enforcing more stringent rules to crackdown on this and similar problems. Some online dating services are even doing background checks to make sure aspiring subscribers don’t have a criminal record. This adds to the safety of the members of the online dating community.
Online dating services are designed to be simple to use. Anyone with Internet access (as close as a library card) and a credit card can take advantage of these services. With a simple click of a mouse, one can dive from a dating pool that is limited by location and familiarity into a dating pool that is practically infinite.
Jill Brennan
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/dating-world-online-tips-to-find-your-dream-date-114223.html
Online Dating Tips To Improve Your Chances Of Getting A Date
October 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment
When the phenomenon of Online Dating sites started several years ago, it was no were near as popular as it is today.
All the stigma of Online Dating is gone. Online Dating has gone main stream and is, not only acceptable, but expected. Online Dating has become the primary tool of single people of all ages to generate an interesting and rewarding social life.
Just face it, we are busy guys. We just simply do not have the time, the energy, or the financial where-with-all to date several nights each week while we look for the one. You can sort through hundreds of profiles in a month for less money than you would spend on one evening out, thus, saving time and money.
We use the Internet to save ourselves time and money for a lot of things like investments, shopping, medical information, and communications. Why not make use of such a useful tool for our social and personal lives as well? You could find the love of your life. At the very least, you will meet some interesting people and possibly make some lasting friendships. It is easy to get started.
All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. You’ll need to search for Online Dating services that meet your specific needs. They are many and varied.
Join one or two. Then you’ll need to write a great profile, upload a recent picture of yourself and start making and answering contacts. That really is all there is to it, that and patience.
Do not wait any longer to start your new and interesting social life. Miss or Ms. Right could be only a few clicks of the mouse away.
Honesty is REALLY the BEST policy.
When you join an Online Dating service, you are looking for a girl that you can like, even come to love. That girl is looking for a guy that SHE can like or even love. What you aren’t looking for is a girl who would like your best friend or your idea of what the perfect guy looks like or talks like or thinks like.
So, in order to find the right girl for you and she IS out there, you need to be completely honest with yourself about yourself when writing the online profile, during the dating process and beyond.
The best way to begin writing your profile is to carefully analyze your past relationship(s). What was right? What was wrong? What things really made you like the last girl? Which didn’t?
Don’t assume that just because you hated that your last girl was so totally self-involved that she couldn’t see anything else, you’ll be able to overlook that quality this time. You won’t.
If you aren’t 6 ft 1 with a six-pack to be proud of, don’t claim to be. If you are a bar tender, don’t claim to be a lawyer with a six figure income. If you are 40 going on 50, don’t pretend to be 30 something.
Remember, the idea here is to find a girl who will like you exactly like you are. If you have lied in your profile, the first face-to-face meeting will remove all her doubt that you are a liar and probably a cheat, as well.
Lastly, once you have found a girl that you believe can be the one for you, for goodness sakes, cancel your membership to the Online Dating service. After all, you know and she knows that Online Dating services are intended for those who are looking, not those who have found or been found.
Holly Stevens
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/online-dating-tips-to-improve-your-chances-of-getting-a-date-64168.html
Anyone know any good sites for tips on online dating?
October 20, 2009 | 3 Comments
Anyone know any good sites for tips on online dating?
Stuff for like.. Writing up messages and such.. I’m having no luck in being myself :[
But there’s no section for online dating o.O
There are multiple websites but I found this one very much useful. They have reviews about online dating services including articles with tips about online dating.
http://www.sage-dating.com/tips-articles/online-dating-tips-list.asp
