If you want to meet new people in the hopes of dating them, do you just go through your day and hope your soulmate bumps into you and asks for your number? In this day and age, this occurrence is as rare as winning the lottery.
If you’re serious about finding love, the easiest way to do it is to meet new people online. But if you haven’t done this before, don’t fret. Here are easy-to-follow tips for finding love on the internet.
Choose the right dating platform to find a partner
With so many dating websites and apps available, the choices can get overwhelming. Do you join just one or should you sign up for as many as you can?
No matter how many platforms you plan to join, you must first make sure that whichever you choose is reputable and trustworthy. A good dating website screens its members and makes sure they’re real people. Also, many websites offer free dating accounts. So if you want to try it out first, you can take advantage of this perk.
Know who you’re looking for
Surely you already know the type of person you’d want to date. The qualities you’re looking for doesn’t have to be physical.
When meeting people on a dating website, you can look at the members’ profiles and learn more about them. Aside from their photos, name, and location, you could also read about their hobbies and interests, their current job, and other fun facts about them.
If you find one that piques your curiosity, then go ahead and message them.
Put a priority on having fun
Once you’ve set up a profile and have found someone you’d want to talk to, what’s next?
If you want to keep them interested in you, make sure that you’re both having fun talking or messaging each other. This could be done by sending funny texts, which is easier to do if you both have common interests that you can make jokes about.
Or, if you’re both in the mood, you can turn on the heat by sending each other sexy pictures and videos.
Trust your partner
Once things are going well with both of you, the worst thing you can do is act in a way that confuses them or turns them off from your budding relationship.
The number one thing to avoid is bottling up your feelings. Instead, you should communicate how you feel about them, about what you do together, or about life in general. Encourage them to tell you what’s on their mind, but don’t force them to if they’re not comfortable doing that.
Make sure that they trust you, too. Be truthful, open, and authentic, especially if you want to be with this person for the long term.
Accept rejection gracefully
Sometimes, you’ll meet somebody who just doesn’t vibe with you at all. And that’s okay!
If they tell you they’re not interested, just shake it off and move on to the next person. But what if that experience lowered your self-esteem? You can take a break from the dating scene and do some self-care magic until you’re ready to face people again. Just don’t act desperate and beg that person to keep talking to you.
Got ghosted? It sucks, but it happens. Just remember that this action shows who they truly are. Usually, they stopped talking to you without warning because they were too cowardly to tell you how they truly feel.
Know safe dating rules
Just like how you need to be careful when meeting people IRL, you should also prioritize your safety online.
It’s easier for people to mask their true intentions online, so limit your communication with the other person on the website where you met, at least until you have met each other in person. Good dating websites have moderators that you can report to in case the person you were talking to did something wrong.
Feel free to set up a different email or messaging account just for online dating, and give your details to your new friend once you’re feeling more comfortable.
Lastly, watch out for catfish! This is a scam in which a user assumes another person’s identity to trick you into having an online romantic relationship. If you find a profile that looks too good to be true, they probably are not real.
Love is online
Meeting new people online is fun and exciting, but just like in old-school dating, there are rules to follow, too.
Remember to join a dating website that you think is trustworthy. Read other people’s profiles and only message the ones you’re actually interested in. Keep things fun between you and the other person. And most importantly, prioritize your safety.
And if things are going swimmingly and you’ve been meeting up in person for a while now, perhaps you can take things to the next level and travel somewhere together. Best of luck!