Online dating is a great way to meet someone that you might fall in love with! Using a dating site or a dating app has been normalized and popularized by websites such as Beyond Ages, thanks to which you can effectively utilize the full potential of online dating. Aside from being extremely convenient, online dating appears to be much safer than traditional dating. The distance that separates you from whoever you are talking to protects you from getting physically hurt.
However, you can’t keep on talking through text messages forever. You will have to meet in real life eventually. Your first date can take place in a few weeks, a few days, or even a few hours after you exchange first messages with one another. That’s when the distance ceases to protect you.
There are quite a few precautions you can take to avoid getting hurt. You don’t have to pay anything, and in return, you are guaranteed to feel safer and more relaxed during your date!
Go Through Their Dating Profile
Dating profiles are a great way to showcase one’s interests and personality in a cute and fun way. However, you shouldn’t trust everything that someone puts in there, whether it be their age, hobbies, what they do for a living, or even what they look like. After all, it’s relatively easy to fake. So, how can you tell if someone’s dating profile is legit?
First of all, check out the photos that were uploaded to their profile. If they look too good to be true, you might be dealing with a catfish. Running a reverse image search on that person’s pictures is a quick way to verify that claim.
You should also steer away from seemingly perfect profiles. For instance, an older woman who owns a significant amount of wealth looking for a long term relationship. In most cases, that wealth is only imaginary and serves as bait for unsuspecting people who the owner of the profile will inevitably try to scam.
Be Patient and Take a Break
Make sure to get to know your match a little bit better before meeting up. Chatting for an extended period of time will allow you to see whether they are desperate or not. It can also help you dodge a bullet. When whoever you are talking to demands that you reply to their messages instantly, even in the middle of the night, it’s a gigantic red flag. You don’t want to be guilt-tripped for taking a break to sleep, eat, or work.
On top of that, you shouldn’t feel forced to meet up! If they are pressuring you into doing so and making you feel uncomfortable, treat it as a huge warning sign. Those aren’t the emotions that your potential partner should evoke.
Photo by René Ranisch on Unsplash
Meet up in a Public Place
Going straight to someone’s house for your first date may seem tempting, but it’s something that you should avoid doing. The same goes for meeting up in very remote places, such as forests or parking lots in the middle of nowhere. If someone wants to hurt you, those places are probably going to be their top choices.
The time at which you will be meeting up is also pretty important. If your match suggests some odd hours, like really late at night or early in the morning, it’s a red flag. On top of being pretty unusual, such hours are when you are the least likely to get help from other people if something goes wrong.
Talk It Over With A Friend
Lastly, tell one of your closest friends where you will be going and when. You may want to ask them to stay in touch with you over the course of the evening. If you end up being in danger, they will be able to help you out as soon as possible.
A date with someone you have never met before shouldn’t be kept secret. Though it might seem extremely unlikely, it’s the perfect way to get kidnapped without a trace. So, talk to your friends and prepare a plan of action in case anything goes wrong.
Conclusion
The online dating tips mentioned above may seem fairly obvious, but they will definitely help you stay safe. After all, online dating can get quite dangerous sometimes. Coming across violent or aggressive people isn’t a rare occurrence, and you should be prepared for such a meeting ahead of time. However, it doesn’t have to happen, and even if it does, it shouldn’t discourage you from online dating.
Other than that, don’t be afraid to ask for help from total strangers if you ever end up in a dangerous situation. Staff members of most bars, pubs, and restaurants are used to helping out women who are being harassed or threatened, so they should be fully prepared to help you out!
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
