What you must know about online dating today

10 Important Things You should Know About Online Dating

Ah, online dating. The last resort after meeting a guy on the dance floor, at a bar, at the mall, or at the dentist failed.

Online dating has got both a good reputation and a bad reputation. Those who are pro online dating will tell you how they met their soul mate online and how you can do exactly the same. Those who are anti-online dating will tell you that it’s not actually all that hard to find your dream guy in real life (even though you know it is) and you should get off the computer.

The reality is that, like many things in life, online dating is a bit of both and often success is all down to sheer luck. We’re actually pro online dating, and if you’re about to embark on the online dating adventure, we wish you the best of luck. But before you dive right into your online adventure in a bid to find Prince Charming, let’s take a look at 10 important things you really need to know about it first – you never know, it might just improve your success rate. Before you proceed, we recommende you also read How to start an online conversation with a Lady

1. Guys Prefer Longer Messages

If all you’ve got for an opening line is: “Hey, how are you?”, you’re going to find that responses are pretty sparse. Indeed, you might get zeroreplies. Despite peoples’ claims that guys can be complete airheads at times who are only indulging in online dating for a bit of fun, the best ones will only reply if you’ve actually got something to say. “Hey, how are you?” just isn’t going to illicit any kind of response from Mr Right.

Of course, you might get a reply from that total creep who replies to ask if you fancy getting into his pants.

2. Men Love It When Women Make The First Move

It’s well known that women can be a bit icy in the online dating world whenever men make the first move. Women – far more than men – are super selective and won’t reply to many messages. And even if they do, they might reply once before forgetting to reply a second time.

This is almost always down to the fact that women get a tonne more messages than guys do and find it hard to keep track of them all. But because men get tired of messaging women without receiving a reply, they invariably begin to wait for women to make the first move. And because they get far less messages than women (because women are notoriously bad at making the first move), they’re far more likely to respond.

3. Not Everyone Is Who They Claim To Be

I know, I know. You’re a mature, responsible adult now. You’ve got your own car, a job, and you’re perhaps even starting to think about having children. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t be gullible when it comes to getting duped by an online weirdo.

Online dating scams, particularly in the UK, are on the rise, with the total damage costing duped people $60 billion a year. It isn’t always easy to spot a scam artist, but the usual warning signs are a sob story (such as he’s ill, or his parents have just died) followed by a plea for money. Always be on your guard andnever give your bank details out to a total stranger. We’re never too old to get taken for a ride.

4. Guys Love To Talk About lady celebrities

Online dating site, Zoosk, analysed its data in 2014 to find out that, out of almost 4,000,000 messages sent last year, Taylor Swift was the most-talked about musician. Wow. So even if you’re not into Taylor Swift, it might be useful to casually drop her name in your message.

You know, something along the lines of, “So Taylor Swift came on the radio today whilst I was baking ..”

Smooth, hey?

Recommended: How to make her enjoy chatting with you

5. Online Dating Can Make You Shallow

Yup, online dating has the potential to turn you into that person you always swore you’d never become – the most shallow person on earth.

This happens because, as mentioned earlier, girls receive far more messages than guys. Your inbox will be deluged with messages from guys, many of whom you’re attracted to. Yet, because you’re attracted to so many of them, you begin to filter them out with a focus on superficial differences.

So the cute guy who reads Tolstoy is binned because he has funny eyes, whilst the interesting blonde poet is dumped into the ‘NO’ pile because he has a blurry pic. The problem here is that these guys could well be the one for you, but because you’re faced with so much choice, you begin to separate the wheat from the chaff as casually, as you would pick out a chocolate from a huge box of edible treats.

6. Love Doesn’t Happen Straight Away

If you head into online dating hoping to find Prince Charming within just a few clicks, you’ll be super disappointed. Finding love on a dating site takes time, and it is often the case that you have to meet a few duds wrapped in tinfoil, before you find the one who will sweep you off the feet. It’s much easier to find the one online than in real life – because there is so much choice – but you still have to be patient and take your time. Have you read The differences between loving someone and being in love?

7. The Most Frequently Used Buzzword In Online Dating Is ‘Basic’

We’re not quite sure in what context people were using basic in – surely not, ‘I’m just your average kinda basic girl?!’ – but according to analysts, basic was indeed the most used buzzword of 2014 in the online dating world.

This ultimately means that you might want to consider using it throughout your message, though we do offer a disclaimer: Writing ‘BASIC’ in your first message will not get you a reply.

Or it might. You never know, perhaps the guy has a weird sense of humour?!

8. There Is An Art To Using The Emoji 

Again, we’re referring back to the analysts for this one who, after studying almost 4,000,000 messages swapped between online daters, a smiley emoji with a nose attached is 13% more likely to get a response than an emoji without a nose :).

This is certainly one of those strange psychological tricks of persuasion you can play on someone in order to illicit a response. And imagine if attaching a nose to your smiley is the reason your future husband replies to you?! It’s certainly worth a shot!

9. Sometimes You Meet Crazy People That Put You Off Men Altogether

The truth is that you simply don’t know that guy you’re about to meet for a drink. You’ve exchanged a handful of messages and you’re confident that he’s cool, down to earth and up for a giggle.

Yeah, he’s up for a giggle alright. The kind of giggle where he gets his kicks talking about your feet and asking if you want to go back to this place for a tickle fight.

Sure, most of the time it’s true that what you see is what you get, but weirdos have to try and find love too.

10. Some Guys Upload Photos That Flatter Them

Okay, so you’ve found a guy that looks super hot and you think you’re attracted to him. You want to meet him, and you spend all day thinking about that chiselled jaw and those piercing blue eyes.

But if he’s only uploaded one photo of himself, you have to consider whether he’s chosen the most flattering photo he could find and that in reality he looks totally different.
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