Online Dating: Establishing Online Dating Relationships
Safety FirstOnline dating can be fun. But don’t neglect safety and common sense when you try to hook up with a mate. At minimum, take caution in the following areas. Protect Your ComputerTake care of your equipment and systems before you head out into the Internet realm. You need to have a firewall and anti-virus protection for your email and for when you search websites and interact online. At the bare minimum, you may want these two solutions that are offered at no charge to home computer users (i.e. not for commercial use): Free Firewall Download: ZoneAlarm www.zonelabs.com * But there are others that can do more and come with a price tag I won’t go into them here. Protect YourselfTake care of yourself, too, by choosing appropriate dating sites. Seek and choose a reputable online dating service. How? Begin by asking around with friends, neighbors, co-workers and others you may know who have tried online dating, and see which places they recommend. In addition, search “online dating services” and keep a notebook of their URLs or website links, the fees, rules and regulations, complete contact information of each and any other useful information that spikes your interest. Then compare each place. Try only those places where you feel safe. Avoid the others. Many will let you sample them but place limits on commuication. Keep in mind many Community sites like DanceToRomance can provide the same or similar features at no cost like profile creation, messaging, commenting, and sharing pictures with others with similar interests. So take care. Arm your computer – and yourself- with the correct tools and knowledge! Next: "Growing Online Dating Relationships" |
Growing Online Dating Relationships
Growing Online Dating Relationships
1. Take time and make time. Does your online date get in touch with you regularly? Do you do the same? Neglecting virtual meetings can be considered abuse or neglect, so treat each other’s time with respect. If it’s lacking, might mean time to move on. 2. Communication needs to “feel” right for both of you. If one of you is too pushy about meeting, for instance, that can give off bad vibes. So don’t rush. Take time to learn more about each other and develop trust. 3. Respect each others privacy. Don’t share personal email addresses or digital photos online, for example, if your online date sent you the information in confidence, use common sense. 4. Share special online and offline fun times. Online – send greeting cards, links to favorite places to upload digital photos of your favorite pet, download music and video clips, post on favorite forums of interest. Offline- if you’re exchanging addresses or post office boxes, send print greeting cards and postcards, small items from your area (like a key chain with your state bird). Tend your online relationship. Water it with care and over time it can sprout and grow.
Next: Popular Online Dating Activities |
Popular Online Dating Activities
Popular Online Dating Activities (Part I)
All types of everyday activities are growing in popularity online these days like sharing photos and greeting cards as well as recipes and can you believe bidding on auctions. In fact, all of these even go hand in hand with online dating opportunities, one of the most popular online activities for singles today. Before actually meeting in person, many dates get acquainted online first. Here are some top-rated activities showing what many potential cyber-dates do. Sharing Recipes – People get tired talking about the work or the weather. So a popular subject to turn to is food. Sharing favorite foods and recipes helps break the ice and even forms friendships over culinary skills – or lack of – and tastes. Search your favorite search engine for “free recipes” to share. Take photos of your culinary creations and share them with your date, too. Bidding at Auctions – EBay auctions sell nearly anything and everything! So surf around and enter searches like the dates you were in middle school. Share cool memorabilia photos of old games and toys from when you were a child or when your parents or grandparents were little; The Dating Game, Oscar Mayer wiener whistles, The Partridge Family Album, Bobby Sherman’s Album, 45’s and more. Photos - As a wonderful keepsake of your budding romance, create an online photo album for your new cyber-mate. Include digital photos of favorite outdoor scenes, pets, flowers, cars, silly moments, your computer corner or laptop, etc. Then you’ll even have more to discuss during online dates via emails and chat rooms. Search for “photo albums” to find places that store your photos. Greeting Cards- Regardless of where the person lives, you can mail a greeting card. If privacy and security is an issue, check into renting an inexpensive P.O. Box (check the Yellow Pages). You do not have to be an artist to make something homemade and special for the new friend in your life. Even making a special, personalized greeting card would be appreciated and show your date that you care enough to take the time needed to make something by hand. Search your favorite search engine for online greeting cards also to send, too. They range from free to low cost and can be sent in a click. Tips for the Men: (Part II)Looks Count Comment on how attractive she is. Yes, women do want to know they are pretty, even if they’re online and you can’t see them and have no idea. So in your communications, ask questions that would help you know, but in an unobtrusive way like – how do you wear your hair? And then say how attractive that must look. Kindness Counts Point out nice things or the lemonade in life – nice things the other person has mentioned, nice acts the person has done, good things on the news latterly, etc. Be upbeat, and forget those lemons in life. Even in email a person can shout, by using all capital letters. So show manners and kindness. Keep swearing, unkind remarks, prejudice, etc. out of your communications. And “do unto others….”
Unless Politics is seriously what attracted you both I would strongly suggest staying away from this one. Discussions on politics most often leave a bad taste in ones mouth due to feelings, emotional connection to topics or nationalism. It’s best to avoid this topic in the beginning stages until you both feel more comfortable and appreciative of one another’s opinion. [More Tips will be covered in our following articles in the series]. So add some helpful real-world tips that do work (a lot of the time anyway) into your online dating equations. No need to risk meeting in person until you get more familiar with each other online first. So take the online plunge! And come up on the positive side of romance – and enjoy more lemonade!
Next: A Man’s Secrets to Successful Online Dating |
Heads up, gents. Online dating can open up new doors of opportunities with a little help from real world dating tips that work.A Man’s Secrets to Successful Online Dating
Be absolutely honest about your physical appearance and job. A good relationship has never been, and will never be, built on lies and deceit. Eventually she will find out the truth anyway and there you are back at square one. A picture really is worth a thousand words. Post many pictures of yourself doing your everyday activities and make them full body shots, not just head shots. If you were dating a girl in the real world she wouldn’t just see your head. Once the discussion has been opened about meeting face-to-face for the first time, suggest that you meet in a very public place, during daylight hours and that she bring a friend with her. After all, you have nothing to hide. You’ve told her the truth about yourself and she has already seen a lot of pictures of you. The only thing left is to make her feel safe meeting you. It’s always great hearing a good story about how two people met, think about the stories you will be telling about you met your special someone.
Next: A Woman’s Guide to Writing a Great Profile
|
You must be patient. Don’t press her for personal information like her real name or where she lives. Keep your conversations light and fun until she feels comfortable talking with you online. Don’t try to rush her into meeting face-to-face. She will think you are desperate or a pervert. Patience. Patience. Patience. 
A Woman’s Guide to Writing a Great Profile
Choosing the site…what’s next?
|
Accent the things that make you unique. If you play the piano well, you really want Mr. Right to appreciate it. If you run in marathons, a couch potato is not a good match. If you love art, you really don’t want a man who thinks Picasso is an ice cream flavor. Especially this one, ladies if you love to dance, make sure he too either knows how to dance or really will love to learn at least. I’ve taught many couple where one come to me and thinks I can all of a sudden can make the other love to dance. Sorry but you really should have looked into that one early on.
SEO Powered by