If you’re not looking for love in the digital sea, then where are you looking?! It’s time to face the facts; we live in an age where everything is online.
Online dating, especially in today’s digital world is extremely popular. In fact, a recent study by the Pew Research Center indicates that a majority of people in the U.S. have used mobile phone apps and online dating sites.
With the rise of social media, coupled with more people becoming comfortable with the idea of meeting people online, there are plenty of opportunities out there for you to meet someone and maybe even fall in love.
To help you navigate the online dating world, we’re here to give you some tips on how to get lucky in love online.
1. Be Realistic About Your Expectations
One of the most important things you can do is be realistic about what you’re looking for in a potential match. It’s not a good idea to set your expectations too high because if you fall short, you’ll feel disappointed and that can lead to a lot of stress and negative emotions. If you’re really looking to get lucky online, you’re going to need to be prepared to be patient and look at the long haul.
2. Be Honest About Yourself
Online dating is one of the few ways to get to know someone before you actually meet them in person, so it’s important, to be honest, and transparent about yourself. The one thing you shouldn’t do is to pretend to be a different person, be it a different profile picture, or even reflect a different persona online; it serves no purpose to you or your match. Be yourself. Be authentic, have real conversations. This way, you will meet people who are genuinely interested in the real you.
3. Know what you want and be direct
It’s really important, to be honest about what you’re looking for. Write a clear profile that reflects exactly what type of relationship you’re looking for. Once you find a potential match and you feel there isn’t really a connection there, it’s okay to say that. If you’re looking for a relationship and you’re not really interested in someone who’s just looking for a fling, you should be upfront about that. You don’t have to pretend you’re interested just because you’re trying to be nice.
4. Be Smart About Your Profile
One of the biggest mistakes people make online is that they don’t take the time to put the right information on their profile. You want to make sure that you’ve got a good bio that gives people a good idea of what you’re about and the type of relationship you’re after. Take time to write a bio that includes your interests and hobbies, and try to answer as many questions the app may have. This will help save you time by not matching people who have different interests to you.
5. Post clear pictures on your profile.
A variety of good, up-to-date, clear pictures of yourself will help people boost your chances of success. Be sure to not choose a profile picture of yourself with a group of people, this will make it difficult for people to recognize who you are. Try and use pictures that showcase your personality, maybe a photo of you enjoying one of your favourite hobbies or a picture of you lounging in your PJs with a cup of coffee!
6. Be Active
It’s important to be active on the app or site you’re using. It’s important not to be shy or feel awkward in talking to a stranger, especially online. You need to engage; you want to chat with people on the site, you want to leave messages, you want to send them messages. It’s not enough to just sign up and not do anything. You need to be responsive. If you’re talking to someone on the site and you’re not responding to them, they’re going to wonder what you’re doing or they might feel you’re not that interested in them and may unmatch with you.
7. Be Unique
It’s really important to be unique; you don’t want to be like everyone else. Don’t start a conversation with a simple “Hi”, that’s what the majority of people do! Show that you took interest in their bio and not just their looks! Ask a question based on an interest that you might share with them or comment on a photo that they’ve posted.
8. Engage but don’t overdo it!
So you’ve matched an interesting and attractive person and you’ve broken the ice with them and things are flowing nicely and then all of a sudden they’ve stopped responding to you! You’ve left a few messages but have not had a response back after a few days.
Unmatch and move on!
There are a million reasons why they didn’t respond, it could have even been a fake profile! Don’t dwell on it! It has nothing to do with you. There’s plenty of fish in the online ocean!
9. Unmatch the “maybe’s”
You may find yourself in a position where you are overwhelmed with the number of open conversations you’re having. Don’t waste your time and energy on the “maybe” group, you’ll get burned out! Instead, choose a few profiles that you have had a meaningful connection with and try and develop something with them and see how it goes. It might be a good idea to set yourself a limit on the number of people you’re talking to at any one time.
10. Be ready to meet up in person
Nobody wants a pen pal. Don’t get consumed by sending endless messages for weeks and months. Exchange phone numbers have phone call conversations and when you feel comfortable enough, meet up. The whole purpose is to meet up with someone you find interesting and eventually develop a relationship. Move on to the next step; from the digital world to the real world. The only way to really get a sense of a person is to physically meet them to see if there is any physical attraction and chemistry.
Summary
The above are the basics of online dating. Always make sure that the person you are talking to is genuine. Do your research on the individual before meeting up. When you do decide to meet up, it is a good idea to do so in a public place in the first instance and until you are absolutely sure and comfortable. Always let someone know where and whom you are meeting, and stay vigilant.