Things in the world around us have changed over the years and the dating scene is no exception. With the internet, speed dating, etc., dating and finding that right someone have gotten just a little easier, but harder all the same.
Now you can go online to many different websites and decide who you want to go out with and who you don’t without even meeting them face to face. Each of you put up a profile about yourself, what you like and don’t like and then make a decision based on that small profile/blurb. That’s the easy part.
The hard part is that all you have to go on about someone is a short blurb. Online people can create any type of personality that they wish others to have about them. The worst part is that it doesn’t have to be true. So really, you don’t know exactly what you are getting into.
Even if you email back and forth with someone, trying to get to know them, you aren’t really going to know who you are meeting up with when you do finally decide to meet. However, even if you meet someone face to face, do you ever really know that person? Sometimes, yes and sometimes no.
The best thing to do if you choose the online dating route is to be very careful who you strike up a conversation with. Some people are not really there to get a date. Some are there for purely evil reasons. Below are a few things you can do to help protect yourself:
- Never give out your address or personal information to them
- If/when you do decide to hook up with them, meet them in a central location. Never invite them to your home in the beginning.
- Let someone know where you are going and who you are going with. If for some reason that deviates throughout the date, make the call to your friend and let them know of the change of plan.
- Use your phone to take a selfie with your date and then text it to your friend. Not only do they need to know where you are, having a photo of the person could come in handy down the road.
- When you end the date and drive away, make sure you aren’t being followed. Take a few different turns here and there and don’t drive directly home. Make it hard or at least inconvenient for them to follow you.
Those are just a few things to help you feel and stay safe on those first few meetings until you are more comfortable with the person you have chosen.
The dating world has progressed at record speed and while there are many great stories that come out of online dating there are just as many that aren’t so great. Don’t be one of the terrible stories. Be safe!
To your marital success….