Online Dating & 8 Things to Not Do

It would seem that there is still some confusion over what to and what not to do when using a dating service. There are tons of do’s and don’ts articles online, but let’s just focus on what not to do. Whether you are looking for something serious or just wanting a casual fling, there are some general rules you should follow.

• Don’t pretend to be someone else. If you are looking for something serious online, it is important to be yourself. If you do find something serious and it lasts a while, you will either have to keep up the charade of being someone else or admit that you lied about who you are. Just don’t do it. Be yourself.
• Mention your size or member. Unless you are just looking for free sex up or one-night-stand and you know they are interested in your genitals, keep details about and pictures of your junk to yourself.
• Copypasta. People can tell when you copy and paste the same message to everyone. Unless it’s incredibly clever and has a damn near 100% reply rate, don’t just copy and paste messages. Everyone knows that online dating can be frustrating and coming up with new things to say can be tiring, but people know when you’re sending the same thing to everyone else.
• Don’t be pushy. If someone says they aren’t interested in you, doesn’t want to give you their number, or says they aren’t ready for a date with you, respect that. It is a huge turn off when people whine because they are denied something.
• Be creepy. So many points can be consolidated into this one, but I feel like it deserves its very own point. If it sounds like something that would upset, you if said to your mom or sister don’t say it to someone else. This goes for your too ladies.
• Use pet names. This may just be a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when I just start talking to someone and they are already calling me baby. Hold off on using pet names until you know that both parties are interested and it’s okay to call them by something other than their name.
• Only talk about physical features. When all you have to talk about is how captivating their eyes are or how hot their body is, the conversation is going to die off very quickly. Talk about their hobbies, your hobbies, shared interests, or a plethora of other things. It’s okay to mention something you find attractive about them once or twice, but don’t try to base an entire conversation around their physical appearance.
• Use group pictures of pictures with dead animals. Most dating apps or websites start with physical attraction. If all you have are pictures of you in a group or people, you are going to miss out on a lot of matches. People don’t want to pick through pictures trying to figure out which one is you. Furthermore, most people like cuddly, cute animals, so a picture of you next to a dead deer may put off more people than you realize.