The following are some basic, common sense safety tips to keep in mind when dating online. Follow these tips, and you should be perfectly fine and be able to enjoy all the benefits online dating has to offer.

Take the following safety precautions, and you’ll make absolutely sure that you are not doing anything that could be dangerous.

Do not, under any circumstance reveal any personally identifiable information in your online dating profile, in your personal ads, or in your private e-mails to singles.

Such information includes your real name, specifics about where you live (“I live in London” is ok, though) or any other info that could be used maliciously or simply without your consent.

Use only the communications tools provided by your dating service. They now offer private e-mail, chat, and even instant messaging. You should not invite singles to e-mail you at your regular address, at least until you get to know them better. Use your judgement here.

When you e-mail singles in private, you may want to consider using an anonymous e-mail account at a free site such as Hotmail or Yahoo when you begin getting to know new people. Take your time to establish communication and move at your own pace.

Be careful with your signatures. Many of us use multiple signature lines for our personal and business e-mail correspondence that include our phone numbers and addresses. Obviously you’ll want to leave this information out when first contacting any singles you meet through the personals.

Your best option might be opening an entirely new free e-mail account, to use just for your communications with singles you meet online.

Remember, you’re in control. No one should ever pressure you into revealing anything about yourself that you want to keep private. Anyone who does is not respecting your boundaries, and is probably not worth contacting further.

For more useful tips please visit us @ http://www.onlinedating4singles.com

By: Online Dating 4 Singles

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With the pleasantries of the night before a memory, albeit a pleasant one, a question is suddenly raised. When, exactly, is it appropriate to call a girl after the first date?

It’s a question that has been dominating the minds of anyone in a new relationship for at least the last 30 years. Suddenly, the days of arranged marriages and your parents deciding who you marry seem hugely tempting. After all, the decision of when to pick up the phone is littered with pitfalls; call too early and you may appear over-eager, call too late and she may have decided you were never going to call and have moved on. It’s an extremely delicate balance.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any certain answer. If the general perception of calling too soon were to be believed, no man who had ever called a girl the next day after the date would be married – but that isn’t true. There’s also a multitude of people who left it for weeks before calling, for whatever reason, yet still got the girl in the end.

The trick is to judge the girl, not the situation. Does she strike you as the type who wants you to put your cards on the table and be honest? If so, calling the next day isn’t a problem  just leave it until a normal hour. If, however, she seems to want to be wooed and dazzled by your macho side, leave it for a couple of days. Having spent an evening in her company, you should have at least a vague idea of which option is more likely to suit.

Whatever the situation and type of girl she is, one thing you should never do is leave it until a week or more before you dial her number. By that point, she’ll have given up on you. Although the situation isn’t irretrievable, the best bet is to wait for a maximum of four days if you decide to play it that way. Any longer, and you might get her answering machine  because she’s out on another first date, but this time, not with you.

The profile page is, therefore, the most crucial part of your online dating experience. Get it wrong, and no one will contact you. Get it right, and you could just be beating them off with a stick.

The first, and most important aspect, of the profile is the picture. A recent UK study conducted by Match.com revealed that 70% of people won’t even bother to read a profile that doesn’t feature a picture; so including one is a must. However, do make sure it’s a photograph of yourself and was taken in the last five years! If things go well online, you could soon be meeting the women offline, and you really don’t want their first thought to be good Lord, he’s gained weight / aged badly etc.

Choose a good, clear, well-lit picture in which you look good, but not so good it looks like you’ve been using PhotoShop. If you are going grey, have a bald patch or a bit of paunch, it really is best to let the photo show that  there’s no need to make it dominant, but don’t make any particular effort to hide it.

Women are more likely to respond to photographs in which you’re laughing or smiling, so even if you don’t have a current good photograph of you with a cheerful expression, take some specifically. There’s no need to overdo it and come across as the second, human coming of the Cheshire Cat, but a gentle smile of genuine relaxed pleasure should do well.

Your photo should never be too busy – try and pick one in which you are the only person in it. Make sure you’re dressed well, and no matter how good you look in a bathing suit, always make sure you are at least dressed. Avoid comedy poses and cute poses such as ones in which you’re holding a kitten  and, so long as the photograph is a true representation of yourself looking your best, you can’t go far wrong.

When the cheque arrives, the best advice is to wait a second and see how the girl you’re on the date with reacts. Some women may automatically move for their handbag, in which case you know she at least wants to contribute  still offer to pay, but don’t force the issue. If she’s looking around the room and at anything but the cheque, chances are she’s an old-fashioned girl and expects you to pick up the tab.

When setting off on a date, always be ready for having to pay. Never assume  even if the girl seems to be very big on feminism  that she will pay. If she was expecting you to pay and you’ve not brought your wallet, it’ll probably be the death of a promising relationship. If you are paying yourself, do it quietly and discreetly and never imply that she in any way now oversees you. Ridiculously, some men do do this, even if it is just with a cheeky comment.

In most situations, however, the girl will offer to pay fully or at least contribute. In these circumstances, insisting you want to pay is fine  but only do it once. Anything more than that and you’re bordering on insulting. If after your first insistence she still wants to go Dutch, accept it graciously. It is then critical that you don’t fall into the trap of trying to decide who ate what and paying for your own food  simply halve the bill between you, even if she did order more. If she does want to itemise what was ordered, go with it and be honest.

At all times, no matter who ends up punching their PIN number into the machine, be gracious and appear generous  but never insistent. The best thing is that, over time, this problem will solve itself as you get to know each other. So even if the first cheque arrival is uncomfortable, the next one will be ten times easier.

It is easy to think that every meeting between the parents of a girl and her boyfriend is disastrous. The idea of the terrible first meeting is a staple in many sitcom writers scripts, and there has even been a full Hollywood film based on the concept. Yet the fact remains, that if every single first meeting was that bad, no relationship would ever survive  the success stories, in reality, far outnumber the horrors.

So that is perhaps the most essential aspect when it comes to ‘meeting the parents’  stay relaxed. This may seem as impossible as an ant being able to carry ten times it’s own body weight; but that’s true, so do try and stay as calm as possible. If you’re hyper-sensitive and worried, this will create an immediate atmosphere of friction that can take hours to dissipate.

The trick is to be as outwardly calm as possible while being an extremely polite, courteous version of yourself. Basically, don’t be so nervous you scare them with your radiating tension, but don’t be so relaxed you let out a burp upon taking a pull on your beer. If a difficult situation does arise, just try not to panic. These people are human, in most cases they are not pre-determined to hate you, so even if there is an uncomfortable incident just try and deal with it naturally.

Mostly, if you remember your manners, don’t brag about how great their daughter is in bed and keep the bodily noises to a minimum, you’re probably going to be fine.