5 Online Dating Tips For Men

By: Lizz Shepherd

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Here are 5 online dating tips for men that appeal to the man's safety as well as his potential happiness. There are so many people who are now in the online dating game that without a few online dating tips for men, it can be hard to navigate that world. The key to finding the person you want and to staying safe in the process is by remembering that online and real-life identities can be very different.

  1. Communicate before meeting in person. Most online dating sites allow for several different ways to communicate. You might use a Web chat setting to get to know a person before meeting that person in real life. Online dating sites are notorious breeding grounds for scams and imposters who prey upon the hopes of men looking for love. One of the most important online dating tips for men is to be reasonably sure who you are communicating with before taking it any further. 
  2. Use a paid account. When you use a paid online dating account rather than a free one, you eliminate many of the scam artists that use free accounts to try to scam as many people as possible. With a paid account, you are able to communicate with other paid members instead of only those who sign on for the chance to scam others. 
  3. Get to know more than a picture. If you are interested in a long-term relationship, do more to get to know a person than looking at a profile picture. Whether or not you can get along with someone has much more to do with how you communicate than it does with what the person looks like. Online dating tips for men often focus on making sure that a picture is real. Forget the picture and concentrate on the emails, chat sessions and phone calls. 
  4. Meet in a public place. If you are being scammed, you need to know this before you take your date back to your place. When you meet in a public place, you can ferret out any subterfuge and ensure that future dates will not result in fewer electronics in your home. 
  5. Plan a fun first date. When your relationship reaches the first date stage, make sure that you do more than a quiet dinner and/or a movie. Perhaps the most important of the online dating tips for men to combat awkwardness is to plan an engaging activity. This will eliminate the uncomfortable silence that can sink a first date. 
Posted on: Jan. 08, 2011