Online Safety Dating Tips (Part 2 of 2)
(Continued from Safety / Security)A similar strategy is to bring a friend along, let them get a look at your date, and then have that friend show up again in an hour or two to reclaim you. Working out a private signal with your friend, such as a code-word or movement, is a good thing to do should you decide you want to abandon the meeting entirely...
When online or responding to emails, don't let yourself be pressured by anyone into revealing anymore about your life than you care to. Decide on how much information you will reveal to prospective partners, and don't reveal any more until you are confident that you can trust the person. Don't let anyone rush you into a face-to-face meeting if you don't feel ready for it. Take your time online and get to know the person.
If you receive an ultimatum from the individual with regards to cutting off contact with you before you are ready to meet them, simply let them go. You are the only one policing this situation, so ensure your own safety by learning to recognize signs of mental instability, coercion, addiction or conning.
If the date is going well, resist the temptation to extend the meeting beyond its agreed upon limits. It is not a good idea to invite your date home or go back to the date's house. This meeting is a kind of a pre-date that will give both of you the time to decide if you want to see each other again. As an extra safety precaution, don't accept a ride home from your date either. Wait until you know the person better.
Above all, trust your instincts about the other person. If your intuition is telling you that there is something wrong, there probably is. If you feel the slightest bit uneasy about an individual, say as little as possible about yourself and don't arrange a second date.
It is estimated that at least 29 million Americans, or two out of five singles, used online dating services last year, and that market is expected to keep growing over the next five years.
Although quite a few of these encounters do result in wedding bells, quite a few of them also result in disaster. If you have a complaint about harassment on the site, contact the customer service department of the site immediately. Larger sites have been known to delete as many as 3,000 offensive or abusive profiles from their database in a single month.
Although proponents say that online dating is not any more dangerous than meeting a stranger in a bar, you should still heed your common sense and enforce the same kind of personal security that you would if you were meeting any stranger for the first time.